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How to photograph the aurora borealis
with a digital camera

updated 3/22/2008

Common green color caused by oxygen gasses. Brooks mountain range, Alaska. © Patrick J. Endres

For many, the opportunity to photograph the aurora borealis is an exciting thought - just to see the aurora is mysterious and awe inspiring. Before the advent of the digital camera, photographing the aurora with slide or print film was complicated and often involved a good deal of experimenting. Something not always available to the vacationer or one-time visitor to see the aurora. However, if you have a reasonable digital SLR, and a good lens, it is very likely that should the aurora show up for you, you can get some very satisfactory images.

This article is intended to give you the necessary information to maximize your chance at getting some good photos with your camera. While much of what is written below is general in nature and applies to most all digital cameras, the many, many brands and models have their own uniqueness. I will focus on Canon digital SLR’s, since that is what i shoot. It is divided into four sections:

1. Where and when to view the aurora
2. How to dress and deal with cold weather photography
3. What kind of camera & gear you need
4. File format, exposures & histograms

1) Where and when to view the aurora:

Mount Sukakpak in the Brooks range, with a moon halo formed by ice crystals. Having the moon directly in a photo or the aurora can create some interesting images. However, if you want lots of stars in the black of night, pick a night with a less prominent moon presence. © Patrick J. Endres

I live in Fairbanks, about 65 degrees latitude, which is geographically well situated for aurora viewing. Besides the issue of latitude, one should select a specific photographic location that is free of light pollution, far from city lights or airports. Unless the aurora displays are very active, most of the shooting orientation will be between the northwest and southeast sky. With this in mind, you are better positioned if any light sources (towns or cities) are to your south, where you will most likely not be pointing your camera. When solar storms are very strong and hit the earth's atmosphere with strength, both the northern and southern sky will contain the aurora, and often in some wild colors.

Moon rise over the Chandalar shelf at midnight, Brooks range, Alaska. © Patrick J. Endres

When is the best time of year?
Aurora activity is directly connected with solar storm activity on the surface of the sun. Therefore, being aware of this will help determine the optimal times for viewing the most active aurora displays. The Spring and Vernal equinoxes have been noted as especially good times (March 21/Sept 21 - approximately) However, I've seen amazing aurora during all times of the year. If you are checking aurora forecast websites, keep in mind that low activity can still be very acceptable for photography, particularly in the northern regions. A few web sites offer forecasts of aurora activity:

• UAF Geophysical Institute
• Space Weather
• Solarcycle 24

Is moonlight good or bad for aurora photography?
While moonlight does brighten the sky, and thereby potentially minimize the intensity of the aurora, I personally prefer some moonlight for the express reason that it illuminates the foreground landscape. A snowy landscape that reflects the light is a big help as well. When the moon is not visible in the night sky, it is a great opportunity for extended exposures enhancing star trails, and silhouetting mountains behind a starry night. Additionally, very stable, or slow moving aurora make good opportunities for longer exposures as well.

What time of night is best for viewing the aurora?
First of all, stake out a location preferably in the daytime to know what kind of "stuff" is in the landscape. Then after checking out an aurora forecast--go out and wait. That way you will be prepared when the action happens -- which can vary in duration, sometimes hours, sometimes only minutes so you want to be ready to catch the aurora when they appear. My experience suggests that generally from 10:0pm to 2:00am seems to be the timeframe most conducive to aurora activity. This has also been verified scientifically as the time during which auroras are most active. However, it varies widely. If action happens early in the evening when a little bit of light remains in the western sky from sunset, one can capture some amazing sky color along with the aurora.

2) How to dress, what to wear:

This is what happens to a normally pliable shutter release cord in minus 40 degrees below zero. One need not photograph the aurora in such cold temps, but be advised that all things rubber and vinyl become very rigid. Be careful with your gear. © Hugh Rose

• Dressing warm is essential. And get yourself mentally prepared to wait out the night.
• Good winter boots are critical. Make sure they do not fit tight. Many types of pac boots are available at outdoor clothing stores.
• A pair of wool insoles inside the bottom of the boot add additional insulation, especially since one ends up standing and waiting for long periods.
• First layer clothing: This is important! Do not wear cotton as the first layer against your skin. Use either polypropylene, fleece, or a soft Moreno wool.
• A warm parka: The conventional wisdom of "layering" is not so true when you are just standing around in cold temperatures. Layering is great if your heat output varies greatly as when climbing and hiking. But loft and air are what really insulate against the cold, so a puffy down parka will do the job great with a sweater underneath.
• A warm nearby vehicle is a luxury.
• Glove liners that can fit inside larger warmer mittens work well.
• Small chemically activated hand warmers are a big help. I put them either in the pockets of my down parka, or in the mittens themselves.
• Headlamp to help get set up with camera and tripod. Putting a colored gel over the light helps your pupils stay dilated and you won't loose your "night vision" every time you turn on your light. Many headlamps are now available with a red LED to preserve your night vision. It is amazing how adjusted your eyes become after 10 minutes in the dark of night. If you know your camera well, you can get by without using a headlamp for most of the time.
• Be careful not to breath too directly on your camera viewfinder, lenses or LCD monitor, they will fog/ice up quickly in cold temps.
• If you take your camera directly into a very warm room after having it chilled down, you will want to enclose it in something first. Some use a ziplock back. However, after many years of doing this, I never have. I put the camera in the camera bag and zip it up and that seems to work fine, or inside a down parka where it remains insulated. Whatever you do, be aware of condensation.

3) Camera and photo gear:

Cameras

I photograph with Canon’s EOS 1Ds MarkIII, which has a 21 Megapixel full frame sensor. Canon's other digital SLR’s are excellent options as well, throughout a broad price range. Nikon also has a strong lineup, and the D3 is especially well suited for aurora photography due to its high sensitivity full frame sensor. At this writing (spring 2009), the 5D MKII and D700 provide the best bang for the buck for aurora photography.

• EOS 1Ds MarkIII (21MP full frame sensor) ($7000)
• Nikon D3x (24.5MP full frame sensor) ($8000)
• Nikon D3 (12MP full frame sensor) ($4350)
• Nikon D700 (12 MP full frame sensor) ($2700)
• EOS 1D MarkIII (10MP 1.3x crop) ($3800)
• EOS 5D MKII(21MP full frame sensor) ($2700)
• EOS 50D (15MP 1.6x crop) ($1150)
• EOS Digital Rebel XSi or 450D (12MP 1.6x crop) ($600)

Graphic shows the relative size of the sensors in Canon's line of digital cameras.

The upper end of these cameras have excellent high ISO performance with in-camera digital noise reduction software. Make sure the option to enable digital noise reduction is turned on under your menu settings. ISO settings from 400 to 1000 deliver excellent results. The length of your exposures will depend on how large of an opening (f-stop) your camera lens has.

A Note About Point and Shoot Cameras:
While it is not impossible to photograph the aurora with a little point and shoot digital camera, it is challenging indeed. The models are constantly changing, and perhaps in the near future it will become easier. A few of the basic limitations of most point and shoot cameras are:

1. limited timed exposure time (often 15 secs-not long enough)
2. the bulb mode, if it has one, can be difficult to use
3. the widest lens range is often not quite wide enough
4. ISO quality is much noisier
5. auto focus won't work at night--you need manual focus

If you have an digi cam with some advanced features, read your manual and see if looks usable for aurora. You want:

1. 400 ISO, preferably 800
2. bulb mode
3. manual focus
4. self timer release
5. wide angle lens

Exposure Chart based on ISO400 & moderate aurora brightness:
Keep in mind that the chart below is just a reference. The exposures vary based on the intensity of the aurora, the amount of ambient from the moon, and the reflective light from the snow. The best thing to do is take a shot, look at your histogram, and make adjustments from there.

Tripod and Ballheads

A tripod is absolutely essential for northern lights photography. A tall tripod will be more comfortable, as you will be aiming the camera up towards the sky. Squatting under a short tripod cranking your neck can become very uncomfortable, very fast.

• This Bogen 055XB tripod, although on the shorter side, is an adequate inexpensive tripod available at B&H Photo here. It even has built in leg warmers to protect your hands from cold metal.

• The GT3541 is an exceptional, and expensive, tripod from Gitzo. It is lightweight and sturdy carbon fiber, and fairly tall. Notice it has no center column. If you get a tripod with a center column, the ability to remove it can be advantageous for close up photography. Additionally, one should not rely on expanding the center column completely for aurora photography, since this makes the camera less stable and susceptible to wind movement during long exposures.

Available Here:

• We prefer ballheads as opposed to pan/tilt heads.
  The Kirk Enterprises BH-3 is a great smaller ballhead. It is not the best option for very large lenses above 300mm. Krik makes a larger ballhead BH-1 to support bigger lenses. I use both: http://www.kirkphoto.com/ballheadbh3.html

• Foam pads on your tripod legs You will be handling your tripod a lot, both night and day, and foam is much warmer on the hands than a metal tripod leg. Inexpensive pipe insulation available at hardware stores works well. Some tripod manufacturers also make special purpose foam leg pads.

Lenses

There are several desirable qualities to look for when considering lenses for aurora photography:

• Wide angle
• Fast (large aperture of F/2.8 or wider)
• Sharp
• Minimal vignetting
• Inexpensive

As a general rule of thumb, you can pick any three of the above.
We have yet to discover the perfect lens, but here are a few to consider:

• Canon 16-35mm F/2.8 USM or Nikon 17-35 F/2.8: Outstanding optical performers, but not exceptionally fast. A bit expensive but versatile for both aurora and excellent for daytime general landscapes. It is one of my favorite lenses.
  Price: $1450-$1750

• Canon 24mm IIL F/1.4: New from Canon, a reported improvement over the previous version. Offers a two-stop advantage over the 16-35. This means a 30 second aurora exposure can be taken in 7.5 second, freezing the shapes and giving more definition. Older versions can be found for about $1000.
  Price $1700

• Canon Super Wide Angle EF 20mm f/2.8 USM Inexpensive alternative to the more versatile zooms
  Price: $ 399.95

• Sigma 20mm F/1.8: Available for both Canon and Nikon. Provides very good performance for an inexpensive lens. The corners are moderately dark and soft, which is mostly eliminated on non-full frame digital cameras.
  Price: $400

• Any 50mm F/1.4 – F/1.8: These “standard” lenses are exceptionally inexpensive and perform well optically because they are “easy” to make. However, 50mm is not very wide and may not capture the entire aurora shape well.
• An option for those shooting with Digital SLR's with a 1.5-1.6x multiplication factor: such as the Canon 50D or Nikon D90. They are about half as fast but offer wide angle (16-18mm equivalent), and are versatile for other landscape work. Only compatible with reduced-sensor size cameras
• Canon Zoom Super Wide Angle
  EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Autofocus Lens
  Price: $ 690
• Nikon Zoom Super Wide Angle
  AF 12-24mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Autofocus Lens for Select Digital Cameras
  Price: $ 870

• Long lenses

You will also want to bring longer lenses for daytime wildlife and scenic photography. Remember space and weight but don't leave long lenses behind. I use my 500mm often, in conjunction with a 1/4x or 2x converter, using a full frame sensor. Photography is often done from a vehicle window. Lenses like the 100-400mm zoom are great for this, especially if you are not using a full frame sensor, since the lens then becomes a 160mm to 640mm. If you have a 500mm f4, bring it. The 600mm f4 is large, heavy and very difficult to use from within a vehicle. Image stabilization is excellent and a benefit in almost all cases. If you don't have a long lens, you might consider renting one. If you prefer to have it shipped to Alaska, you can do so to the courier address at the right.

Camera Bodies

At least two camera bodies if possible. Newer cameras work fine in the cold as long as you can keep them supplied with a warm battery. Digital or film is your choice. The latest digital SLR cameras, especially those with a full frame sensor, are exceptional at capturing aurora. Compact point and shoot digicams, however, are virtually incapable of aurora photography due to their limited light sensitivity and light gathering abilities. Although new digi cam models enter the scene constantly, thus far they have not proved productive for aurora photography.

Other Related Equipment

• Batteries!
  Bring extra batteries. Cold weather saps energy from batteries at a rapid rate! You can keep one battery warm in your parka and change them out as necessary. At least two batteries, but three would be better.
  


• Digital media and Storage device (laptop optional) Extra media cards and some form of storage space, either a laptop computer or small digital storage device.
  


• Cable release
  A must for your cameras. You will be doing long exposures with your camera set on bulb and you do not want to shake the camera. Below illustrates how Canon's cable releases get rather rigid in minus 40 degree temps. However, those temps will not be encountered on this trip. Plastic things do get more rigid however in cold weather.


• Chemical Hand warmers
  These are critical when you are handling metal cameras for long periods of time in cold weather. They can be kept inside an overmitt or in a pocket of your coat for a quick hand warming option. They are critical in my winter photo arsenal.
  


• Headlamp
  This is an important piece of equipment for aurora photography. A headlamp allows two hands to be free while changing film or making camera adjustments. Consider the on-off switch in purchasing, as you will be operating the headlamp with gloves on. This Brinkmann Focused Beam LED Headlamp is a good choice, available here on REI’s website:
  


• Large ziploc baggies
  These can be helpful for storing film and to put your camera in when you are going from cold outdoors into a warm area to prevent fogging. However, if you have camera bag and it all zipped up when entering a warm room, no ziplock bags are necessary as long as you let the gear slowly warm up to room temperature before unzipping it.


• Bean Bag A Bean Bag for photography from vehicles is very useful and we recommend it strongly. There are many types and variations, this is a good one from Kinesis. There will be an opportunity to by rice or another grain to fill the bag in Fairbanks.
  Kinesis SafariSack Bean Bag
  


• Roscolux gel kit:
  These small gels can be used to tone down the color and intensity of your headlamp. Red is a preferred color. Request a free sample pak from the Roscolux website here

• A can of compressed air
  For cleaning lenses and for blowing condensation off of fogged lens elements.


• Visible Dust Sensor Brush
  These brushes are essential for any field work with a digital camera. They have revolutionized the sensor cleaning process and made it very simple to perform. www.visibledust.com

Take off your Filter:

Filters on a lens can cause concentric rings to appear in the center of an image (this is a crop) be sure to remove the filter when photographing the aurora.

What causes the rings? Charles Deehr, a professor emeritus in physics at the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute (the one who is responsible for this aurora forecast site), has been quoted by Dick Hutchinson as saying:

"These are interference fringes due to the parallel faces of the filter and to the narrow spectral emission at 5577 Angstroms in the aurora. That green, atomic oxygen emission line is the strongest emission in the aurora near our film and eye peak sensitivity, so it shows up first when there is any device in the optical path which sorts out the spectral emissions."

"A haze filter in front of the lens acts as a Fabry-Perot interferometer on the 1S auroral green emission line of oxygen, creating green concentric circles"

So what does that mean exactly? This is a good interpretation: just take your filter off!

Pre-focusing your lens
Don't overlook this important step. With the new genre of autofocus cameras and lenses, there is tolerance built into the lenses to accommodate for changes in temperature. For this reason, you can't just manually turn the focus dial to infinity and be confident that it will be in focus. The old manual lenses did this perfectly, but the new ones are bit finicky. So, before it gets dark, focus your camera on a distant "infinity" focal point, like a mountain horizon. Pick an edge that has good contrast to ensure a good focus lock. After focusing, flip the switch on your lens to manual focus, and tape the your focusing dial to the non-moving barrel of the lens, to ensure that you don't bump and move it later on in the dark. If you forget to do this and the moon comes out, that can serve as a good focal point.

There are some very finicky lenses, specifically the Canon 24mm 1.4L, which is extremely difficult to get focused at f1.4 for some reason. I shoot side by side with two cameras, one with the 24mm 1.4 and one with the 16-35mm f2.8, both pre focused on the same subject, but the 1.4 often seems a touch out of focus. I've not been able to figure it out completely, and it is frustrating. As an means of double checking, you can take a shot and zoom in on your viewfinder to check for sharpness. This will require some familiarity with your LCD monitor, and what "sharp" is. And might require you to shoot in both RAW/JPEG so the JPEG can be zoomed in on.

What about batteries, cold weather and Flash Card?:
San Disk is a flash card manufacturer with a line of cards called “Extreme” which are made especially for extreme temperatures. My experience with these cards has been good. As for camera batteries, it is a good idea to have at least two, one can be kept in your pocket, or in a nearby warm cabin or car. Switching them out occasionally will keep you powered up. Long exposures tend to chew up batteries quickly, and this is one more benefit found in shooting a fast lens.

When just waiting around on a chilly night for the aura, I remove the flash card and battery and put them in my pocket. When the action happens, I quickly put them back in the camera and start shooting.

4) Histograms, file formats and exposure:

The digital age has taken much of the exposure mystery out of aurora photography, however, there are some specific issues to be aware of. First of all, the preview on the back of your camera is a good reference, but you must pay attention to the histogram. The brightness setting of your back LDC monitor on a dark night can fool you by presenting what appears to be a bright image, when actually, it may be underexposed. Even though a RAW file offers latitude for exposure compensation, proper exposure is imperative, especially when shooting high ISO, with long exposure times.

Michael Reichmann of luminous-landscape.com has written an article on how to read a histogram, and I won’t repeat here what he has so excellently prepared at Understanding Histograms. I strongly recommend reading through it.

• *A note regarding the wait time for previewing images when digital noise reduction is turned on: Your camera needs to process the file for digital noise for the full length of your exposure time before you can view the preview. So, if you take a 20 second exposure, you need to wait an additional 20 seconds before preview. You may still continue to take additional exposures, it is just the preview that takes an additional full exposure time.

Shoot in RAW or RAW&JPEG format (if your camera permits it). Even if you are not fully comfortable with how to process a RAW file, don't worry. Shoot in RAW/JPEG mode anyway. Someday you will be glad you did. Consider the RAW file like a negative. It will always be there and you can process it at any time.

Shooting in manual mode verse aperture priority?:
If there is a great variation in the intensity of the auroral displays, and you have a fast lens, you can shoot in Aperture Priority mode, setting your camera f/stop at its largest opening and let the in camera meter adjust the shutter speed appropriate to the changing light. In general, a slight overexposure tends to be helpful when doing this, perhaps ½ to 2/3rd’s of a stop. If you are using your cable release and need an exposure that exceeds the camera limit of 30 seconds, (or if you have the Nikon D3 you have the benefit of the built in intervolometer--come on Canon--give this one to us Canon shooters!) switch to bulb mode. Your exposure will go as long as you hold the release button down. Be aware of the helpful clock that counts in seconds on the top LCD panel when shooting in bulb mode. I shoot both in AV and manual mode, depending on the circumstances and lens choice. As you get familiar with judging the intensity of the aurora, you can make pretty good guesses on exposure times. Remember your histogram!

Processing the RAW files:
There are a number of programs for making modifications and corrections to raw files. From the free Google Picasa, to the more advanced and expensive Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CS3. It is here that you will find the necessary corrective tools to deal with white balance, color saturation and tonality, noise reduction, shadow and highlight control, etc. The question of shooting a raw file over of .jpeg file will be immediately answered at this point!

Checklist for photographing the Northern Lights

1. Shoot in RAW format
2. Turn on Digital Noise Reduction
3. Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction
4. Set LCD Brightness to low
5. Remove the filter from your lens
6. Pre focus your lens on infinity
7. Test exposure, consult histogram
8. Have 2 batteries and 2 flash cards
9. Use a tall but sturdy tripod
10. Use a cable release
11. Know the aurora forecasts
12. Scout a location in daylight
13. Don't breath on your viewfinder
14. Use your lens hood to protect against frost/condensation on your lens
15. While waiting for aurora, point your camera lens down to prevent frost gathering on the glass.

And finally, good luck! Getting yourself in the right spot, and the weather to be clear--but not too cold--and the aurora to show up, and getting your gear to work correctly, can take a few attempts. Be patient and enjoy the night sky. You are likely to learn a few constellations in the process!

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Checklist for digital photography of the Aurora borealis

1. Shoot in RAW format
2. Turn on Digital Noise Reduction
3. Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction
4. Set LCD Brightness to low
5. Remove the filter from your lens
6. Pre focus your lens on infinity
7. Test exposure, consult histogram
8. Have 2 batteries and 2 flash cards
9. Use a tall but sturdy tripod
10. Use a cable release
11. Know the aurora forecasts
12. Scout a location in daylight
13. Don't breath on your viewfinder
14. Use your lens hood to protect against frost/condensation on your lens
15. While waiting for aurora, point your camera lens down to prevent frost gathering on the glass.