Alaska Photos ~ Alaska Stock Photography ~ Alaska Pictures

How to photograph the aurora borealis (Northern Lights)
with a digital camera

By Photographer Patrick J. Endres
Please give attribution when referencing this article. Updated 12/11/2009

Introduction

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

For many, just to view the aurora borealis (or northern lights) is an exciting thought. And to capture them with a camera is both thrilling and awe inspiring.

Before the advent of the digital camera, photographing the aurora with slide film was complicated and often involved a good deal of experimenting. With today's average digital SLR and a good lens, you are very likely to get some very satisfactory images.

This article is intended to give you some necessary information to maximize your aurora photography. 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 basic sections with a few miscellaneous details:

1. WHERE AND WHEN TO VIEW THE AURORA
2. HOW TO DRESS - WHAT TO WEAR
3. CAMERA AND OTHER GEAR
4. EXPOSURE - HISTOGRAMS - FILE TYPE

To learn more about the science of the aurora borealis visit wikipedia. A book by Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu in collaboration with Jack Finch and Jan Curtis, The Northern Lights Secrets of the Aurora Borealis, is an excellent resource. So is Northern Lights: The Science, Myth, and Wonder of Aurora Borealis with excellent photographs by my friend, colleague and maniacal aurora photographer Calvin Hall.

1) Where and when to view the aurora:

Where to view the Northern Lights?

Because the aurora are drawn to the earth’s magnetic poles, far northern & southern latitudes offer excellent opportunities for viewing auroral displays. Some points to consider when selecting a location for aurora photography:

Moon rise over the Chandalar shelf at midnight, Brooks range, Alaska. © Patrick J. Endres
• Geographic Latitude: It would be ideal, although not necessary to find a spot within the auroral belt. (According to Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu, this is the polar region where the aurora is visible about two-thirds of the year). I live in Fairbanks, about 65 degrees latitude, which is geographically well situated for aurora viewing.
• Light Pollution Free: Go somewhere free of light pollution, far from city lights or airports.
• Direction/Orientation: Most of the shooting orientation will be between the northwest and southeast sky. With this in mind, position yourself to shoot with light sources (towns or cities) to your south. 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.
• Consider a Pellet gun: This may come in handy when you need to quietly turn off your neighbors yard lard light. OK, I am truly kidding, there are more diplomatic ways but I must confess, I have thought of it before.

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.

• Some scientists predict the years of 2013-2015 to produce very good 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. So actually, your location may be more critical than the intensity of the aurora display.
• A few web sites offer forecasts of aurora activity:
  • UAF Geophysical Institute
  • Space Weather
  • Solarcycle 24

Is moonlight good or bad for aurora photography?

I've photographed the aurora during all stages of the moon and moon presence. Here are some pros and cons:

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

• Moonlight brightens the sky, and thereby minimizes the intensity of the aurora.
• Moonlight illuminates the foreground landscape, offering interesting compositional elements for your picture.
• A snowy landscape that reflects the light is a big help on a completely dark night.
• Moonless nights offer opportunities 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.
• I have written about this subject on my blog and you can refer to that for further reading: www.alaskaphotographyblog.com
• Below are two examples of aurora photos taken on a near full moon, and a no moon evening. They are quite different but both very acceptable.

What time of night is best for viewing the aurora?

It is difficult to say what exactly is the best time of night to view the aurora. There are however some generalizations:

• Between 10:00pm to 2:00am seems to be the timeframe most conducive to aurora activity, so say the scientists and my experience confirms that.
• Stay awake and be ready. I've never had much luck by going to sleep and then checking periodically. By the time you actually get dressed and get all the camera gear ready, the show can easily be over.
• Plan to spend a chunk of time viewing. The aurora displays and activity follows a somewhat predictable pattern. Whether it is a homogenous arc, a rayed arc, or a corona, they present different types of photo opportunities, at different times of the night.
• Scout your location in daylight and thus be ready. Displays can vary in duration, sometimes hours, sometimes only minutes. Be prepared when the action happens.
• Remember, it varies widely. I try to get out as early in the night as possible with hopes of catching a little bit of the fading dusk light (and it does not take much) since it offers some wonderful blue colors in the sky.

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. © Hugh Rose

Because aurora viewing is best in polar regions, you are likely to be in cold weather, and sometimes, very cold weather especially if you are coming to Alaska in the winter. If the thought of cold weather freaks you out, consider a time like late September or early April, when temperatures are a little warmer, but the skies are still dark at night. Getting yourself dressed properly and outfitted with the necessary equipment will greatly increase both your efficiency and enjoyment while spending a night photographing the aurora. Below are a few suggestions to help prepare you:

• Dressing warm is essential. And get yourself mentally prepared to wait out the night. I've written more about cold weather photography here
• Good winter boots are critical. Make sure they do not fit tight.
• 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.
• 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.
• A warm nearby vehicle is a luxury.
• Headlamp to help get set up with camera and tripod. Many headlamps are now available with a red LED to preserve your night vision, if you don't have one of those, put a red colored gel over the light. 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, enclose it in something first. I put my camera in the camera bag and zip it up and slowly let it come to room temperature, or inside a down parka where it remains insulated.

3) Camera and Photo gear:

Cameras

I photograph with Canon Gear, currently the Canon EOS 1Ds MarkIII, which has a 21 Megapixel full frame sensor and the 5D Mark II. Canon's other digital SLR’s are excellent options as well. Nikon has a strong lineup, and the D3 (D3s) is especially well suited for aurora photography due to its high sensitivity full frame sensor. At this writing (Dec 2009), the 5D MKII and D700 provide the best bang for the buck for aurora photography.

• EOS 1Ds MarkIII (21MP full frame sensor)
• Nikon D3x and D3s (24.5MP full frame sensor)
• Nikon D3 (12MP full frame sensor)
• Nikon D700 (12 MP full frame sensor)
• EOS 1D MarkIII (10MP 1.3x crop)
• EOS 5D MKII (21MP full frame sensor)
• EOS 7D (18MP 1.6 crop)
• EOS 50D (15MP 1.6x crop)
• EOS Digital Rebel XSi or 450D (12MP 1.6x crop)

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 high ISO noise reduction and long exposure noise reduction software. Make sure that these options are turned on. For some Canon cameras the Long exposure noise reduction has an auto setting. ISO settings from 400 to 1600 can deliver excellent results. The length of your exposures will depend on how large of an opening (f-stop) your camera lens has. Generally, the smaller the f/stop number, the greater the $$$.

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 it looks usable for aurora. You want:

1. 400 ISO, preferably 800 or higher
2. bulb mode
3. manual focus option
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 light 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. (NOTE: A GOOD BALLHEAD AND TRIPOD IS REALLY IMPORTANT, ON OUR PHOTO TOURS WE HAVE HAD MANY FRUSTRATED GUESTS WHOSE SMALL TRIPOD AND FLIMSY BALLHEAD EITHER BROKE OR OPERATED SO POORLY THEY MISSED MANY PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES. A GOOD TRIPOD IS WORTH IT.)

• This Bogen 055XB tripod, although on the shorter side, is an adequate inexpensive tripod available at B&H Photo. 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.
• Ballheads are preferred over pan/tilt heads.
  Kirk Enterprises makes the BH-3, is a great smaller ballhead.
• Foam pads on your tripod legs will help keep your hands warmer

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.
I 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.
  
• 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.
  
• Canon Super Wide Angle EF 20mm f/2.8 USM Inexpensive alternative to the more versatile zooms
  
• 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.
  
• 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
  
• Nikon Zoom Super Wide Angle
  AF 12-24mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Autofocus Lens for Select Digital Cameras
  
• Nikon Zoom Super Wide Angle
  AF 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, AF lens
  

Other Related Equipment

• Batteries
  Have a few batteries at your disposal. Keep on warm in a parka pocket.
• Cable release
  Prevents camera shake and allows for exposures in excess of 30 seconds.
• Chemical Hand warmers
  I use them all the time. They can be kept inside an overmitt or in a pocket of your coat for a quick hand warming option.
• Headlamp
  A headlamp allows two hands to be free while handling your camera. 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 on REI’s website:
• 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.

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? My interpretation: just take your filter off!

Achieving critical focus

Red aurora borealis in the southern sky over Fairbanks, Alaska. © Patrick J. Endres

• 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 don't.
  1. Switch your camera to a single point focus, preferably the center one.
  2. Before it gets dark, focus your camera on a distant "infinity" focal point, like a mountain horizon.
  3. Pick an edge that has good contrast to ensure a good focus lock. Hit the focus button a few times and make sure you see the viewfinder light that confirms focus (not just an audio beep).
  4. Turn the switch on your lens to manual focus.
  5. Tape the 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.
  6. If you forget to do this you can either focus directly on the moon if it is out, or use Live View.

My self portrait at a cabin in the White Mountains, near Fairbanks, Alaska. 24mm lens with self timer locked for 15 consecutive exposures. © Patrick J. Endres
• Using Live View to focus: In my experience, pre-focusing has worked excellent for all lenses except the Canon Canon 24mm 1.4L. For this lens, I've switched to using the live-view function (if your camera has it--most DSLR's have it). The procedure is this.
  1. Manually turn your camera lens to the infinity focus mark.
  2. Find the brightest object in the sky and center your camera on it by looking through the viewfinder.
  3. Turn on live view and maximum zoom in on the object.
  4. Adjust the focus ring until you are satisfied the object is sharp. It can be challenging if all you have is a star. If this is the case you can use a loupe on the back of the LCD monitor to help out. One benefit of the Hoodman viewfinder loops are that they have a built in diopter, so for people with difficulty seeing things up close, this helps. I joined that rank not too long ago.
  5. Turn off live view and shoot.

batteries, cold weather and Flash Cards

September aurora reflecting in a tundra pond. © Patrick J. Endres

• 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.
• Camera batteries: it is a good idea to have at least two, three is better.
• Keep one in your pocket, or in a nearby warm place. Switching them out occasionally will keep you powered up.
• Long exposures tend to chew up batteries quickly.
• When waiting on a chilly night for the aurora, 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, exposure, modes, file formats:

The digital age has taken much of the exposure mystery out of aurora photography, however, there are some specific issues to be aware of.

Historgrams

Star trails and aurora over a frozen pond. © Patrick J. Endres

• Read your histogram: The preview on the back of your camera is a good reference, but an LDC monitor on a dark night can fool you by making things appear brighter than they are. Michael Reichmann of www.luminous-landscape.com has written an article on how to read a histogram: Understanding Histograms. I strongly recommend reading through it.

  When long exposure noise reduction is turned on, and your exposure is greater than 30 seconds. 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 40 second exposure, you need to wait an additional 40 seconds before you can preview. You may still continue to take additional exposures, it is just the preview that takes an additional full exposure time. Canon and Nikon high end cameras have long exposure noise reduction kick in for exposures of 30 seconds and longer.

Exposure

Snow loaded spruce trees and aurora with a slightly backlit sky from a low angle moon. © Patrick J. Endres

• Proper Exposure is critical: Even though a RAW file offers latitude for exposure compensation, accurate exposure is imperative, especially when shooting high ISO.
• Long Exposures: If you are shooting many frames that exceed the 30 second time frame, there are other ways to get around the in camera noise reduction processing, but it is a more complicated procedure that requires blending images in photoshop. Astro photographers use this method but it is beyond the scope of this article.
• Shoot in RAW format: If you are uncomfortable with RAW, shoot in RAW&JPEG format (if your camera permits it). Even if you don't know how to process a RAW file, don't worry. 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 - Bulb- aperture priority

Corona display with the big dipper, Fairbanks, Alaska. © Patrick J. Endres

• Set your camera to Aperture priority mode.
• Set your lens f/stop at its largest opening.
• In general, a slight overexposure tends to be helpful when doing this, perhaps ½ to 2/3rd’s of a stop.
• Using Bulb mode: If your exposure exceeds the in-camera timer of 30 seconds, switch your camera to Bulb mode. Plug in your cable release (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!) 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.

Processing the RAW files:

Check out my gallery of aurora photos

There are a number of programs for making modifications and corrections to raw files:

• Google Picasa (free)
• Adobe Lightroom (my preferred choice)
• Photoshop
• Apple's Aperture
• and a few others.

In these programs you will find the necessary tools to address 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!

5) 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 and have fun! Getting yourself in the right spot, with clear skies, good aurora activity, and smooth working gear can take a few attempts. Be patient and enjoy the night sky. You are likely to learn a few constellations in the process!

• Search Aurora Borealis photos
• Browse Aurora photos
• Northern Lights information
• More Aurora information
• Aurora slide show
• Northern Lights Photo tour: Guided by professional photographer Hugh Rose & Patrick Endres

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