Best Settings To Capture The Northern Lights
The Northern lights are an illusive event, however this year 2024 is turning into a blockbuster year for shows, wowing the world as far south as Mexico and even in Central Australia for the southern lights, with this in mind, a lot of photographers may be wanting to capture these lights but won’t know where to start.
I have another blog on what gear you will need to capture the lights linked below. However, if you want to dial in your settings follow along.
Aperture - As discussed in my gear list, a fast lens is ideal for the lights because it allows you to have a shorter shutter speed and really get the light beams often seen with the aurora. Shooting at 2.8 or faster is my recommendation however, for some of the larger light displays recently, I have had my aperture set to F8 and still managed some incredible shots.
This being said, anything higher than F4 is usually not advised.
Shutter speed - the faster the better but the longer the more light. It’s a fickle balancing act to land but I try to start with 5-7 seconds and slow down as necessary. the shorter the shutter the more detail you will get in the light beams themselves creating those dancing Pilars instead of the soft green hue on the horizon caused by the Pilars moving so much while the shutter is open that it becomes a wash of colour.
ISO - ISO is the trickiest yet simplest setting to adjust. In that I do it last once I have set my Shutter and Aperture. I basically bump my ISO to ensure I get a decent image within the dynamic range of my camera. Sometimes if there is a very bright show, I can shoot as low as 1000 ISO. Other times I need to bump it up to 10000 ISO so this variable is purely a trial and error response to what you are seeing on the histogram.
White Balance - I know a lot of photographers tell you to never use AUTO White Balance however, with modern cameras and editing software, I find AUTO more than appropriate especially for amateur photographers. Shooting in Raw means I can adjust in post thus eliminating my thought process about white balance in the field freeing me up to focus on my other settings and compositions.
Other settings to keep in mind.
2 second Shutter timer - I tend to use this while shooting the northern lights, as even the sturdiest tripod will still get some camera shake as you pull the trigger. Using the 2 second timer allows that shake to stop prior to the shutter opening giving a cleaner, sharper image.
Multiple shot exposure - Often when the Aurora is dancing hard, (Pilars moving so rapidly that every shot is different) I will do 10+ exposures at a time to ensure I get the perfect composition with what I am working with.
In these conditions I will ensure my settings are on point before attempting.
RAW vs JPEG - I always shoot in Raw, it allows me to get the most out of my shots. However for AstroPhotography and Aurora photography especially I shoot in raw to ensure I can get as much information from the scene as possible, including adjusting the white balance for post processing.
If you are new to shooting, possibly try shooting in both RAW and JPEG if you must, but generally you will find RAW more user friendly.
