What you need to photograph the northern lights

Oct 24

Northern lights over Bow Lake in Banff National Park — Northern Lights over Bow Lake in Banff National Park

Being a Northern Lights Photographer isn’t all fun and games. A lot of chasing the northern lights is reading data, luck and timing. However, when the stars literally align, and you get that magic northern lights show. What are the essential pieces of gear you need to be able to capture it?

Firstly, unless you are a professional, or aspiring professional photographer, the most recent (iPhone 13 and later) phones are incredible at shooting the northern lights now and even throw a little edit on your shots for you. While I am less familiar with Samsungs, anything above an S21 will also do the trick.

How a budding photographer or professional photographer however, the gear list is significantly longer and more expensive.
To start with you’ll need:

A camera - Just about any modern camera will do. However I personally shoot with the Canon R6 Mark ii or the Canon R. However, even the more recent GoPros and insta 360s have capabilities to shoot northern lights so if you are shooting on a budget these are great options.
A Fast Lens - a fast lens is anything with a 2.8F aperture of wider. I also find shooting with a wide angle lens helps me get more of the sky in however, I have captured some stunning images at both 50mm and 100mm in the past.
A tripod - Again, just about any modern tripod will do, however I find the best budget friendly tripods right now are being made my KF Concept. They are available on Amazon and all provide a sturdy, reliable base to keep that camera steady.
Head Torch - Despite the fact that the lights will illuminate the sky significantly on a good night. A trusty head torch will make it so you don’t miss the shot while you look for controls on your camera.
Photography lights - Lights aren’t essential, however for the higher end aurora photos, where you would like to include some foreground, a good set of Lumecubes does the trick just nicely. They also have settings for long exposure shots so you don’t blow out your histogram.

While I could go on with things like, bear spray, lens cloths, batteries etc. I wanted to make this list as brief and beginner friendly as possible to get you out shooting the aurora ASAP.
With the above list, you should be able to capture stunning aurora photos the next time the lights go off.