In this article I will share 6 easy tips to make you ready to capture the northern lights for the first time. If you own a camera and live somewhere in the northern hemisphere you can get photos like these . Just follow these basic tips and you will be ready to capture your first northern light photos.

1.Use a Tripod

Utilizing a tripod is necessary if you want to shot sharp photos of the northern lights. Most tripods will do, but the more stable the better.

2.Use a camera that has manual settings

To capture the northern light you will have to put your camera in mannual mode. This is because the northern lights are only visible in the dark at night. A typical setting for capturing the aurora borealis would be 6sec exposure with a ISO at 3200 and the aperture as open( low number) as your lens will allow. ( these settings are meant as a starting point and will vary depending on your camera and how strong the northern lights are)

3 find a place with little or no light pollution.

Too shot photos of the northern lights ,find a place where there are no light pollution. The less light pollution, the stronger the northern lights will appear 

4.Use a wireless camera remote

If you touch your shutter button , this will lead to camera shake and blury images , you can also use a 2 second delay if you don’t have a camera remote.I use the håhnel capture module timer , that works very good for me.

5.Shot in Raw format

Shooting in raw will give you much more room to work on your photo in a photo editing app. 

6.include an interesting foreground element in your image.

Finding a nice subject to put in front of your camera will make your photo of the aurora more interesting and add some depth to the photo. In nightscape and northern lights photography composition is just as important as in daytime photography.

Did you like this article, find it usefull or maybe you got somthing to add? Don’t hesitate to drop a comment or write me an email and share your thoughts.