How to Photograph Auroras
“There are worlds of experience beyond the world of the aggressive man, beyond history, and beyond science. The moods and qualities of nature and the revelations of great art are equally difficult to define; we can grasp them only in the depths of our perceptive spirit” –Ansel Adams
Photo Credit: https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7412/28000029525_9a07cdb35a_b.jpg
This image of a swirling blue aurora around Jupiter’s northern pole was captured by The Hubble Telescope and released by NASA on June 30, 2016.
So what are auroras? And how do they form?
Auroras are the spectacular displays of light that form around magnetic poles, or the northern and southern tips of a planet. This light show occurs because a planet is blanketed in a magnetosphere, or an invisible plasma that oozes with charged particles like electrons and protons. As shown in the diagram below, when a planet’s magnetosphere is hit with beams of solar radiation, or currents of even more high-energy particles emitted by the sun, all the charged particles move together either upwards or downwards towards the planet’s poles and then filter into a tail behind the planet.
Photo Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Magnetosphere_rendition.jpg
Through this process, the particles shift into a lower energy state, losing their charge and emitting light of various colors and forms. Note: The diagram above is a dramatization of this process and does not accurately represent the colors or forms of auroras you would see.
What do I need to capture photos of auroras on a digital camera?
You will need three things: your camera (don’t forget batteries or your charger), a tripod, and…
…patience! Prepare to take at least 1,000 shots in the cold, northern night because this phenomena exhibits complex, unpredictable behavior. The best time to see auroras is around midnight between late August until mid-April in the northern hemisphere. Oftentimes, auroras can resemble faint lightening flashes, or even bright fireworks—think about how light appears in patches, pulsations, streams and flares. Ultimately, you know an aurora ends when a small arc, called a “breakup”, rips across the sky, as seen in the image below of the Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, in Norway.
Photo Credit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8511/8447868825_0d5cc74e6b_b.jpg
These three camera aspects are key: shutter speed, lens aperture, and ISO.
Slow shutter speed means a longer exposure while a quick shutter speed means a very short exposure. Start with 15-20 seconds of exposure and keep in mind that a bit of overexposure can make your photographs appear more vividly saturated with color. Additionally, a cable release can be helpful for releasing a shutter for long exposure without touching the camera.
The lens aperture measures how much light is admitted into the camera. Start with a lens aperture of f/2.8, but consider shifting it to as high as f/5.6. For the lens itself, you may want a wide-angle lens because autofocus lenses may not best ones for focusing on moving phenomena.
ISO is the sensitivity of the camera’s photo cells, which typically ranges on a scale from 200 to 6400. This relates to the amount of time it takes to capture a photo, which is anywhere from 1/2 to 1/64 second. Start with an ISO of 1600, or 1/16 second to capture.
You can find an excellent, in-depth discussion on this topic from LiveScience’s Kate Goldblum on “How to Photograph the Northern Lights”.
Be sure to check out “Ansel Adams’ Jupiter Terrace” and “Ansel Adams: The Making of Moon and Half Dome!
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