Photography and Photo Tours: Specializing in Alaska's Wild Lands & Wild Life
With last nights forecasted aurora activity, I was on a mission to scout out new locations to photograph one of the greatest shows on earth. Clear skies were also supposed to coincide with the northern lights, so I headed north on the Glenn Highway, out of Palmer and towards the Matanuska Glacier area. Initially, wind buffeted my car while paralleling the Matanuska River and several snow drifts had riddled the road, making the driving sketchy at best. Upon passing the Matanuska Glacier, the wind calmed and a flicker of light began etching it’s way across the eastern sky. As I watched in awe, the flicker became a flame – licking its way across the blackness of a wilderness night sky. I found a location to pull off the road and set up my tripod. I began shooting around 1:15 am, the aurora didn’t really blossom into their full regalia until nearly 2:00. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, they faded into a quiet night. I decided to start the 1 hour + drive home.
But as is usually the case, the aurora hadn’t quite decided to call it a night. As I passed by the Matanuska Glacier once again, the sky erupted in green. What had been a slight green haze quickly turned into a wildfire of light arcing above a mountain filled landscape. I pulled over several times, taking several more photographs as opportunities. My favorite image of the morning came as my last exposure. Ribbons of green and magenta arced their way over Long Lake where the ice reflected back a mint green glow. All in all, I made nearly 50 exposures and arrived home around 6 am. A long, bitterly cold night – but highly rewarding. It’s nights like these that really make me appreciate my surroundings, the beautiful Alaskan wild, and the amazing things mother nature can display for you – if you’re only willing to brave the environment.
Tip 1 – Don’t leave home without having your camera set for opportunities ahead. When I was packing up early this morning to head out on the road in search of the elusive aurora, I configured my camera so I wouldn’t have to fumble around in the dark in the heat of the moment (or in this case – the cold of the moment). I grabbed the two lenses I knew would work best, formatted my CF card to free up all it’s space, set my aperture/shutter speed/ISO, and set my lens to manual focus. I also extended my tripod legs to optimum height. Lastly, before leaving, I verified my camera settings were correct (mainly that I was set for RAW capture) and that I had fresh batteries and my cable release. Each of these steps allowed me to be ready at a moments notice to start shooting, and then make slight adjustments on the fly – key to getting the decisive moment shots.
Tip 2 – For aurora photography, I have a standard starting point and then make necessary adjustments as the circumstances dictate. First, you need a tripod, it’s imperative – you simply cannot hand hold 15 second + exposures. You also need a cable release – I use one as often as I can with all of my photography. It reduces camera shake produced when you press the shutter button – and, like a tripod, it helps to slow you down and be more deliberate with your compositions. If you have the time, take the time. Exposure wise, aurora photography with a digital camera is fairly straight forward. Your aperture should be wide open – preferably f4 or lower. On my lenses, f4 is the widest aperture I can set. Shutter speeds can vary, but I usually start with either 15 or 20 seconds depending on the intensity of the aurora. Shutter speed is the trade-off in northern lights photography; shorter exposures (faster shutter speeds) can freeze the often fast motion of active aurora displays but can also capture displays that are less vivid. Longer exposures are typically more vivid, capture a wider range of colors (magentas and reds, if present), but also less definition if the aurora are moving quickly. Imagine you are photographing water, a fast shutter speed captures sharp detail and stops motion, whereas a longer exposure creates a blur of light, color, and motion. It really is a subjective matter, and the only way to get what you want is to experiment with different combinations. Some of my favorite aurora images have been captured with shutter speeds of around 20-25 seconds. Your film speed (or ISO) should be set high, probably 800 or so. Some of today’s newer cameras (like Canon’s 40D, 5D, 1D Mark 3, or 1Ds Mark 3, and Nikons D300 and D3) have such great high ISO performance that settings of 1250 and 1600 are viable options to give you shorter shutter speeds. Today’s digital imaging programs (like Adobe’s Photoshop CS 3 and Lightroom, and noise reduction programs like Noise Ninja and Neat Image) can totally eliminate noise from high ISO images, leaving you images that are velvety smooth and loaded with detail.
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[...] and build momentum. I started slowly. The first post was back in February of 2008. It involved the Aurora Borealis and how to photograph it. Didn’t post anything for 4 months… not exactly how I’d recommend that you build [...]