Photographing the northern lights - the best tips

The northern lights are a breathtaking natural spectacle. We give you the best tips so that you can take pictures at the right moment.

Photograph the Northern Lights: Pack the right hardware

When you start your journey to the polar regions and have the chance to photograph the Northern Lights, the right hardware should be at hand. We give you a few tips that you should consider:

• Tripod: Due to long exposure times, a tripod is almost indispensable and should definitely be in your luggage for impressive shots. If you have a remote release, you can also use it to avoid blurred images.
• Camera: In theory, you can use any camera for the Northern Lights photos - but a model with a changeable lens is optimal.
• Lens: We recommend a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 10 to 24 mm and an aperture of up to 2.8. You should definitely set the focus to infinite manually and deactivate the autofocus for safety.
• Memory cards: When taking pictures, you should generally make sure that you use several memory cards. This ensures that if a card is defective, you have not lost all the pictures.
• Batteries: Batteries discharge faster, especially in such cold areas. Therefore, you should definitely take several charged batteries with you. Tip: carry the batteries as close as possible to your body so that they are kept warm and do not discharge yourself so quickly.

Photographing the Northern Lights: The right camera settings

Before you capture the Northern Lights with your camera, you should consider the following settings. Pay attention not only to the correct settings, but also to the correct composition. This gives the northern lights a great connection to nature around them.

• File format: If possible, set the RAW mode on your camera. This gives you more options afterwards to get the best out of the recordings. Most SLR cameras even support simultaneous RAW and JPEG recordings.
• Focus: Be sure to disable autofocus and manually set it to infinity.
• Flash: You should definitely switch off the flash, since it mostly hinders the recordings.
• Aperture and ISO: Set the aperture as small as possible so that the aperture is wide open. You should also keep the ISO number as low as possible with values ​​between 100 and 400.
• Shutter speed: A slow shutter speed of around 10 seconds is recommended to record the natural spectacle. However, you should vary the shutter speeds and find out for yourself what time you need for the optimal photo.