5 tips for taking photos of the Northern Lights
You no longer have to travel to cold places such as Finland and Norway to see the Northern Lights: nowadays you can also spot them in the Netherlands. At least, often it is mainly your technology that can really perceive it. With these five tips you can shoot beautiful pictures of the green light play in the air.
Contents
1. Use an app
The Northern Lights are not something that is ‘hunted’ for nothing. It changes constantly: then it is, then it is not. The predictions in the field of Northern Lights chances also fluctuate quite a bit. It is therefore advisable to download an app that can help you predict whether you can see the aurora borealis. Apps like My Aurora Forecast and Norway Lights are ideal. So don’t look in the morning and then don’t look anymore. Even in the foggy times, the beautiful light can suddenly be seen above your winter sports destination (or just your home). Check the apps in the evening, because between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. you seem to have the most aurora chances.
The Northern Lights are always moving: don’t give up!
2. Realize that you often can’t see it with the naked eye
Everyone knows the beautiful pictures of that green Northern Lights: the light jumps out of the otherwise often somewhat dark pictures, phenomenal. But, what not everyone knows is that you don’t see that light that way with the naked eye. Very occasionally it is possible, but you see the light especially well by using your smartphone or photo camera. You often see something vibrating in the air with the naked eye, but sometimes it even shows as a kind of elongated white cloud. However, if you aim your camera at it with the right settings, a nice green cast will appear in your photo just like that.
This photo was taken with Huawei Mate 20 Pro.
3. Play with the shutter speed
‘The right settings’, we just wrote it. There are some things that you absolutely must try, and others that you should leave out. Flash? That makes little sense, the Northern Lights benefit from low light, which is also why you often see them best in a place where there is little light pollution (so rather the forest than a city). The best way to photograph the Northern Lights is with a slow shutter speed. Pro versions of smartphones often have options for this, although there are also apps that can help you set a slower shutter speed. It’s not that the longer the shutter speed, the better: it’s best to experiment for yourself what will be the most beautiful. The same goes for the ISO.
This photo was taken with OnePlus 10 Pro.
4. Use a tripod
As you experiment, you will probably discover that such a slow shutter speed has a disadvantage: you have to stay still for a very long time. Not everyone succeeds (especially if you are shivering from the cold). That is why it is advisable to bring a tripod, or a chair, or if necessary, use the shoulder of your travel companion. That way you have a better chance of getting a good photo, although it is certainly possible to make something beautiful without a tripod. It gets better faster with a tripod and speed is sometimes essential when shooting the aurora.
Would have been nicer with a tripod.
5. Think about your battery
In the Netherlands we don’t suffer from it, but in cold areas the temperature sometimes drops to -20, -30 degrees Celsius and then you don’t just want to stay outside for too long because of the freezing of your nose and fingers, but your phone is also not necessarily very happy with that cold. Heat causes a battery to wear out sooner, but cold causes it to drain faster. Especially if you have an older device that is already struggling with battery life, it can really go completely empty in a few minutes if you keep it out of your pocket for too long. The tips? Bring a power bank, keep your phone in your inner pocket as much as possible and possibly put a plastic cover around it (metal and glass get cold faster).
An extra tip: set your screen lighting high when viewing Northern Lights photos: sometimes it’s quite subtle.
This series has already published tips for taking iris photos and how to take good photos of food, plus how to capture the mountains on winter sports. Also listen to our podcast about photography:
Have you ever taken photos of the Northern Lights? How did it go? Tell it in the comments.
