Many people across the globe have seen their first ever auroras this year. The Sun has been particularly active, causing multiple geomagnetic storms that made auroras visible much farther south than usual. The same thing is happening in the southern hemisphere, with auroras visible farther north. Aurora photos are all over social media. The photo above was taken by a good friend, and professional photographer, from southern Wisconsin. It’s a 3.2 s exposure at ISO 12,500 using a smartphone camera.
The auroras (or aurorae, depending on your geek index) will likely continue in the near term, according to NOAA. Daily forecasts can be seen here. I’m a little too far south here in Arizona to see much auroral activity, but I’ve seen enough interest online to compel this post. So if you want to get a great aurora photo, do this:
- First, realize that with today’s smartphones, their integral cameras are more than needed for great aurora photos. They can rival high-end digital SLRs with special lenses and filters. They can see light that your eye’s can’t, in terms of wavelength and intensity.
- You’ve got to get to a dark location. Your backyard in an urban environment will be polluted by scattered light. All it takes is a neighbor’s yard light, nearby streetlights, or the glow of a city on the horizon, to limit the length of your camera’s exposure. And you’ll need a longer exposure to capture an aurora. So consider driving to a more pristine location — many national and state parks have done a great job of curbing light pollution.
- For a long exposure you should also have a tripod-mounted camera. If you already have a tripod, all you need is a camera-tripod adapter. You can find them for under $10. They have the standard 1/4-inch-20 UNC thread. And they allow you to shoot at any angle between portrait and landscape, allowing you to best frame the photo. And as you can see, the can be adjusted hold a wide variety of smartphones:
- Most any tripod will work, even those short models that are designed for tabletops. The important thing is to be able to point the camera at whatever part of the sky (usually north for auroras) you want to capture. The pros suggest including some foreground objects, like trees or mountains if possible, to provide a sense of scale and visual interest. I have not captured any auroras to date, but this is the setup I’d use:
- You don’t want to touch the camera to take a photo … vibrations from the touch will take time to die down and will blur the image. Instead, set your camera to respond to verbal commands. Even my old Galaxy S9 allows me to speak the word “shoot” or “smile” or “cheese” to activate the camera.
- Depending on the darkness at your site, bracket your exposure and ISO values. Digital photos and memory are cheap, and as long as you’ve done all this prep, best to maximize your chance for that perfect shot. You’re going to need exposures of multiple seconds, and ISOs above 10,000 for the best results.
So good luck with your aurora hunting! Send me your favorite shot, and I’ll do a slideshow of reader submissions in a future post. Happy Holidays!
Next Week in Sky Lights ⇒ Seeing Through the Sombrero