Beginner Northern lights tips and advice

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chamukov

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Ivan
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Hi there,
I will be going on holiday in Tromso on Monday and I have Nikon D5300. I am still learning how to take photos properly. I wanted to ask for some advices about settings for best results to capture the northern lights. The temperature will be probably -5 degrees not more than -10 degrees celsius. Do you think it is going to be a problem?
Thank you very much!
Ivan
 
Start with a 30 second exposure and the ISO at 100 and a low F stop then go from there.a tripod is a must of course and I usually get the focus sorted then keep it in manual and just adjust the ISO etc to see the results
 
chamukov said:
Hi there,
I will be going on holiday in Tromso on Monday and I have Nikon D5300. I am still learning how to take photos properly. I wanted to ask for some advices about settings for best results to capture the northern lights. The temperature will be probably -5 degrees not more than -10 degrees celsius. Do you think it is going to be a problem?
Thank you very much!
Ivan
Click to expand...

Hi Ivan.
The D5300 will be perfectly fine for your Aurora shooting. The temperature should not affect your battery too much but make sure it is fully charged before you go out and if you have spare then great. Obviously you will need a tripod. A remote release is also good so you can keep your hands warm but not essential. I would recommend using an exposure delay of 2 seconds to help reduce any camera shake. It impossible to give you the correct settings as each shoot will be different. I prefer not to shoot at the widest aperture possible because I like to have a landscape scene with the Aurora above it. Just for arguments sake say the conditions warrant F5 ISO1600 and 6secs. If it is too dark or too light then first off move your ISO accordingly. Try not to have too long a shutter speed because if the Aurora is dancing you could lose some of it's form plus you could get some star movement.
The D5300 may struggle a little with very high ISO so try no to go too far. I would say ISO3200 would be the most I would want to take it. You can of course remove some noise in PP but removing noise loses a certain amount of sharpness and you will only be able to get so much out.
Be careful not to blow the highlights in the Aurora. This is very easily done if they are putting on a good show. I have before used a 2 stop graduated filter 2 balance the sky with the foreground to a more acceptable level.

That's how I work. I realise some of us work differently but it works for me and I have shot them dozens of times.

Also if you have somewhere warm to sit very near where you will be shooting while you're waiting for them to appear then do so. There's no point standing in the freezing night waiting if you don't have to but remember to keep checking.

Hope you get some great shots.
 
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