Text and Images By Michael Snedic
Recently, aurora activity has been ‘off the charts’! Less than two weeks ago, aurora activity across Australia (and the world) was the best in at least 20 years (Northern auroras are called Aurora Borealis and southern ones are called Aurora Australis). Auroras were seen and photographed in locations that you previously couldn’t imagine – Uluru in the Northern Territory, Mackay in Queensland, Christmas Island and many more locations. Those in the southern parts of Australia, especially Tasmania, are used to auroras but to have them right across Australia was simply awesome. The unbelievable colours and patterns made those nights recently very special moments indeed. I saw a huge number of aurora images posted across social media and there were many great images. There were, unfortunately, quite a few that could have been amazing but the photographers didn’t necessarily know the correct settings and techniques to use. In this article, I will show you the best ways to photograph auroras.
Essential – Using A Tripod
To end up with great shots of an aroura, you need to use a tripod. Sure, there are shots out there with phones and hand-held cameras but by using a tripod for stabilisation is the preferred method. I highly recommend using a sturdy tripod, rather than a Joby GorillaPod or similar. The tripod needs to be on firm ground to minimise camera shake.
Remote or Cable Release
Apart from using a sturdy tripod, it is best to use a remote or cable release to take aurora images. This eliminates any movement that may be created by physically pressing the camera’s shutter button with your finger, especially since we are using quite slow shutter speeds. If you don’t own a remote or cable release, you can use the camera’s timer or, if your camera make and model has the feature available, connect it to an App where you can press the shutter button via your phone.
Recommended Camera Settings
The main problem that arises when photographing auroras arises when photographers who aren’t familiar with the correct settings use ‘normal’ landscape settings (i.e small aperture size, 100 ISO and a reasonably fast shutter speed). For auroras, the settings are opposite to landscape photography. My suggested starting point when using a digital SLR or mirrorless camera is to set your camera to manual mode. Set the camera’s shutter speed to around 15 seconds, the f-stop set to the widest (lowest number) aperture your lens allows, such as f1.8, f2.8 or f4 and the ISO at 1600. Take a few test shots to see the result and if needed, you can tweak the settings for optimal images. If your images are a tad dark, you can either reduce the shutter speed by one stop to 30 seconds or increase the ISO by one stop to 3200. An important point to remember is to not set your shutter speed for longer than 30 seconds, as this can create small arcs in your images due to the movement of the stars.
It takes a bit of ‘trial and error’ but well worth experimenting with your settings in order to capture great shots.
Best Way To Focus
Autofocus won’t work when shooting an aroura, so you need to focus manually. Focus to infinity (furthest away) or manually focus on a star and when it is sharp, you have perfect focus. There’s nothing more frustrating than finding out there is an aurora alert, travelling long distances to get there, waiting for hours for the aurora to be at its best, then realising after you get back home that all of your shots are blurry due to incorrect focusing! As far as lens focal lengths go, I recommend anywhere from 14mm to approximately 50mm. Lenses with a focal length of 14-18mm will give you a wider field of view and preferred if you are wanting to capture quite a large expanse. By the way, don’t forget to pack a headlamp so that you can see what you are doing with your camera!
Find A Foreground Feature
Aurora images can be more interesting by having a foreground feature. This may be a mountain range (such as in the two images shown with this article), an old building, a jetty or a monument. It is definitely worth scouting locations during the day when you can see where you are going and what features you have around you. That way you aren’t fumbling around at night trying to work out where things are.
How To Find Out When The Next Aurora Is Due
There are a number of Aurora Facebook groups worth joining. I personally recommend the Aurora Australis Tasmania group of which I have been a member for many years. They will usually have posts letting people know if there is any activity happening and where. There are also websites such as www.spaceweather.com you can visit that let you know if there are auroras due and what ‘strength’ the solar flares are. One important thing to remember is that even if there is a high alert for an aurora, your best chances for seeing and photographing one is when there is no rain and the skies are clear. That doesn’t mean you can’t photograph one when its cloudy (see my shot featured taken in Coles Bay, Tasmania as an example) as this can add interest in your shot.
More than anything, enjoy the experience and if you achieve great photos of an aurora, that’s simply a bonus!
If you have a passion for wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a small-number, professional photography adventure, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.
