Straight talk: I don’t know how to photograph the aurora. Or at least, I didn’t prior to 2024. But over the course of two incredible solar storms this year (May 10th and October 10th), I gave myself a crash course in aurora photography. And I can tell you one thing for sure: shooting the aurora is damn hard!
You start with the usual challenges of night photography and then add in an unpredictable, fast-moving subject that is not always visible to your bare eye. It’s hard to think of a subject that pushes you and your camera to the limit like the aurora does.
I started my first aurora shoot of the year in a panic, not knowing where to go or what to do. And I quickly learned that panic is not your friend, nor will it result in good images. So I calmed down, learned a bunch, experimented, and finally came home with photos I was happy with.
Here I’d like to share with you the 5 most important lessons I learned as a newbie aurora photographer so that you too can be better prepared, enjoy your next aurora shoot even more, and come home with killer images.
If you want to shoot the aurora, you have to know when it is going to occur. The first thing to do is download an aurora prediction app. There are many available, both free and paid. At an absolute minimum you need one that will show you predicted Kp, which is the strength of the solar wind impacting Earth’s magnetic field. Higher numbers (on a scale from 0 to 9) indicate a stronger storm, as well as give you a rough prediction of where the aurora might be visible. The higher the Kp, the more the aurora will extend into lower latitudes. For reference the May 10 storm was Kp 9, and October 10 was Kp 8.3.
If you want to take it to another level, your app should also show you Bz, which indicates where the solar wind impacts the Earth’s atmosphere. Positive numbers indicate the particles will mostly impact the southern hemisphere, negative numbers mean the particles will impact the northern hemisphere, and 0 means both. This is helpful in predicting how good the chance of seeing an aurora is where you are located.
Good aurora apps will also let you set up alerts when the solar wind reaches certain conditions. For example, here in Lone Pine I have mine set to go off when the Kp is above 7.
However, if you want to avoid the jargon and sciency stuff, I recommend that you simply follow aurora nerds on Instagram. There are experts out there who love providing insight into aurora activity and will often give you clear indications of when you should go out to see the activity.
One of the best I follow is Mark Stewart: https://www.instagram.com/topomountainman
Here’s a great website as well from the University of Alaska with an easy-to-understand forecast: https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast
One of the best ways you can be prepared to photograph the aurora is to know your compositions in advance. Although the shape and color of the aurora is somewhat unpredictable, we generally know where it is going to appear in the sky. If you live in the northern hemisphere generally speaking it will appear in the northern sky, and in the southern hemisphere it will be in the southern sky. (Of course if you live in really high latitudes it can appear anywhere in the sky).
So for us northern hemisphere dwellers, make a list of all north-facing compositions you can think of to the northeast, north, and northwest. That way when there’s a good chance for aurora you already know where to go instead of trying to think of something good on the fly and panicking. Because that’s how you end up with photos of the aurora over a garbage dump instead of over a beautiful mountain. For example, during the May 10th aurora, I took a quick test shot when I arrived in the Alabama Hills and saw that the best aurora was to the northeast. I knew that I could shoot this arch with the NE sky behind it and so was able to quickly get to this spot.
The more potential compositions you have, the better your options will be depending on where the aurora appears, as well as how high in the sky it is.
I can’t think of a better testing ground for your camera knowledge than shooting the aurora. If it’s an active storm, you will need to be able to quickly take test shots to see where the aurora is appearing. You will very likely be changing compositions and focal lengths repeatedly. You will need to zoom to 100% to check and double check focus. You will need to change your ISO and shutter speed quickly depending on the aurora activity and ambient light (if there’s a moon for example).
These kinds of quick technical changes would test your camera agility even during the day, but at night it’s another world altogether. If you don’t know your camera like the back of your hand you will find this to be an exercise in frustration. LEARN YOUR CAMERA, and know it well enough you can do it in the dark.
Here I have a resource to help you: Download my free eBook on the camera settings and skills you need to master to be fluid and confident in the field.
One thing that greatly impacts how the aurora appears in your photos is shutter speed. If the aurora is really active and changing quickly, you need a short shutter speed to capture that. But it’s always a compromise, because the shorter your shutter is, the less overall light you will gather, meaning your photos will be darker and noisier. Conversely, if you use a longer shutter speed, you’ll have a cleaner, brighter image, but you run the risk of the aurora turning into a blur without any definition. You may also end up with unwanted star trails.
My advice is to use the longest shutter speed you can that still allows you to maintain the definition of the aurora. Sometimes you’ll have to keep your shutter speed to just a second or two. Other times the aurora will be stable enough that you can shoot as long as 15-30 seconds without losing definition. But each aurora is different, so you’ll have to experiment with the best shutter for each case.
Because the aurora is constantly changing, brightening and dimming, it’s hard to know when the show is over. Sometimes the lights will dim down for an hour or two, then flare up unexpectedly for 5 minutes. And you don’t want to miss those 5 minutes!
The best thing to do is to simply wait calmly and take a photo every few minutes to see what’s happening. This is especially true when you can’t see the aurora with your bare eye and you need your camera to pick up the colors and shapes. And though it can be a daunting prospect to stay out in the cold waiting for something that might not happen, I found that being prepared made all the difference: Dress warmly, bring a chair, a book, some water, and get rid of any expectations of how long you might shoot. That way you are most prepared for any change in aurora activity.
Shooting the aurora is extremely fun and exciting, if you’re well prepared. Utilize these 5 tips to prepare for your next aurora shoot and you will surely enjoy the experience as much as possible.
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Do you have any great tips that have helped you photograph the aurora? Leave them in the comments below.
Joshua Cripps is a renowned landscape photographer who has garnered worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking images of our planet’s wild places. His photos have been published by the likes of National Geographic, NASA, CNN, BBC, and Nikon Global.
The Mt. Whitney Gallery was founded in 2023 by Joshua Cripps as a way to share his passion stunning landscapes of the Sierra Nevada and beyond.
Set at the foot of the breathtaking Sierra with a view of the range’s highest peaks, the gallery features large format, museum-caliber fine art prints of Josh’s signature photographs.
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10 Responses
First, thanks for what you share and do Joshua, and the way you do so, it’s just pleasant to read your updates. I look forward to them. As to the aurora, all of the comments above are spot on, as are Joshua’s, use them! I live in Anchorage and have been imaging auroras since the slide days, yes, with Kodachrome, 64 or 100. It was fun to see what came back in the yellow box BITD, you just never knew, especially after massive red-aurora storms. But, in the well-established digital age my only offering to make here is that a shorter exposure will allow you to collect some of the aurora curtain folds or ‘pillars’ in the aurora which to me are pretty intriguing and complex. It may be in the Lower 48 the curtain folds aren’t as visible or pronounced, especially in central Cali or elsewhere, but a longer exposure will blend the colors of the curtains as one swatch. Still, it’s a great image and capture, but do experiment with exposure times, 5 to 7 seconds will produce good curtain/pillar effects. Another tip, which you may all know, is headlamp ‘painting’ of objects in the foreground. I’ll keep the shutter open, have the adjustable headlamp on low, and hold my hand over it, remove my hand and ‘paint’ the foreground so it stand out, like fall foliage, or whatever, then cover the headlamp up. It’s an effective way for me to have foreground items show up in the image. Just something fun to do. The good news for all of us is that NASA announced we are in the solar Max, for the next 2-3 years, so lucky us! Happy for all friends out there who are discovering aurora shooting. Nothing like standing out there in the cold clicking away. Hope this helps someone, best and good shooting.
Cheers Steve! I can’t imagine how challenging it was to shoot the aurora on slide film. Must’ve been fun, but expensive though! Great tip on the shutter speed. Thanks.
I happened to see the aurora while spending a week in Churchill, Manitoba in February 2023 – the challenge was I hadn’t expected to see it so I was not prepared. And shooting at -22C (-7.6F) at night was quite a challenge. Battery lasted only 30 minutes and my breath began frosting over the camera back (and wouldn’t unfreeze until I went indoors). Same with my glasses, so I had to use my contacts after the first night of having frosted-over glasses. Also, toward the end of a session my lens began freezing too so I couldn’t recompose any shots. The lesson I learned is putting your lens on infinity did not work for me – my lens needed to dial back a smidge for optimal focus. It took a few nights of trial and error shooting before I finally came up with a plan to go out during the day and pick a spot in the snow where I would set up my tripod at night in the same spot. I planned to also manually focus on some trees or rocks in the scene and then, just like Pat said, mark the lens with tape so that I could go back to the same focus spot at night. After all that planning though, the aurora didn’t appear again before I left. Great tips Josh! Yes, the aurora looks different with the human eye compared to the camera. Many times I saw a greyish smudge that turned out nice in camera once I went ahead and took the shot. And the aurora can move quite fast!
Yowza! Yes, the extra challenge of the cold adds another level of difficulty. Way to persevere and problem solve.
Hello Josh, great tips! I managed to capture the aurora twice this year in the deep south. (MS) Not the best of skies down here, unlike just outside of Lone Pine, but I’m totally amazed. I want to pass on this website on to those looking for an easy aurora forecast monitor. The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF Geophysical Institute) has a great easy to understand forecast page that will convert aurora activity for a given time zone plus activity forecasts for regions such as AK, Europe, North America, etc. Much easier to understand than the geeky UTC conversions required that the astro community forecasts with. The UAF’s info got me on the path, just need to get my comps out of the trash dump. Cheers! http://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast
Thanks Ron. Great page. I added it to the article.
Hey Josh, Great article. This covers a lot. Thank you.
One thing a might add. IF you have two cameras and lenses, set one up for Time Lapses (TL) and the other for experimenting as you discussed above in this article. I found the TL had so many single shots that I can pull out of the sequence and show individually. I have such a great opportunity to capture the aurora at its best in the TL.
That’s a great idea, thanks John.
I go on scouting trips in the daytime out in the country to find some good locations. Then I mark them on the GPS in my car. I prefer to not be guessing where I am going in the pitch dark on a country road! When I know in advance that I am likely going out that evening, I set my camera to manual and also manual focus. I focus it during the daytime on infinity. It is too hard to do that in the dark. Then I stick a little piece of tape on my focus ring so that is doesn’t get moved. I also set my ISO and aperture to something close to what I will want. That way, I can be shooting as soon as I get my tripod set up. I bring a head lamp along and also a plastic bag to throw over my camera if a car happens to go by on the road. I am usually on gravel roads and I don’t want dust getting on my camera or the lens. Also, they say all filters should be removed. They sometimes cause a glare on the photo. So I remove even my clear protective filter.
This next year is supposed to be one of the best years for years to come to view them. So be ready!
Love this! Thanks for the response… fantastic tips.