Alaska Aurora Hunting DVD
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Photographing the Aurora
To photograph the aurora a tripod is a must. Exposure times are typically 5-to-30 seconds, depending on the speed of the lens and the ISO setting you're using. A wide-angle lens (14mm-35mm) with an f-stop of f2.8 or faster (f2.0, f1.8, etc) is preferred. For both film and digital an ISO setting of 200 or 400 is best. At ISO 800 and higher the image becomes very grainy/noisy... but it's better than nothing! A black picture means that it is under-exposed. If you have a digital camera just keep lengthening the exposure time or raising the ISO setting until something shows up on the LCD display. If you are shooting film, bracket the heck out of the exposure times for insurance. A ballpark setting for a fairly bright aurora would be: 15-second exposure, 28mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 200.
Practice your nighttime photography at home shooting the stars or the neighborhood streetlights. If you get lucky with the aurora you don't want to be stressing out on a camera. You want to be able to breathe deep and take in the whole experience. Patience and warm cloths help, too. The aurora is not related to air temperature, but clear skies usually mean chilly nights. Dress for success.
Good Luck & Happy Aurora Hunting!
