How to Photograph the Northern Lights

Identifying the Northern Lights

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Is it a cloud? Or is that a bucket-list busting borealis before your eyes?

 

Your camera is much more sensitive than your eyes, so if you think you see a diffuse grey-green glow on the northern horizon—known as the “forest fire”—but you're unsure, take an image with your camera to check. Even a feint display will look far greener on in a photo than what you actually witnessed. A raging display above your head is unmistakable.

Composing the shot

You need foreground. Sure, point your camera—fitted with absolutely any lens—up at the sky and you'll get some Northern Lights.

 

However, only a wide-angle will get you an image that isn't just some green in the sky. Shots like these just look like green clouds.

 

A better option is to shoot a great landscape image of a hut, a boat, a lake, a mountain or a forest with the Northern Lights in the background. You may have to get “under” your subject and shoot up.