Iceland in December - How to photograph the Northen Lights
Discussion
Worth taking a look on flickr at some of the northern lights pics and their exif settings. I'm way off being an expert on this subject but the common recipe seems to be wide angle, big aperture, high iso and long exposures. The more successful ones are carefully composed with some foreground interest and attention paid to focusing.
The 18-55 lens might not be such a bad option for this stuff. It's f/3.5 at 18mm which is reasonably wide and reasonably fast but I have no idea if it's sharp at that aperture. Remember to turn vr off when you're on a tripod and you'll almost certainly want to stick to manual focus as the AF will hunt all over the place. If you can, I'd suggest beg, stealing or borrowing a Tokina 11-16 2.8 or a samyang 14mm 2.8 but the kit lens will likely do an okay job if the purse strings are closed.
As mentioned, a sturdy tripod and head will be a must.
The D3200 should work well at high ISO so don't be too shy on that front. You'll probably want a remote cable trigger that has a timer function or at least a lockable trigger. The camera can then be used in bulb mode.
On a practical note, consider some decent fingerless or thin gloves that allow you to operate the camera without removing them and a head torch to see what you're doing. And very warm clothes as you'll be standing still for a long time.
The 18-55 lens might not be such a bad option for this stuff. It's f/3.5 at 18mm which is reasonably wide and reasonably fast but I have no idea if it's sharp at that aperture. Remember to turn vr off when you're on a tripod and you'll almost certainly want to stick to manual focus as the AF will hunt all over the place. If you can, I'd suggest beg, stealing or borrowing a Tokina 11-16 2.8 or a samyang 14mm 2.8 but the kit lens will likely do an okay job if the purse strings are closed.
As mentioned, a sturdy tripod and head will be a must.
The D3200 should work well at high ISO so don't be too shy on that front. You'll probably want a remote cable trigger that has a timer function or at least a lockable trigger. The camera can then be used in bulb mode.
On a practical note, consider some decent fingerless or thin gloves that allow you to operate the camera without removing them and a head torch to see what you're doing. And very warm clothes as you'll be standing still for a long time.
Edited by Gad-Westy on Thursday 20th August 12:44
The few I've taken (well southern rather than northern) have been around 12mm/f4/30s/ISO1600, with reasonable results but room for improvement:
Aurora Australis by Ben, on Flickr
Should give you some idea where to start with settings.
Aurora Australis by Ben, on FlickrShould give you some idea where to start with settings.
Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 20th August 11:02
My default settings were 30secs, f 2.8, or as wide as you can get and then play with the ISO ramping up from 400 to anywhere around 2000 ISO. Definitely tripod and make sure you push the tripod firmly into the ground to start with.
Completely agree on the suggestion of a little torch, not too bright, to make sure you can see your camera controls in the dark. A number of the head torches come with a red filter / lens so you can light things up without destroying your night vision.
You are likely to need to manual focus as AF won't have anything to lock onto. If shooting at infinity, handy to focus on infinity looking through the viewfinder before all the light disappears and then a bit of tape to secure the focus ring so it doesn't shift later in the evening.
A foreground object or mountain for interest is nice, basically something to give the lights scale.
Spare battery - kept nice and warm in an inside pocket always handy
Very likely to need to edit afterwards as the lights normally record a lot more dimly than you perceive them with the eye so really push for as much exposure as you can in camera to make you need less adjustment in editing.
Warmth - good boots, good hat, good coat, go for two pairs of gloves, thick outers with a thin lining glove that you can still wear whilst operating the camera.
If you are lucky enough to see the lights make sure you take the time to just look at them as well as photograph them. What you don't get with photos is the movement of them across they sky which can be amazing to see and remember.
If in Reykjavik, up on the hill next to the Perlan restaurant is a spot you can use without too much light pollution and you can do a double exposure there for the lights. Otherwise get out of town for darker skies.
Enjoy Iceland, so far it's one of my favourite places. The Icelanders are completely bonkers, but in a good way
Chris
Northern lights 2 by CVP1, on Flickr
Northern lights 1 by CVP1, on Flickr
Completely agree on the suggestion of a little torch, not too bright, to make sure you can see your camera controls in the dark. A number of the head torches come with a red filter / lens so you can light things up without destroying your night vision.
You are likely to need to manual focus as AF won't have anything to lock onto. If shooting at infinity, handy to focus on infinity looking through the viewfinder before all the light disappears and then a bit of tape to secure the focus ring so it doesn't shift later in the evening.
A foreground object or mountain for interest is nice, basically something to give the lights scale.
Spare battery - kept nice and warm in an inside pocket always handy
Very likely to need to edit afterwards as the lights normally record a lot more dimly than you perceive them with the eye so really push for as much exposure as you can in camera to make you need less adjustment in editing.
Warmth - good boots, good hat, good coat, go for two pairs of gloves, thick outers with a thin lining glove that you can still wear whilst operating the camera.
If you are lucky enough to see the lights make sure you take the time to just look at them as well as photograph them. What you don't get with photos is the movement of them across they sky which can be amazing to see and remember.
If in Reykjavik, up on the hill next to the Perlan restaurant is a spot you can use without too much light pollution and you can do a double exposure there for the lights. Otherwise get out of town for darker skies.
Enjoy Iceland, so far it's one of my favourite places. The Icelanders are completely bonkers, but in a good way
Chris
Northern lights 2 by CVP1, on FlickrNorthern lights 1 by CVP1, on FlickrGassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff