Skills of shooting beautiful aurora

"The aurora that touches the soul, the galaxy dotted on the ice lake, and the volcano erupting in the distance make people feel suffocated. I went to Iceland so many times just to shoot and wait for you. Fortunately, I met the biggest sunspot eruption in eleven years, which bloomed over the North Pole and brightly lit up the night sky. The red light of the volcano sparkled on the ice lake. This is the shock of nature! The most extreme scene! "

In Finnish, the northern lights are "the fire of the fox"? The meaning of. Ancient Finns believed that there was a magical fox running in the snow. Its tail rolled up snowflakes and reflected them in the moonlight. The magical colors reflected in the beautiful Northern Lights.

On cloudy days, the aurora reflected into the lake through thin clouds and Lan Bing.

Looking for the Northern Lights is the theme I have been pursuing. I have gone deep into the Arctic Circle ten times, waiting in the freezing cold below zero and searching in the dark. I have tried all my efforts, just waiting for her to catch a glimpse in the air.

Fortunately, all my efforts were not in vain. I have also seen the aurora in different places, at different levels and in different colors. Every time I feel that this is my dialogue with the soul of the universe.

How to shoot the aurora?

About how to shoot the aurora, in addition to my own shooting experience, I also collected some information, which you can refer to together:

First of all, we need to know the formation and appearance time of aurora.

Aurora is mainly due to the fact that the plasma mass ejected by the sun passes through the earth, is attracted by the magnetic field of the north and south poles, and then reacts with molecules in the earth's atmosphere to emit light.

time

1) Aurora appears at the peak.

The timing of shooting the aurora is very important, especially when the aurora is at its peak. The appearance of aurora is related to sunspot activity, and the sunspot activity cycle is generally 1 1 year.

2) season

Of course, the best season to watch the aurora is winter, because summer may be in a state of permanent daytime or long sunshine in the Arctic and Antarctic. Aurora is very weak. Even the aurora is hard to see during the day. So the best viewing season is10-March.

location

Generally speaking, it is near the South Arctic Circle. Famous places to watch the aurora are Alaska, northern Canada, northern Norway, Lapland, Finland, Iceland, southern Greenland and the Siberian coast of Russia.

It also depends on the intensity of the aurora burst. If there is a big explosion, it can be seen as far away as Britain, the United States and even Hokkaido, Japan. Of course, if there are dark clouds, it will affect the viewing of the aurora.

How to shoot the aurora?

Simply put, you only need a tripod and a long-exposure camera to shoot the aurora, and then you have to wait and try for a long time, not afraid of the wind and rain.

The volcano in the distance, the fire in your hand.

1) equipment selection

It is best to shoot the aurora with a wide-angle lens with a large aperture, preferably below 24mm or 28 mm. Of course, the price of a large aperture lens below 24mm is also considerable ... Generally speaking, 15mm? The focal length of 28 mm is good, and the aperture above f/2.8 is best. If the focal length is too long, only a part can be photographed. Aurora photos are better than landscapes or buildings.

Looking at the Milky Way Aurora

2) exposure value

There is no fixed setting for shooting aurora. Because the brightness of the aurora is constantly changing, and the aurora has no fixed pattern, sometimes it flutters like a curtain blown by the wind, and sometimes it passes from right to left like a rainbow. So? How to shoot and what effect you want depends on the brightness and moving speed at that time.

However, there are roughly the following ranges: at ISO ISO 400, the aperture value is f/2, and the exposure time is about 15 seconds, which is about two levels before and after exposure value.

Overall situation:

O 800+f/2.8+ 15s

Arsine O 1600+f/2.8 +8s

A slow-moving, dark or invisible aurora:

ISO 400 + f/2 +30s

ISO 800+f/2.8+30 seconds

O 1600+f/2.8+ 15s

When there is still some light in the evening:

Arsine O 400+f/2.8+ 10

ISO 800 + f/2.8 +5s

Of course, the higher the ISO, the greater the noise, which is a trade-off. If the aurora moves slowly, you can use a longer exposure time. If it moves fast, you want to capture its dynamics. It can only shorten the exposure time, that is, it is necessary to improve the ISO sensitivity or use a larger aperture value.

I never wanted to give up on my search for the Northern Lights.

On the last night in Lapland, everyone fell asleep. I decided to take my tripod for a walk. I only brought a camera and a spare lens. The lights in town are very bright. I walked all the way to the edge of town. Suddenly I found a touch of green light on the horizon, ran towards the aurora, and put a tripod in sight. Set a good point, climb the snowdrift, and the purple-green aurora in the distance suddenly floated up, hovering over my head, getting stronger and stronger, feeling calling me.

On that day, I put away my tripod and went back to the hotel to watch the aurora erupt for the second time. I was afraid it was too early to open the tripod and put the camera on the ground, so I made a Y in a hurry.

When a dream suddenly came true, someone asked me if I would get lost. I really didn't! The completion of one dream indicates the beginning of the next, doesn't it?

Iceland, my distant place, is a cold fairyland. I love her loneliness and explosiveness. I want to feel her spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the aurora in the extreme day.

In the quiet moonlight, the seals leaned out of the ice and the aurora floated in the starry sky.

We took a couple to Finland. In order to shoot the aurora in the starry sky for them, we drove for several hours overnight and booked a local bus to find the aurora.

A group of people with girls and sisters have no snow driving experience, no international driver's license, and some are serious road idiots. However, they rented a business car and didn't care about eating. They brought several bags of snacks, a case of beer and got on the bus. Towards the Arctic Circle, relying on an all-English GPS, we will continue to look for the Northern Lights in Iwalo, which is a few hundred kilometers away from Iwalomi.

Of course, there are many, many times, no aurora night, no stars, only the biting cold wind and the loneliness of the Arctic Circle.

Looking for the Northern Lights is a difficult road. Only persistence and faith can support my dream of a green Northern Lights above my head.