SIX TIPS TO SHOOT THE AURORA

Photographer Jeremy Mac Knott has this advice:

1

Always dress for the weather. You have to insulate yourself in the cold so you don’t freeze and hamper your experience. Nothing is worse than standing outside when the night sky erupts … but you’re too cold to shoot it.

2

Use a tripod. You are shooting in the dark with long exposure times so any movement will ruin your photo.

3

Find the right location. If you want the best experience, scout out locations that have minimal to no light pollution from the city.

4

Make sure you know your camera. You will need to shoot in manual mode with manual focus. Not knowing your camera can turn the experience into a frustrating waste of time.

5

Acquire the right lens. Make sure that you have a wide-angle lens with a fast aperture to capture the lights. A 14mm to 24mm lens with at least an f2.8 rating is recommended to decrease exposure time and reduce the amount of grain in your photo.

6

Go to your location armed with patience and some thought in terms of composing your shot. Sure, one in a million shots can happen, but if you take the time to scout, plan, persevere and wait for the moment when you know you got it … you’ve opened a whole new world of what is possible when photographing the miraculous solar flares we call the northern lights.