Photographing the Aurora Boreralis: How to Shoot the Northern Lights

196 Pages·2016·5.1 MB·English

by  Long Andy.

Photographing the
Aurora Borealis
By Andy Long
How to Shoot the Northern Lights
Written and Published By:
Andy Long; www.firstlighttours.com Version 1 © Copyright 2013 Andy Long;
First Light Photography, LLC
A ll photos by the author unless otherwise indicated.
C redits:
N OAA; http://helios.swpc.noaa.gov/ovation/
U niversity of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute; http://www.
gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast
h ttp://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit2/phases. html
Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia
http://www. blogcatelog.com
http://www. spaceweather.com
http://www. sportsmedicine.about.com
http://www.nightskystation.com
http://www.the-digital-picture.com
http://www.freegraphicdownload.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without prior written
consent from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a
review. You may store the pdf file on your computer. You may print one copy of
this book for your personal use.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s
experience, knowledge and opinions. The author will not be held liable for the
use or misuse of the information in this book.
Thank you - I’d like to thank Steve Rew, Bob Dean, and Betty Holling for their
work with editing the book. You found things I missed and helped clean it up
making it a better read for everyone.
Contents
Credits and Copyright.................................... 2
About the Author.......................................... 4
About this Book............................................. 5
UNDERSTANDING THE AURORA .........6
Legends of the Aurora............................. 7
History of the Aurora............................... 8
What is the Aurora? ................................ 9
Colors of the Aurora.............................. 14
Shapes of the Aurora............................. 19
Predicting the Aurora............................ 24
More Aurora FAQ................................... 26
Can it be Seen When Cloudy................. 27
Visible with Full Moon?......................... 28
Where to See the Aurora....................... 29
North American Viewing....................... 30
GETTING YOU AND YOUR CAMERA READY
.............................................31
Boots ..................................................... 32
Lower Layers.......................................... 33
Outer Layers.......................................... 35
Food and Drink...................................... 36
Wrapping it Up...................................... 36
Camera Accessories..................................... 37
Tripods................................................... 37
Tripod Heads.......................................... 38
Remote Releases................................... 39
Batteries ................................................ 39
Filters..................................................... 40
Tape....................................................... 40
Memory Cards....................................... 40
Your Camera in the Cold........................ 45 Camera
Bodies............................................. 46 Point and Shoots ...................................
51 Lenses.......................................................... 52 What Lens Should I
Use?....................... 52 Lens Options.......................................... 53 Why a Fast
Lens..................................... 53 Renting a Lens ....................................... 53 Lens
Aperture........................................ 55 ISO...............................................................
56 Camera and Lens Play a Role................. 57 Auto
ISO................................................. 57 What’s My Best ISO?.............................
57 Noise and Noise Reduction ................... 62 Other Camera Settings
................................ 63 RAW vs. JPEG......................................... 63 White
Balance ....................................... 63 Image Stabilization................................ 63
Self-Timer.............................................. 63 LCD
Brightness....................................... 63 LCD Review............................................
63 Drive Mode............................................ 64 Exposure Mode
..................................... 64 Metering Mode ..................................... 64 Mirror
Lockup........................................ 65 Auto-Focus Points.................................. 65
Viewfinder............................................. 65 Date and Time
Stamp............................ 65 Cover LCD Light...................................... 65 Check
and Clean Sensor.............................. 66 Know Your
Camera...................................... 67
SHOOTING THE AURORA .................68
Flashlight............................................... 40
Painting with Light................................. 42
Your Camera at Night .................................. 44
Focusing Your Lens ................................ 69 Setting Correct
Exposure....................... 71 The Aurora Histogram ........................... 73 Don’t
Know What to Expect.................. 77 Planning................................................. 81
Foreground............................................ 82 Test Shots
Foreground............................................ 82 Test Shots
.............................................. 85 Accentuating Form................................ 87
Props...................................................... 88 Night Sky Pollution
................................ 89 The Moon and the Aurora..................... 93
Moonlight.............................................. 94 Moon Phase and Time
Sample.............. 98 Persistence ............................................ 99 Shooting
Etiquette............................... 101
IMAGE PROCESSING ......................102
Walking Through the Workflow........... 103
Repairing Vignetting............................ 104
White Balance Examples..................... 106
Exposure and Blacks............................ 107
Saturation............................................ 109
Sharpening .......................................... 110
Luminance (Noise Reduction).............. 111
Image Processing Steps - No Moon..... 113
Image Processing Steps - Moon........... 117
Preparing a Finished Product .............. 121
Creating a Time Lapse ......................... 122
Creating Star Trails............................... 124
Bring out the Milky Way...................... 128
Single Shot HDR................................... 130
Revealing Camera Problems................ 133
REFERENCES AND RESOURCES .................135
Checklist.............................................. 136
Take Time to Enjoy............................... 137
Choosing an Aurora Workshop............ 138
Learn More.......................................... 139
About the Author
Growing up in Florida, Andy Long
started his career in sports photogra
phy and writing, but a job opportunity
in Jackson, Wyoming, opened his eyes
to the world of wildlife and nature
photography. After several more
years of sports work back in Florida,
he made the move to Colorado to
fully concentrate on wildlife and na
ture and has not looked back.
After a few years of delving into the
world of nature photography he has
now been leading photo workshops
around the world since 1994 and is a
featured writer for several print and
online photography publications.
He has been published in more than 40 different publications and books
as well as in National Geographic and Animal Planet television shows.
Print publications include Alaska Magazine, Birder’s World, Outdoor Life,
View (Germany), Colorado Outdoors, Audubon field guides, Texas Parks
& Wildlife, Nature Photographer, Outdoor Photographer and Montana
Outdoors. He is a winner in the Audubon Share the View contest (aurora
images) and the national RoseWater Network Photographer of the Year.
Like many outdoor photographers, Andy drew a lot of inspiration from
the work of the master - Ansel Adams. One quote of Adams’ has held
true for quite a long time: “Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to
true for quite a long time: “Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to
have someone click the shutter.” With some of the opportunities pro
vided by the northern lights, this quote comes to life.
First Light Photography, LLC
www.firstlighttours.com
www.andylongimages.com
About this Book
Numerous years back while leading an Alaska brown bears workshop, Andy saw
some books of aurora borealis images. He was hooked and a winter trip to
some books of aurora borealis images. He was hooked and a winter trip to
Alaska to photograph the incredible beauty presented on the pages of those
books was soon to follow.
This book is divided into four parts
Part 1: Understanding the Aurora This section provides an understanding of
what the aurora borealis is and how and why we’re able to see it. The discussion
will tell how the various colors come about and describe some of the shapes it
takes as it dances across the sky.
Ever since his initial scouting trip he has been leading workshops yearly to the
far north to let others see, experience and photograph this amazing phenomenon.
While his true love is wildlife, Andy will tell you his favorite thing to see and
photograph is the northern lights. His passion of teaching others about the aurora
can now reach more people through this book.
Come take a journey to see some beautiful shots of the aurora and learn how you
can take shots like this when (not if) offered the chance to visit an area where the
sky comes alive with color. When you want to experience this, visit Andy’s
website and sign up for a northern lights workshop and let him take you to the
best spots possible and personally teach you.
Images in this Book
As a Canon shooter, most images were shot with a Canon 5D Mark III or a 1Ds
Mark II with multiple lenses. All instruction is relevant for any DSLR as a
variety of brands and lenses have been used by workshop participants to take
memorable photographs.
Part 2: Getting You and Your Camera Ready
- As you prepare to go out to photograph the northern lights, you need to get
both your body and camera ready. The last thing you need is to walk outside and
see a great display going on and not have anything ready to take a photo. This
will prepare you both in terms of clothing and what equipment is needed and
how to get it prepared for a night of shooting the aurora.
Part 3: Shooting the Aurora This is the heart of the book where you learn the
why and how of capturing the shots shown throughout these pages. There’s more