Shooting the Northern Lights

Alun

I'm off to Lapland on Tuesday on my epic dog-sledding adventure I wrote about a few months back, and currently feeling very nervous about doing irreparable damage to my camera despite all the good advice I got here (it's -25 degrees there at the moment!!).

Anyway, there's a chance I might get to see the Northern Lights (if it's not too cloudy or overcast!), so has anybody got any tips for shooting this kind of thing? Exposure, filters? that kind of thing?

rymus

more or less in the same boat myself too.. going to Canada on Tuesday and being cautiously optimistic that my camera will survive the cold. Bring a tripod anyway! I'd also have a grey card handy to make sure the snow doesnt come out grey. Or shoot in raw and fix when you get home. Dunno about use of filters, maybe just a UV for protection and to stop any moisture from getting at the glass.

Good luck with the trip, hope you get a clear sky for the northern lights!

Alun

Hi Rymus, thanks for that. I'm not sure that taking a tripod will be very practical .. we're travelling pretty light as it is and I'm not sure there'll be room for it. I've got UV filters on all my lenses anyway, so no problem there. Biggest problem, as was pointed out when I asked last time is likel to be condensation forming on the camera when you bring it inside into the warm, so I've got a cople of Ziploc bags for that.

rymus

a small & light tripod? I couldnt even think of bringing my horse of a manfrotto with me but I'll probably get something cheap, small & light when I get over.

Saw a good way of preventing condensation forming recently. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

Calina

rymus enjoy Canada....

Alun, didn't know about your sledding trip - have fun.

Alun

rymus wrote:

Saw a good way of preventing condensation forming recently. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

What I was told was to place the camera in a ziploc bag before you take it indoors, and let it come up to temperature in the bag, say for an hour or two, before taking it out. If I can find a few of those silica gel bags lying around, I may pop a few of those in there too. Better still, leave the camera somewhere cold, but not quite as cold as outside, in a porch or something overnight.

Alun

Calina wrote:

Alun, didn't know about your sledding trip - have fun.

I'll try! I have a nasty suspicion that I'm going to be so busy driving the sled and looking after the dogs that I won't have time to take too many photos

melekalikimaka

http://www.royhooper.ca/articles/aurora.html

that should help ya a bit

Alun

melekalikimaka wrote:

http://www.royhooper.ca/articles/aurora.html

that should help ya a bit

Wow, thanks! That's pretty complete. Only worry is that I doubt I'll manage to take my tripod with me, but I'll try and take my bean bag and find something suitable to rest the camera on. I hadn't realised I'd need such long exposures as that, I guess. Anyway, the weather forecast doesn't look too promising at the moment .. lot's of clouds

Shiny

When I was living in Finland I used this site to see
if there would be northern lights on a given night.
Its very accurate.
ie if there is loads of RED then they will be visible.

Alun

Shiny wrote:

When I was living in Finland I used this site to see
if there would be northern lights on a given night.
Its very accurate.
ie if there is loads of RED then they will be visible.

Which particular site do you mean? There are a few links referenced on the site above, but I can't figure out where on spaceweather.com to look, and the maps on some of the other sites are so tiny, it's difficult to make out.

Shiny

This picture is from this link.
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

Basically when the circle extends over Finland/Sweeden
and when it is at an 8/9 on the scale then you should
get good northern lights.:)

You definately need a tripod.:cool:

Xios

You know, after reading this thread, i looked in the mirror, i nearly **** myself, my face turned green!


*hint* it rhymes with envy, and is spelt the same.

mike_kati

have a good time in lapland, I am off to finland in two weeks time, (my 3rd trip in 12 weeks). Its getting very cold in Nth finland, last week it was -39C.

enjoy

pics

www.celticweb.eu (here are some of my pics)

Shiny

I dont see any pictures from finland on that site.

Last time I took photos of northern lights it was
-35 and the plastic on my cheapo tripod shattered!!!:eek:

I covered my camera in ...socks.

I used the leg part of the sock on my lens and the rest
was used to cover the hand grip so that the battery
compartment would be as warm as possible.

Make sure and use plain socks. Some people actually thought
it was an accessory I bought for my camera.:)

magicbastarder

a chap i know used a 10D for weeks in northern finland, and it performed beautifully. temps around -20.