Lars Ivar Henriksen’s Northern Lights photography guide !
by admin on Jan.04, 2010, under Capturing Northern Lights
Top tips for photographing the Northern Lights in Norway
Our blog this week comes from Lars Ivar Henriksen, an amateur photographer from Norway who also runs the website http://www.shutterjoy.com. He tells us some top tips for capturing the Northern Lights on film and shares some of his best shots with us.
1. Northern Lights photography guide tip one – Work for it
To be able to take good photos of northern Lights you have to seek them out, they will not just appear. Therefore my first tip is to travel to dark places where even the smallest light from the sky is visible.
2. Tip two for best Aurora shots – Location
Taking photos of Northern Lights isn’t that tricky, but for those who haven’t seen them, it might be hard to imagine how to take them.
The best place to be is to be in a very dark area. Tromsø is a fantastic place to spot the Northern Lights in Norway, but a little difficult to capture them because of the lights coming from buildings and streetlights can interfere with your camera exposures. If it is landscape shots you want, travel a bit outside of town and you’ll probably get a better chance of seeing the lights and taking better pictures. You can still get great pictures of the lights in Tromsø but the display will not be as vivid.
3. Aurora Borealis photography tip three – The equipment
Get your gear sorted before you go. The most important piece you’ll need is a tripod. It never truly gets light in Norway in the winter, so you’ll need a tripod to ensure you capture long exposures without any camera shake.
4. Tip four for capturing the Northern Lights on film – Prepare for the cold!
Batteries. Northern lights tend to come when it’s really cold so you’ll need some spare batteries because they will run out fast. And bring warm clothes, you could be out there a while!
5. Aurora photography tip five – Lenses
I would recommend you use a wide-angle lens. You may think the Northern Lights will look amazing in a photo by itself. But on screen or film, it will look boring if there is no landscape to accompany it. Putting the Northern Lights against a backdrop of beautiful Norwegian landscapes just makes them look even more magical!
6. Northern Lights photo guide tip six – Method
And here is where it gets technical. Northern Lights are moving, so there are two ways to take pictures. The lights in detail, and blurry lights. I like the detailed ones because they look more like the real Northern Lights, as you would experience them in person. To get the detailed look you’ll have to get the shutter time as short as possible by increasing the aperture.
And that is all, however, I believe there is a curse upon me when it comes to Northern Lights. They show up every time I set off to go home, just to tease me! But when I get home and grab my camera they disappear. However, this seems to just make me even more eager!
I also love to take pictures of Tromsø. You can see them here, on: Shutterjoy.com. Feel free to check out my Flickr thread too, and leave me comments if you like them!
Have you made your own Northern Lights on our new microsite yet? Visit http://www.visitnorway.com/uk/mynorthernlights
