Photographing the Northern Lights: Aperture, Exposure Time, and ISO

How should you set aperture and ISO to photograph the Northern Lights? Great—really great—question. It’s impossible to give standard settings: the aurora never appears under the same conditions or with the same intensity. So it’s best to understand how everything works and adjust your camera settings properly each time.

The best aperture to use is f/2.8, but you can still get good shots with apertures from f/3.5 to f/4. It’s generally better not to go below f/2.8, because the aperture would be too wide and focusing would become more difficult. That said, this also often depends on the lens you choose.

As for shutter speed, it is often recommended to use exposure times between 2 and 30 seconds at most. From 2 to 8 seconds if the aurora is particularly intense, and from 15 to 30 seconds if it is fainter. Be careful, though! The aurora moves quickly, so using a long exposure may not always be a good idea. If it is especially “active,” it’s better to go down to a maximum of 4–5 seconds to avoid a “blurred” effect and instead capture its movement.

When it comes to ISO, the general rule is to keep it as low as possible, even though today’s cameras can handle very high ISO settings extremely well without creating much noise. This choice, however, depends on the intensity and speed of the aurora and therefore on the shutter speeds you set. If you use faster shutter speeds, raise the ISO to a range between 1600 and 3200, always keeping in mind whether your camera handles high ISO well or not.

Now you have all the information you need to go hunting for your Northern Lights and capture them. But! There is one enemy to keep in mind that, if underestimated, could be fatal. Read here…