How to Photograph the Northern Lights
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- In this first instalment of my video tutorial series, I present a 24-minute tutorial on how to photograph and process images and time-lapse movies of the Northern Lights, the aurora borealis, advice also applicable to the Southern Lights, the aurora australis - the two phenomena are identical.
In the field, at a site in southern Alberta while awaiting a display of aurora, I cover:
• equipment
• exposures and camera settings
• tips and techniques
• and some of the science behind the Lights
At the computer, using images of the aurora I shot that evening, I cover:
• developing Raw files in Adobe Camera Raw (but also applicable to Lightroom)
• basic processing of still images in Photoshop using "smart filters"
• and exporting multiple frames to make a time-lapse movie ...
• ... by assembling an "intermediate" set of JPGs, in this case created, then assembled using Photoshop and its video functions
Other tutorial episodes cover:
• Photographing Moonlit Nightscapes
• Photographing Star Trails
FOR MUCH MORE INSTRUCTION ...
EBOOK
I invite you to check out my 400-page ebook, "How to Photograph and Process Nightscapes and Time-Lapses, available worldwide exclusively at the Apple iBookstore for Apple Macs and iPads at -
itunes.apple.c...
(Sorry, no Kindle or Android versions are available due to the extensive interactive and video content of the ebook.)
To learn more about my ebook and its contents, please visit -
www.amazingsky...
VIDEO COURSE
Also available is our more extensive 4-hour video course on Nightscapes and Time-Lapses: From Field to Photoshop, now available for purchase, either with a download ($79.95 Canadian) or as a shipped USB drive ($99.95 Canadian). For all the details, see
www.all-startel...
Or go to
vimeo.com/onde...
TO SEE THE LIGHTS
For warnings of when you might see displays of aurora see the websites:
spaceweather.com
www.spaceweathe... (Government of Canada)
www.swpc.noaa.gov (SpaceWeather Prediction Centre)
www.swpc.noaa.g... (the SWPC's 3-day forecast)
... and mobile apps such as AuroraForecast (www.tinacinc.co..., the app featured in the tutorial, available for iOS and Android devices.
Thank you for looking! - Alan
Great VideoTutorials and post production explanation. Thanks a lots for sharring
Thank you for this deeply detailed yet beautiful video.
Thank you for helping me along with the beginner stages, in my photography journey to seek out and shoot the Aurora. This was very well presented,and the explanation kept simple,cheers.
Just wow. I love how slow he goes and he explains his thinking as well as the process. I'll be rewatching many of these over again !! Thank you Allan!!!!!!!
I can't like this video enough. Not only a great tutorial, but the science bit was easy to understand, visual, and really awesome. Great job!
Really helpful video. Thanks
Fantastic tutorial! Nice and clear, thank you so much!
Great work. Spectacular video. Well produced. Very impressive.
Brilliant tutorial. Thanks very much. I'm going to Iceland at the end of this month so I will use this information should I be fortunate enough to see the lights! I'll keep you posted. Again thank you.
Very nice Presentation, well described about the task. Many thanks sir, for uploading this video.
Thank you so much for sharing your excellent work*****
Salute to you! Very useful
Very well put together video, and super informative! Thank you very much!
Absolutely brilliant video
Excellent tutorial, thanks for the clear and well-structured explanation!
Fantastic explanation. Thank you :)
thank you for the detailed tutorial!
excellent tutorial, thanks!
Great, clear explanation. I'm heading to Iceland next month and hope to put your tutorial to work!
Great video. higly informative. I'm in northern Norway on the hunt for the Aurora Borealis myself right now :)
Great tutorial! Cheers!
Great video
wow. awesome production quality..
Great video!
Best video ever, congrats!
awesome, very intuitive! saludos
thank you mr
Thank you so much for this tutorial! It was very easy to understand (for a totally non-pro like me) and I loved the scientific bit at the beginning. My boyfriend and I are going to Iceland in December so hopefully I can put this to use to capture the northern lights (assuming I don't fail somehow lol!). Thanks so much!!
it'll also be a challenge because I only have a mirrorless compact! I'll be shooting with the Sony a6000
now..did u able to shoot any great pic gal :)
Best all-in-one tutorial on creating aurora stills and time-lapse. It's not clear though, how you apply the adjustments to one photo in Photoshop to the whole sequence. Do you use the Batch Automation function, or does the newer software automatically transfer edits back into LR? Thanks.
Hi -- Thanks! I don't transfer settings in Photoshop (which is hard to do) but in Bridge/Camera Raw using the Raw files before you bring them into PS. Or you could do it in Lightroom if you've catalogued and developed the Raw images in LR. But I wasn't showing that. In Bridge you Develop Setting>Copy, then Select All, then Develop Settings>Paste. I thought I had shown that. Check my tutorial on Star Trails as well. They need the same batch processing.
Could you please tell me what camera your using during the video, immsearching fir a trustable camera and yours seems good. Also can you take still images with the aurora? I want to take still images,thanks
Hello - I use Canon and Nikon DSLRs, particularly full-frame cameras. Of course you can take stills -- time-lapse movies are just lots of still put together as I showed.
Would like to ask you for the best and correct settings to take photos and videos of the Northern Lights like this in Finland. I may use GoPro Hero 5 Black which I am very new to. Please kindly share and advise.
bobdog14 I’m not familiar with the settings offered by the Hero cameras, but using them to shoot the Lights will require the same settings as I advise in the video - fast apertures, fairly high ISO speeds, and shutter speeds of a few seconds. It all depends on how bright the aurora is, and in Finland it can get very bright I’m sure. Actual videos of the aurora are possible but I’ve not seen any done with the Hero’s. The camera people use for aurora videos is the Sony a7s Mark I or II. It has a full frame sensor and large pixels for low noise.
Hello Alan, thanks for your kind and fast response! Oh I see, okay noted with great thanks for sharing! :)
What if I don't have a DSLR camera neither does my camera have manual mode. I have a Nikon b500. How can I program my camera to photograph the knot here lights? Thanks!
shantell lopez As long as you can set your camera to take exposures of 5 to 30 seconds you should be able to shoot the Lights. But you also need to set the lens aperture wide open and the ISO speed to 800 to 1600. Many basic point and shoot cameras don't allow manual control of those settings, or if they do, they make it hard to find the menu or adjustment that allows you to change those settings. Check the camera instruction manual.
Alan Dyer my lens is 18-55mm is that good enough?
As the video explains a fast lens is best, and most 18-55 lenses are a bit slow. But it'll work if the aurora is bright. Now you just need the aurora! The video explains the rest.