Skip to content
logo Germany's largest online travel magazine
Expert explains

Here are the Best Tips for Taking Pictures of the Northern Lights

Photographing the Northern Lights
The colorful spectacle of the Northern Lights shines in the night sky over Iceland - the motif is a photographic challenge Photo: Getty Images

December 4, 2024, 5:49 am | Read time: 3 minutes

Northern Lights are fascinating spectacles of nature – and attract vacationers and amateur photographers to places beyond the Arctic Circle every winter. But how do you find the lights? And how can they be captured on camera? A photographer provides some tips.

Share article

Photographer Markus Kiili takes a plethora of gear with him as he ventures out on his nocturnal quests in the northern Finnish darkness. He has several SLR cameras with him, at least one tripod, and several lenses. He wants to photograph the Northern Lights – and they are unpredictable. This unpredictability is tied to the intricate process by which these dazzling lights dance across the sky, as well as to the capricious nature of the weather.

The Darker it is, the Stronger the Auroras

“The sun hurls particles into space that are electrically charged: the solar wind, which is constantly racing through space,” explains astrophysicist Emanuel Jacobi, who was in charge of the South Pole Neutrino Observatory IceCube at the South Pole for a year. “The Earth’s magnetic field deflects these solar winds when they come close to us and redirects them to the poles.” This is why the lights are stronger the further north or south you are – and the darker it is.

For travelers, this means: “Any place north and south of the Arctic Circle is a good place to see lights during the winter there,” explains Jacobi. In the Northern Hemisphere, this means that northern Scandinavia, Greenland, Iceland, northern Canada, and Alaska are particularly suitable destinations. In the Southern Hemisphere, you can hardly see the lights outside Antarctica.

Snowfall and dense clouds can prevent you from seeing the auroras. However, the sky does not have to be completely cloud-free. “It can even look good in the pictures if there are clouds between the northern lights,” says Kiili. However, these must then shine brightly. Very important: amateur photographers must stay away from any artificial light.

Kirkjufell in Island
A popular motif in combination with auroras: the Kirkjufell mountain in Iceland

Photographing the Northern Lights – the Right Camera Settings

This is how it works: Set up the tripod, install the camera, and make the settings. “At night, you’ll want to give the automatic program mode a rest and switch to manual mode,” advises Kiili. You’ll only need the autofocus once – to bring the infinite night sky into sharp relief. “Then, you have to switch off the autofocus straight away.” Otherwise, you risk ending up with blurred images, or the shutter may not even engage.

More on the topic

The Best Equipment for Photographing the Northern Lights

If you go out into nature to hunt for the Northern Lights, you need to take care of your equipment. In winter, the temperature beyond the Arctic Circle can easily be less than minus 30 degrees. Since batteries tend to discharge rapidly in the cold, it’s wise to keep them snug in your jacket pocket when you’re not snapping shots.

Interestingly, the Northern Lights grace the skies not only during the deep polar nights of winter, when the sun retreats from view. “You can find them from September to May. It’s not quite as cold in the fall and spring,” says photographer Kiili.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of TRAVELBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@petbook.de.

Topics #amex Europe Finland Iceland
Your data privacy when using the share function
To share this article or other content via social networks, we need your consent for this .
You have successfully withdrawn your consent to the processing of personal data through tracking and advertising when using this website. You can now consent to data processing again or object to legitimate interests.