How to Photograph the Northern Lights

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 —
https://itunes.apple.com/book/how-to-...

(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 —
https://www.amazingsky.com/Nightscape...

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

http://www.all-startelescope.com/sale...

Or go to
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/nightscape...

TO SEE THE LIGHTS

For warnings of when you might see displays of aurora see the websites:

http://spaceweather.com
http://www.spaceweather.gc.ca/index-e... (Government of Canada)
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov (SpaceWeather Prediction Centre)
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/node/114 (the SWPC's 3-day forecast)

... and mobile apps such as AuroraForecast (http://www.tinacinc.com/AuroraForecast/), the app featured in the tutorial, available for iOS and Android devices.

Thank you for looking! — Alan