​Experience sharing of Aurora shooting

The camera

Aurora shooting, one of the most important equipment must be a long exposure camera! It doesn't have to have a B shutter speed, canvas prints but at least you can adjust the shutter speed. People often ask me the choice of aurora camera, here is very simple and very rough classification, generally I will directly tell you 2 choose 1: digital monocular or micro monocular!

If you want a better picture and not afraid of heavy, of course, it is better than the single eye, CP value is higher than the micro single, but some people will feel, well, the single eye so ugly oh... It's so heavy... (Act like a spoiled child cavity) that chooses micro one eye! Or a class list (sounds complicated), but just make sure your camera has a tripod hole (everyone has one now) and adjust the shutter time, canvas printing OK! He's the right camera! Get your spare batteries ready to go!

Be sure to touch your new camera before you leave and know all about it. And it is best to have time to go out to take more photos, floating canvas frame around the real case is, happy with a new one eye to see the aurora, the result of one eye button how so many! The result came back an aurora also did not retain... Don't make fun of the rare trip!

Lens choice can as far as possible wide Angle point, look really need not (want to see what? I myself use the 24mm to 30mm of the whole frame, I think it is enough, of course, wider and better to look more magnificent!

Horse

Aurora shooting, the most important equipment is absolutely indispensable foot frame! This is probably why many people fail to shoot auroras. Legs must be needed! And not just any tripod! Iceland's aurora shooting environment wind, super, big, big, I think a 10 year old child will be blown away, although I have not been to other places, but I guess the aurora shooting environment is pretty windy?

The choice of foot frame is heavier actually, bigger, more stable had better! But they're not cheap, they're not practical, they're the kind of thing that gets frozen when you buy them... After all, who has to carry it up the mountain and into the sea, and not in training? It is recommended to choose an acceptable weight and size, and then the foot frame has a hook under the middle shaft to hook the weight. Hundreds of legs don't work! In addition, before the introduction of a small foot frame is not good.

Anyhow, want long exposure to want foot frame! (Repeat after me) if you want long exposure, you need legs! (is a slogan) if the fear of the metal is too cold, can also choose to feet are coated, or their DIY, because heard that hands wet may be directly frozen stick above (terrorist), or recommend wearing gloves, thick action not convenient also at least wear a thin, long shot really frozen hand pain, will be sure to keep warm!

Memory card

Shooting auroras will suggest that you can shoot RAW files, so it will eat memory. Remember to empty the memory card! You don't want to waste the beautiful aurora on the spot, looking down and trying to delete the photos (and cold), or in the warm home first.

Backup battery

Long exposure to eat electricity even, cold to shiver the battery, will use up quickly. Be sure to have extra batteries. Also, waiting in line for a spare battery to be used, keep it close to your body and warm it up! Don't let the battery cool down at the beginning, it will last longer.

Shutter release (optional)

The shutter release is to avoid accidentally shaking the camera when the shutter is pressed down. If there is no shutter release, please remember to set a timer of 2 seconds after the shooting time to take a sulfide, so that the hand will not shake the camera when the shutter is released. So press the shutter hand to leave, my friend once set a timer of 2 seconds to press the shutter, the hand is still tight on it...

Flash lamp (optional)

If you want to take a photo with the aurora, remember to bring flashing lights! (Camera built-in can also be used, of course)

The camera is set

The camera Settings are actually quite simple, really similar to star photography (almost the same).

Aperture:

Can open to aperture maximum! At least below F4.5 (the smaller the number, the larger the aperture)

ISO:

It is also set to the highest ISO that you can accept (ISO is too high and there will be a lot of noise, you should check your camera before setting out, how much ISO you can accept).

Shutter:

The shutter is... Try it yourself (hello!) Really, the shutter can only be tried! Because the speed of aurora is different, the degree is different, slower, darker aurora, on the exposure a little longer, brighter, faster; the exposure time can be a little shorter

View

Go straight to the darkest place as soon as you get to the venue!!! This allows the naked eye to see the auroras clearly and to avoid overexposure to light in the foreground. (Unless you want to use something as sophisticated as shaking a black card!) Generally shooting aurora is still a little bit of foreground will be better; there are trees according to the tree according to the house according to the house according to the cemetery according to the cemetery.

Aft

Focus as much as possible on the foreground. If the surrounding foreground is not much, the focus can be infinite. Remember to bring a flashlight! This is not only easy to use when shooting, to go to a black side ma black place also need its help. In addition, although the flashlight is a good helper when shooting, but also a little worry about other people who take photos, flashlight doesn’t mess! Turn it off when you don't need it, or you may be hated if you leave a weird light track in someone else's photo.

Zoom in on infinity: you can set your camera to a 10-second timer to take a sulfide and turn on your flashlight/phone to check if the focus is right to infinity within 10 seconds of the shutter release

Stable horse

One of the most important things to do in a good shot is to stabilize the tripod. The tripod should be selected with a hook at the bottom, and the weight of your backpack should be hung on it to increase the weight. If it still wobbles, you can use all your strength to push the foot frame down! Push down! All you need to do is add a positive force, or grab something that's hanging underneath and pull it down. Also do not press the camera, because sometimes the head is not so tight, the pressure camera may let the head off and shake. If the bag is too light, don't hang it up.

RAW file & histogram

It is recommended to shoot RAW files if you can shoot RAW files, later it will be easier to edit. Also don't forget to confirm the histogram (for those who don't understand the histogram, please refer to the five-minute photography technique to fully understand the secrets of exposure histogram). If your camera has an organic top screen, try to use the top screen to see the values. Because there everyone is as far as possible to open the pupil, try not to look at some very bright things, such as the phone do not use!

Photos, in fact, can really take a little dark it doesn't matter! Because the beauty of the aurora is that it will be one pillar at a time, if you shoot too long, not only will the stars become orbits, but the aurora will be stuck together. The aurora is just like the stars. You don't want to do it all at once.

In fact, ISO 640 can be pulled higher; the overall exposure can be a little more. At the beginning will shoot because the foreground is actually some dim light, afraid of foreground overexposure cannot be saved back, would rather let the whole slant dark, but retain all the details. Columns of aurora can also be clearly seen. But the auroras we saw were slow and light, so we could see them for 10 seconds. If the aurora flow fast to reduce the number of seconds, to shoot how long is really patted see again! XD

Photo with aurora

Try to choose the darker the better, because people basically under the impact of the strong wind is difficult to stay still, this time to try to let people have no light, and lock the action in the flash of the lights. Another can first use a flashlight will be bright, on good focus, in the timing period, and then turn off the lights. Seconds of the background, just shot a few seconds on a few seconds, but it should be noted that, if you want to come back after the light, as far as possible to make people and background exposure degree not too much, otherwise it will be bad after the system.

So we can turn down the flash power or, conversely, make the exposure time longer (but the longer the exposure, the worse the exposure). Unfortunately, there is no way to map for your reference, because that day just flash out of power... (This story tells us that we really need to confirm whether the battery and memory card are sufficient. I really take things without power out very often.)

Because the flash is dead, people have to stand in the light... But in this strong wind, people really cannot stand; the result is still more than the background. Another tricky little step is to stand as far away as possible, not as close up as this, which makes it look less obvious. In a word, try to shoot people in a completely black environment, even with the use of flash, if there is light in the environment, the camera will still eat the reflection of the person, large canvas photo prints the person will still paste. Wish you all a beautiful photo of aurora in the future!