Guide to the Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are an incredibly cool celestial phenomenon that has recently become very popular to watch and especially photograph. The Northern Lights are most visible when being photographed as too much artificial light around us both dulls the colors in our eyes and affects our ability to see at night. But sensors in cameras, and the analog film of the past, record the Northern Lights without these limitations.

Don't forget our nearest celestial body, the moon, which is also great to photograph. However, you will need a more powerful telephoto lens or similar equipment to get close to the Man in the Moon.

Good places for stargazing

You can find excellent and sufficiently dark places through lightpollutionmap.info. External link, opens in new window. Some places and nature reserves that might be worth going to experience the Northern Lights are:

• Svarta Klippan External link, opens in new window.
  
• Biskopstorp
• Gårdshult
• Skipås
• Almeberget External link, opens in new window.
• Virsehatt
• Spenshult External link, opens in new window.
• Nordpolen in Gullbrandstorp

When is the best time?

The sun is now in a phase in which we can expect more Northern Lights. The chances are now increasing that the Northern Lights will also be visible further south towards the Halmstad area, culminating in a maximum in 2025. A good time to photograph the Milky Way is September and early October.

Helpful apps

There are a number of apps that can alert you via your mobile phone about when there is a chance of seeing the Northern Lights,. There are also enthusiast groups on social media that you can follow and get advice about when they appear. One of the most common groups, which provides a lot of good info and guidance, is the Northern Lights Facebook group called Norrsken. External link, opens in new window.

It requires patience

The Northern Lights are an elusive phenomenon and are at their most beautiful when they flare up. When this will happen during an evening or night is difficult to predict. So be prepared with a lot of patience and warm clothes. Don't forget to charge your camera batteries and bring extras. I had to wait three or four hours the Northern Lights flared up over Särdals kvarn as you see at the top of this page.

Avoid light pollution and see more

If you want to fully experience the starry sky in all its splendor with the naked eye, dark places are the way to go. Our modern era of street lamps, facade ligthing, car headlights and more puts a strain on the stargazer. Places without light pollution are becoming increasingly rare and people have to move further away from cities and towns. See our recommendations of for places with less light pollution at the top of this page under the heading Good places for stargazing.

Adjust your eyes

Once out in the dark landscapes, light discipline is key. To achieve optimal night vision, you should not expose your eyes to any light for up to an hour. The hardest thing for modern people is to avoid looking at their cell phones, which is a big no-no, as the blue screen light is devastating to our night vision.

As your eyes get more used to the darkness, the starry sky and other celestial phenomena will become more and more apparent. Your eyes will gradually increase their sensitivity to light. You will also now be able to see the colors of the Northern Lights more clearly when this phenomenon is active.

Photographing stars, the Northern Lights and celestial phenomena

The recent development of cameras and mobile cameras has made it easier to capture starry landscapes and celestial phenomena on camera. Something that was previously demanded more advanced solutions that required both technical knowledge and expensive advanced equipment is available to almost everyone's budget.

Those of us who enjoy photography have to make a compromise when it comes to adapting our eyes to the environment. This is because we constantly need to operate the cameras and assess images using the camera or mobile phone displays. On the other hand, we get to experience the starry sky and other phenomena through the camera and can share the experience with others.

You can use both a system camera and a mobile camera to capture the Northern Lights, stars and other celestial phenomena.

Mobile phones

Unless you have a very old mobile phone, your phone will usually have what is known as a night mode feature, which is automatically activated when you point the phone at something dark, such as the night sky. The technical quality is nowhere near that of a system camera but is still impressive considering the simplicity of the procedure. And it works well for viewing on mobile screens and social media. You really only need to hold the phone as still as you can, preferably when you are leaning against something when shooting.

The mobile camera works mostly at a slower shutter speed but with digital stabilization and a number of other software solutions to get the best possible image of the dim night sky.

System camera

For best results, we recommend a digital system camera that is not too old. Use a powerful wide-angle lens or wide-angle zoom to get the widest possible angle of view. A stable tripod will help. Set the camera to manual mode. Shooting in RAW is the best solution..

A good starting point for setting the exposure is ISO3200, aperture 4 or the lowest value your lens has, and 20 seconds exposure time.

Autofocus doesn't always work in dim night skies so try focusing manually or on the infinity mark on the lens focusing scale. Shutter speed and focal length of the lens are related to the rotation of the earth, so if the stars tend to become streaks, lower the shutter speed.