Aurora Borealis Photography

[zoozin]

I am traveling to the Yukon in mid-March to see the aurora borealis, and plan to photographic with a digital camera.

I need suggestions on how to do this, since I am not sure whether or not digital photography is an appropriate format for this shoot. If it can be successfully done, I welcome all suggestions.

Thank you.

[Ken Fong]

We envy you! Some of the tips for shooting for a film camera should still apply to digital photographers...the nice thing is you can see your results right away. Overall, it sounds like your lens should be fast (f3.5 or better) and wide (28mm or wider...don't forget the 1.6x factor) to limit the streaks from stars. A remote trigger with a timer would also be helpful. If the sky is still bright compared to the landscape, consider bringing a graduated neutral density filter to bring both into your range (if you want landscape detail.) They also recommend autobracketing your exposures.

try:
http://www.ptialaska.net/~hutch/aurora.html

[Leighow]

Besides Ken's terrific reference, pleasesee the following post from a Canadian member of this forum:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5267#23551