Part 3 of my complete guide on aurora borealis photography. So far, on Page 1, we’ve covered the initial stuff. Finding the aurora borealis, scouting your locations during the day to find potential composition sites, what clothes you need to keep warm and comfortable, the importance of bringing along a good headlamp.
Page 2 addresses the question of what camera gear you need when photographing the northern lights, and what camera settings are most useful. Page 2 also covers a broader range of issues you’re likely to run into, like how to find critical focus in the dark northern sky. Page 3, to wrap things up, begins with some thoughts on composing your aurora borealis photos. You can learn this kind of stuff on Alaska Photo Tours.
Northern lights over Mt. Denali, Denali National Park.
Hey Folks
Page 2 of my complete guide to photographing the northern lights. We got started on Page 1 with a discussion on where you might find the aurora borealis, and then on scouting your locations during the day. Clothing to keep you warm in the cold polar winter and the importance of a good headlamp choice round out Page 1. We’ll start this page with a look at camera gear choices and considerations.
Updated: this post was edited and updated Dec 2025
Photographing the aurora borealis in September, surrounded by fall colors, Chugach Mountains, Glenn Highway, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
The aurora borealis is one of those experiences we can have that stay with us a long, long time. Not just in our minds and memories, but in our body, in our hearts, in our soul, in our very being; witnessing the aurora borealis stays with us in how we see the world around us.
It’s a moving and powerful event, and I’m always grateful and humbled by the moment. It is that incredible.
One that raises blood pressure, triggers depression and exhilaration in equal measure, and brings frostbite, tiredness, insomnia, and too many other ailments to mention.
It’s difficult, extremely challenging, and infuriating. It’s cold. It’s dark. The aurora borealis is often fleeting, ever changing, and virtually impossible to rigidly predict.
It requires a clear, or nearly clear, sky. That means long hours of waiting, photographing, deleting, photographing, waiting, not photographing, shivering, mumbling, drinking coffee. It means fighting to stay awake and tearing your hair out over location choices all before you even get the tripod out of the truck.
In short, photographing the northern lights is not easy.
This three-part guide will help you plan for and work around the struggles that await. It’s still up to you, your camera, and the gods of luck to bring home the images, but this should make it easier. If you see anything repeated here, that repetition is intentional. Add your thoughts and questions in the comments.
When you’ve finished the article, you can download a free ebook (with more info and articles) and feel free to check out my northern lights photo gallery as well.
This photo is my first night on the beach, right after the air taxi departed, I shouldered the heavy pack, posed for an image, and set off down the beach to find a campsite. Dark comes quickly this time of year in Alaska.
I caught up with friends Erin and Hig from Ground Truth Trekking, and their 2 kids Katmai and Lituya, the following afternoon. I spent most of the rest of my trip with them, and then the last 10 days or so in the Icy Bay area, trying to get a nice sunset photo of Mt. St. Elias from that area. Seemed like things were still getting going when before I knew it, the month was over and I had to fly back to the city. Time flies, eh?
Here’s another waterfall photo from a trip I took to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve early this summer. This is a waterfall I’ve flown over many times, along the Nizina River, but never had the opportunity to shoot it. This summer we took a trip to the Nizina Glacier and hiked around the area a bit, shooting a few waterfalls, flowers, the glacier and surrounding landscape. Overall, a productive and fun trip and a fantastic place to visit.
A snowy campsite on the high alpine tundra of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Termination dust covers the ground, or fresh fall snow, and Mt Jarvis (13 421′) of the Wrangell Mountains stands dominating behind. Backcountry campsite, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. From a backpacking trip in September.
Hey folks
A lot of people planning their Alaska backpacking trip inquire about the “best” sleeping bag to bring; i.e., what temperature rating to bring. My recommendation has always been for a warmer bag than many people typically expect. My advice for a summer camping bag in Alaska is 20deg F, (about -6deg C) and no warmer.
That is, 20deg Fahrenheit minimum! Do NOT bring a 32deg F bag (0deg C).
Surely it’s not going to be below freezing in July, I hear folks respond?
Well, hopefully not. But it certainly can be, especially if we hike up in the high country at all (which we typically do, because that’s where the views are, and where the brush isn’t). And the altitude needn’t be that high; 5000 feet is alpine country in Alaska.
But the reasons for a warm bag go beyond merely snow and cold. Some folks will say they’d rather bring a warmer bag, like a 32deg F bag, as it’s lighter weight, and they can always wear extra clothes to bed if need be. They’ll be bringing warm clothes along anyway, right? Sometimes, this is true. But there can easily be times when it is not true. How about your fleece jacket is wet? Or you lose it (yes, I’ve seen that happen)?
Here’s a shot of one of my favorite places in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve; Viking Lodge Cabin. The cabin is not far off the Nabesna Road, which is nice; accessible. Unlike most public use cabins in the park, this cabin requires reservations, though that also means when you arrive, you know ahead of time you don’t have to share the cabin with anyone else who might show up. There is no fee to use the cabin, which is nice. It’s quite a treat, being able to head out in the winter and have a cozy, comfortable cabin to relax in.
An old barrel stove sits in the middle of the cabin, and warms the cabin pretty quickly, even in the depths of winter. It makes the world of difference after a day out in the mountains, skiing or snowshoeing, to come back to a warm cabin, rather than a cold tent. Perhaps in the morning it makes even more difference, waking up and having a nice warm pair of boots sitting by the cabin, rather than crusty frozen boots outside the door.
If you have a nice, large computer screen and broadband connection, what I REALLY recommend you do is go to my page on Vimeo and click the ‘HD’ button underneath the thumbnail. You can watch and listen to this video in full HD resolution, at 720 x 1280. It’ll take a moment to load, but is (hopefully) well worth the time.
Hey Folks,
50 photos for 50 years!
Dec 6, 2010, marks the 50th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. Over 19 million acres of wild lands, the refuge is a treasure, home to thousands of creatures and features; the caribou herds, the Brooks Mountains, the broad coastal plain, migratory birds and countless other gifts to this world. A beautiful landscape that warrants our respect, not our exploitation.
I hope you like this. These photos and this music is my simple tribute to this special place. Happy Birthday ANWR – and cheers to many, many more.
For more ANWR photos, visit the ANWR Photo Gallery. If you’d be interested in joining us for an upcoming ANWR Rafting and hiking trip, visit this page.
Coffee and breakfast one frosty morning, after a cold, wet and snow evening. The Siltarp 2 is an awesome piece of gear. Click the image above to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
One of the questions I received via email after I recently posted my backpacking gear list concerned the tarp I carry.
1 Integral Designs sylnylon 8′ x 10′ tarp and MSR Groundhog stakes
Today we carry a teepee style tent of some kind, whether it’s no longer available) GoLite Shangri Las 5 or something from Seek Outside.
Why, if I’m carrying a tent, do I also carry a tarp or cook tent? Good question.
Backpacking trips in bear country, and particularly grizzly bear country, means not eating inside a tent. Not ever.
It doesn’t matter whether we’re hiking in Gates of the Arctic National Park or backpacking in Denali National Park, We cook, eat, do dishes and store all food quite a distance from where our tents are; the standard distance is 100 yards, but that can vary with the circumstances, IMO. Safe to say that’s a good distance to maintain. The further the better.
When the weather’s bad, the tarp feels like a life saver. That tiny little shelter makes the world of difference when you get to camp. I can get changed out of any wet hiking gear, put on all my dry, warm layers (including some nice warm, dry socks!!! 🙂 ), to go cook and eat comfortably, warm and dry rather than wet and cold and rained on. It’s particularly nice in the morning, knowing I can get up from my tent and go make coffee under the tarp. I wouldn’t go backpacking without a tarp (or similar).
I find 2 hiking poles, or sometimes 4, works well to build a nice shelter to eat under. This is one of the reasons I like the full-size hiking poles, those that max up to 140cm. Many of the more compact lighterweight poles aren’t really long enough to do effective double duty under the tarp – they’re too short. Headroom matters!
Fresh winter snow covers a young willow sapling, Wrangell Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
Hey Folks
It’s been a busy fall for me, and I’m working on updating all the image galleries on the site. I apologize for the inconvenience, if any, and how it takes. Website work isn’t as much fun as hiking or photographing.
Please let me know if you see any glitches or anything. There’s always little errors that creep in, but I think I caught most of them.
I’m slowly working on getting all the galleries redone; new images, larger images, and a consistent display. Hopefully it’ll be an improvement.
The image to the right here is from Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, high in the Wrangell Mountains. I love getting up high in winter, treeline or above, as the light is sublime. I was super lucky to find this young snow-laden willow sapling, as the first wind after a snowfall will blow the snow from this brush in a New York Minute. Next time I headed up to this area, the snow was completely gone from the willow, it’s bare, winter dormant branches protruding from the snow like rusted fingers.
This coming winter I hope to get some more images like this. Nothing like great light, fresh deep powder and some alpine country for good fun. I’ll have the skis out, the camera handy, and coffee in the thermos!
