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Aurora borealis over Angel Rocks in Fairbanks, Alaska - Lee Petersen's aurora blog and information

Camera Settings For Aurora Photography - How To Take Great Aurora Photos

A detailed guide to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO camera settings specifically for aurora photography. How to take great photos of the northern lights! A detailed guide to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO camera settings specifically for aurora photography. How to take great photos of the northern lights!

Aurora borealis over a snowy forest - learn about aurora photography and more

What Causes The Aurora

A basic, yet comprehensive explanation of what causes the aurora. Tying together the solar wind, geomagnetic field, Van Allen belts, atomic energy states, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

All Tutorials and Articles

Breaking The Block – When inspiration isn’t there
Breaking The Block – Things to do when inspiration isn’t there

Everyone involved in creative arts has suffered from "writer's block." These are some methods for breaking the block, including some that have worked for me.

Intro To Darktable 1 – My Lightable Workflow

My first intro to Darktable, raw photo editing software. Covering a basic workflow for organizing, tagging, rating, and labeling photos pre-processing.

Shoot in RAW

When and why you should (or shouldn't) shoot in raw. Photography and aurora photography tutorials.

Honesty in Aurora Photography
Honesty in Aurora Photography

I've heard a few stories recently about disappointed "aurora tourists". Do the photos really look like what you see in social media? My article on honesty in aurora photography.

aurora borealis over fairbanks alaska
What Causes the Aurora

A basic, yet comprehensive explanation of what causes the aurora. Tying together the solar wind, geomagnetic field, Van Allen belts, atomic energy states, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Viewing and Photographing the Northern Lights
Viewing and Photographing the Northern Lights

Tips on viewing and photographing the northern lights. Where to see the northern lights and how to plan your aurora chasing vacation!

Focus and Setup for Aurora and Night Photography
Focus and Setup for Aurora and Night Photography

It’s dark. Your autofocus is not going to work the way you think it is. Unless you believe it’s not going to work. Then you are right. For aurora photography, I am usually shooting at my lowest f-stop, so the depth-of-field is not great. Focus on the foreground will lead to blurry stars and blurry...

Camera Settings For Aurora Photography – How to Take Great Northern Lights Photos
Camera Settings For Aurora Photography – How to Take Great Northern Lights Photos

A detailed guide to aperture, shutter speed, and ISO camera settings specifically for aurora photography. How to take great photos of the northern lights!

Aurora Post Processing 2: Raw Therapee

Aurora Photography Tutorials As I eagerly await the release of GIMP 2.10 that will support both 16 and 32 bit color depth, I figured it's a fine time to continue what I started with aurora post processing 1: white balance and noise and give a more in depth tutorial on processing digital aurora images (using...

Aurora Post Processing 1: White Balance and Noise using UFRAW

(For more in-depth editing, check out the second installment: Aurora Post Processing 2: Raw Therapee) - These posts are a bit outdated, using old versions of this software, but the information is still relevant. I'll have updates soon - Subscribe to the weekly newsletter at the bottom! I think a lot of people out there...