The Aurora Zone Blog

Northern Lights Photography tips from Photographer Antti Pietikäinen

Ali Mclean

Thursday, 20 June 2013

In the Arctic temperatures can drop down to -35 and because of polar night it's mostly dark. Handling the camera with thick gloves in the dark can be challenging.

You should do some training with gloves on and get the feeling for the buttons.

Northern Lights Photography tips from Photographer Antti Pietikäinen 1

One important thing is not to breathe too much into the camera. The vapour freezes in the camera and can be very nasty especially in the lens. So keep a good distance to the camera and if you use the viewfinder, try not to breathe while looking through it.

 

Northern Lights Photography tips from Photographer Antti Pietikäinen 4
Have spare batteries somewhere warm (an inside pocket close to your body heat).

Make sure that if you drop anything, you don't have deep snow under your feet! This is a good way to lose even a lens!

Northern Lights Photography tips from Photographer Antti Pietikäinen 2

A car is a good place to defrost your camera, when the inside air is dry. There is very little condensation. Inside air in buildings is much more humid! So when having a break, leave the camera outside. When going inside with the camera, bag it airtight, then there's no condensation problem. But if your camera gets steamed up, let it dry in peace. If you take it out when wet, you can break it!

Northern Lights Photography tips from Photographer Antti Pietikäinen 3

Lapland can offer magical colour shows during polar night in daytime.

There isn't that much light, so make sure your exposure is correct and you should use a tripod in the daytime.

Read 9173 times Last modified on Friday, 26 January 2018

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