How To Shoot The Northern Lights in Iceland

The aurora borealis is something that we’re all chasing after when we think about Iceland. It’s the northern dream, so to speak.  It waves, it dances, and it glows.

First things first, though, it’s not everyday that you can see the northern lights in Iceland. Specific conditions have to be met for the show to even begin.

There needs to be no clouds, It has to be dark, and You need to get away from light pollution.

Next, you’ll want the right gear to capture the moment. The central theme around this is that you need to stabilize your shot. -Tripod -Advanced camera

GEAR YOU NEED

The first step is to locate the northern lights. They’ll look like wisps of grey coloured cloud but abnormally brighter and morphing.

Look at the Sky

Once you’ve found out, put yourself in a position where you’d like to shoot the northern lights.

Compose

Timing:  The longer you expose the shot, the more light comes in which is critical when there’s not a whole lot of it in the night

Camera Settings

This has to be balanced with the fact that the longer you expose a shot, the higher chances you’ll start picking up artifacts and overall graininess.

Next steps

More amazing travel inspiration in the blog post!