Capturing the aurora borealis in all its glowing glory is no easy feat, explains Jan-Tore Oevrevik, who created these breathtaking images in Iceland.
Planning is the first challenge. Accommodations fill up fast and must be booked a year in advance, which makes it impossible to spontaneously align a stay with current aurora borealis forecasts. He consults fellow photographers to map out potential photography locations ahead of time. Once he’s on the ground, Oevrevik uses the My Aurora Borealis Pro app and local weather forecasts to adapt his plans to chase the lights.
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When photographing, the Norwegian American photographer sets his Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM lens to f/1.8, which is “perfect for expansive night skies and helps minimize exposure times to avoid distracting star trails,” he says. For straightforward shots, he does a single exposure to capture both the aurora and the detail in the foreground. “I manually focus on the brightest star to ensure sharpness throughout the scene,” he says, adjusting exposure times from two to 10 seconds and ISO settings from 800 to 3000, depending on the aurora’s brightness. For more complex scenes, Oevrevik takes two separate exposures for the foreground and the aurora at different settings, and merges the two images in Photoshop.
One of the biggest challenges is navigating the treacherous conditions. “On mountain tops with sheer cliffs, the darkness is profound,” says Oevrevik, who is based in Lake Mary, Florida. “You know you’ve reached the edge when there’s nothing but an abyss before you. That’s where I set up my tripod and camera.”
Amanda Arnold is a senior editor.
