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● PHOTOGRAPHY

Exposure Calculator

A starting point for shooting the northern lights. Pick your kit, the aurora’s brightness and the moon — get a suggested aperture, shutter and ISO. Then fine-tune to the sky.

Suggested starting point
Aperture
f/2.8
Shutter
8s
ISO
1,600

To keep stars as points, cap shutter ≈ 36 s at this focal length (500 rule).

Tips
  • Manual focus — set infinity on a bright star in live view.
  • Shoot RAW; white balance ~3500–4000 K (you can correct later).
  • Tripod + a 2 s shutter delay or a remote release.
  • Shorten the shutter to freeze the curtain when the aurora is bright/active.