Northern Lights: A Bucket List Moment

Missoula under the spell of the Northern Lights

Pictures of the Northern Lights were a bucket list moment for me. Sometimes an opportunity for amazing photos can just show up in front of you. The trick is to capture the moment. Now how the heck did I capture this opportunity?

Similar to taking pictures of the starry sky, you'll need to slow down the shutter speed and max out the aperture. You don't want to slow the shutter speed too much because as the lights move the photos will become blurry. Nighttime starry skies require around 30 seconds of shutter speed, but for the Northern Lights, you might need 5 seconds or so. But they both need to keep the camera motionless so a tripod is a must.