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Tips for Shooting the Aurora Borealis

The Preparation

When shooting the Northern Lights, there is a bit of homework that should be conducted before traveling to attempt to get any shots. This step is often overlooked and can lead to poor results when ignored.

Scout locations by satellite view on Google Maps prior to travel
Focus your location search on areas free of light pollution, I use DarkSiteFinder.com
Map out as many possible locations as possible so that you can have a variety of foregrounds in your shots.
Download the “Aurora” app on your phone so that you can stay up to date with aurora forecasts during your trip.
Visit the sites that you plan to shoot during the day so you can check for road conditions, whether the location is as good as it appeared on the map, etc… You may want to take an odometer reading from a reference point in order to be able to come back in the dark.
Check Weather and gauge your activities based on whether you can see the stars or not.
Okay, you have done the preparation and you are ready to leave to go shoot the Aurora! Well, not so fast. Before leaving to shoot the Aurora, I would recommend pre-focusing your lens (I will get into that in a minute).

What equipment is needed for shooting the Aurora?

In order to have the best chances of shooting the Aurora, I would recommend the following equipment:

DSLR or Mirrorless camera that can shoot in manual mode
A fast wide Angle lens somewhere in the 14-24 mm range. By fast, I am referring to the aperture; an f/2.8 is what I used and it was fine, but if you have a f/1.4 or f/1.8 that should work well.
A sturdy tripod. Nothing is worse than taking long exposure photos on a tripod that can’t stay still ruining all of your shots.
A remote shutter release – in order to minimize camera vibration, you will want to actuate your shutter with a remote and not touch your camera at all.
A Headlamp – It’s dark out there
A lawn chair
A slower runner than you if there are bears

Let’s talk about Focus

Before leaving to go to your location, you will want to Pre-Focus your lens. Once you are out in the dark, it is difficult to get proper focus, so this is very important.

By using the Photopills app, you should be able to look up the Hyperfocal length of your lens and camera combination. According to the Hyperfocal Table in the Photopills app, my 14mm wide angle will reach hyperfocal distance in approx 8 feet at f/2.8; meaning that if I focus on something 9 feet away, I my background will remain in focus.

I pick an object outside of the hyperfocal length and get tack sharp focus on it. In order to check, I look at other objects further away to make sure that they are in focus as well. Once I have my lens dialed in, I disable Autofocus and using Gaffer tape, I tape down the focus ring of the lens. Once taped, take a picture and zoom in to confirm that you are tack sharp, if not, you could end up hunting and pecking in the dark, which is no good.

Camera Settings to Start

Camera settings are going to vary given the environmental conditions, but I would say a good start would be to try to keep Shutter Speed around 4 – 6 seconds, the aperture open all the way (in my case f/2.8) and then adjust ISO accordingly to get the exposure that you want. I found that shooting around iso of 5000 was about right for me.

One Last Thing

While you are out there shooting the Aurora Borealis, don’t forget one thing – Have fun with it. It is unbelievably beautiful and it is an experience that you will never forget.

Alabama Constitution Village

By David Morefield

While visiting Huntsville, Alabama for a family reunion, my son and I visited the Alabama Consitution Village. The Alabama Constitution Village was great! I had no idea that the State of Alabama’s Constitution was signed in Huntsville, Alabama back in 1819 in order to organize the State of Alabama as the 22nd state in the union.

The Alabama Constitution Village is full of the sights, sounds and smells of what would have been there back in the early 1800s.

We visited the John Boardman’s Print Shop where they allow you to operate the old press and print something off of a plate. Once printed, you then place your print on stacked cheesecloth drying racks and wait 2 days for the ink to dry. You leave the John Boardman’s Print Shop with the smell of ink still in your nostrils and a sense of respect for how long it took to get anything printed. A run of 500 prints could take three days to complete, assuming the plate was ready to go. The shop has many letters of the alphabet that can be arranged on a plate in order to print something. These letters are arranged in two separate cases, one on top of the other and in order of the alphabet. Capitol letters are kept in the top case, while the small letters are kept on the bottom. This is the origin of calling a letter that is Capitalized an “Uppercase” letter as opposed to a “Lowercase” letter.

Clement Comer’s Law Library is also onsite and offers a glimpse of what it was like to be an attorney preparing for a case back in the early 1800’s. There is also the Federal Land Surveyor’s office, a Post Office, a Blacksmith’s Shop and sheriff Stephen Neal’s residence.

Of course, my favorite place at Alabama Constitution Village is the Cabinetmaker’s shop. They have craftsmen that still build things in the cabinetmaker’s shop the same way that they did back in the early 1800’s. Some of the tools are just genius and although they operate differently, the function of the tools remains the same.

There are two lathes; one is a handcrank lathe that requires one person to turn the lathe with a big spoked wheel while the other uses a chisel and the other is pedal powered lathe that is counterbalanced by a hickory branch suspended form the ceiling. looking at these tools, I was impressed with the engineering that went into how make them.

There was also a bandsaw that was also pedal powered and counterbalanced from a hickory branch along the ceiling. Basically, you would push the pedal down in order to move to sawblad down and then when you release the pedal, the tension on the branch would return the sawblade to the up position. The cabinetmaker showed us how easily his pedal powered saw cut through the wood. Of course, I am sure it takes practice to find the rhythm in order to make consistent cuts.

I love word etiology and one of the things that I learned is that once you had useda handmade nail in a door, you had to knock the end of the nail to the side. Once this had been done, the nail could not be reused. This brought the term, “Dead as a doornail” into common usage.

New Orleans Photoshoot

Louisiana State Museum in Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana

By David Morefield

I recently organized a trip to New Orleans with a couple of a friends. Aside from just having a good time, we also got some great shots in and around the city. My friends Jeremy Mancuso and Tim Stanley rode along with me and we were joined by Andy Crawford once we arrived in New Orleans. The four of us worked non-stop to go around the city and capture as much as we could in the short weekend that we had.

Of course, being in New Orleans, we had to go to the French Quarter and shoot. I like to shoot at night in order to get the deep shadows and the patterns of lights that are cast by gas lamps and neon lights. TIme, Andy, Jeremy and I headed out to the French Quarter at about 4am one morning and walked around while capturing some the beauty of the architecture in the French Quarter. Along the way, we met some interesting people. We found it curious that the most common question that we were asked is, “What are y’all doing?” I would think that four guys walking through the city streets at night carrying cameras, tripods, lenses, extra batteries and other equipment would lend to being a clue that we were photographers, but apparently, we were still asked. When asked “Say man, what are you doing?” Tim responded, “Playing Baseball!” That became our joke for the rest of the weekend.

St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana

After walking the French Quarter for a few hours, we decided to go to Cafe DuMonde and have some beignets and coffee; afterall, you can’t go to New Orleans without stopping at Cafe DuMonde, right?

From Cafe Du Monde, we left to go to Fort Pike and meet with the manager in order to gain access to Fort Macomb. One of the many treats on this visit was that the State of Louisiana Office of the Lieutenant had permitted access to Fort Macomb, a 19th Century fort located near New Orleans. Fort Macomb was built after the British tried to take New Orleans in 1814. Constructed of Brick, the fort guards one of the many waterways that would allow ships in Lake Ponchartrain. Fort Macomb was used by the Confederacy during the War of Northern Aggression and fell to the Union in 1861. In 1867, the barracks caught fire and the fort was abandoned. Today, the fort is off limits to the public. A want to extend special thanks to Fort Macomb, the Louisiana Office of State Parks, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, and the State of Louisiana Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Allowing us to shoot at Fort Macomb was quite a treat and we got some great shots.

At Fort Macomb, we were greeted by Arthur Schick who took us into Fort Macomb. Arthur walked around and told us some of the history about the Fort as well as gave us an education on the local area. Arthur was a great host and at the end of our photoshoot, we asked him where we should go to lunch. Arthur recommended that we go to Rocky and Carlos in Chalmette, Louisiana. I had no idea that when I ordered the Veal and some Macaroni and Cheese, that I would receive enough food to satisfy a platoon of Marines, oh but it was so good. Upon finishing our lunch, we had to seek shelter and sleep it off. We went back tot he hotel and took a nap before going back out to get shots of the skyline of New Orleans.

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying each other’s company and cruising all over the city to get as many shots as we could. Along the way, Tim Jeremy and I got to get to know Andy and I hope that we find a time to go shoot together again. It was great fun.

For a complete look at the shots that I was able to get in New Orleans, check out My Gallery Page.

Buffalo Bayou Shoot with BAC Photography and Design

By David Morefield

Last night, I met up with a photography group that I enjoy hanging out with BAC Photography and Design Photography Club. The group was started by the founder of BAC Photography and Design, Brandon Campbell. The group is open to anyone who wants to join for some shutter time and then typically some sort of tasty food afterwards.

Last night’s outing took us towards downtown Houston along the banks of the Buffalo Bayou. There are some great views of the city’s skyline from that angle and of course, shooting with others is always fun. We started by the Joe Jamail Jr. Skatepark and then migrated towards the Theater District of Downtown Houston. Through this group, I have met quite a few like minded folks who all share a passion for photography. Along with the enjoyable experience of going out on a cool night without mosquitoes, we enjoyed jokes and other conversation. It’s like a mini-vacation really.

Aside from the social aspect, it is group settings like this one that I like to talk to others and get ideas about what I want to shoot, what techniques I would like to try, gain valuable critique on my own marketing efforts, etc… If you are a photographer and you have a group like this near you, regardless of your skill level, I would recommend hanging out and sharing with the group. The way I see it, “Sometimes a teacher, always a student.”

Of course, I was very excited to see another Nikon shooter last night. Most of the group are Canon shooters, so the age-old debate continues. Once we had reach the footbridge that crosses Buffalo Bayou and into Downtown Houston, I was delighted to see the view that the vantage point offered. The buildings, water, bridge and stars all came into frame giving me a shot that I really liked. What is funny is that I have shot around this location several times, but never had ventured this far down the path. Again, had it not been for the group outing, I may not have shot this location for quite some time to come.

After we had concluded our photoshoot, we left to have dinner at Torchy’s Tacos on Shephard. It was not the regular kind of tacos that I am used to eating from my trusted taco truck down the street, but it was nice to try something a little different. At the end of the night I had made some new friends, spawned some new ideas and got some great shots in the process. That is part of the joy of photography.

Where will I be shooting next time? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. As a teaser, I will let you know that I am planning a trip in the next couple of months and I expect to get some awesome shots, but I am not going to announce where it will be just yet.

A Walk in the Park

By David Morefield

On Thursday, my doctor cleared me to pickup my camera bag and start shooting again. I haven’t been allowed to pickup even a jug of milk since I had abdominal surgery last month, so it was good to get behind the camera again.

My friend Tim Stanley and I first went down to Glenwood Cemetery near downtown Houston. Among those buried there are Howard Hughes and the Allen Brothers (founders of Houston). As we walked among the gravestones, we tried to piece together the stories of those who are buried there. Some of the markers had so much age on them they were hard to read.

The grave pictured above is that of a former Houston Police Officer. I had never seen the crest that is on his tombstone or even heard of the “Honor Legion”, but I thought it was very cool. I have looked and I cannot find any references for a Houston Police Department Honor Legion so I plan to follow up on this and find out what it was. I really like the motto on the banner in the Eagle’s mouth – “Fidelis ad Mortem” or “Faithful until Death.” Finally, my four years of Latin in High School has given me something cool.

After leaving the cemetery, we then headed to Hermann Park to shoot the Japanese Garden. When we arrived, we were greeted by Mario and Luigi of Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers. I still have no clue what the Mario Brothers were doing with their hammers in the Japanese Garden, but sometimes things are best left as a mystery.

We spent some time planning a trip in April. I am greatly anticipating that trip because I expect to come home with great treasures to share here. Until then, I am hoping to get some more shots around the Houston area soon.

Tips for Shooting the Aurora Borealis

The Preparation

What equipment is needed for shooting the Aurora?

Let’s talk about Focus

Camera Settings to Start

One Last Thing

Alabama Constitution Village

New Orleans Photoshoot

Buffalo Bayou Shoot with BAC Photography and Design

A Walk in the Park

Helpful Tips and Other News

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Photography Tutorials

Tips for Shooting the Aurora Borealis