Take your Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis photos to the next level.

Photographing Northern Lights has some challenges. But if you plan ahead by knowing where to go. What style of images you want to take. Your Northern Lights photographs will go from documenting them to a memory that will be shared on Facebook, viral on Instagram and will make your photograph a master piece framed on the wall.

Plan ahead.

If you have a guide while visiting a resort tell them what you would like in your inspiring foreground. They have good local knowledge and most guides will try and give you the best experience for seeing Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis.
Without a guide ask locals for advice and there favourite spots. Use a map app, darkskies map and check access for the area.

Inspiring foregrounds

• Water – Lakes, streams, rivers and sea. These are a great reflective surface. Capturing reflections of stars and the northern lights.

• Trees and treetops – With a wide or a zoom lens you can focus on the tops of trees in to the nights sky.
• Hill / Mountain skyline – This works with a rule of thirds. It brings a sense of scale and grandeur to the photo.
• Cabins and Buildings – Log cabins. Chalets. Churches. Hotels. They are a place that people might know and can invoke memories. They also add a reality to an image.
• Silhouette – A silhouette of your self looking in to the sky, proposing marriage make a memorable photograph.
• Camp fire and camping – A picture of a fire or illuminated tents give an aura of that you are on an adventure and out in the wilds enjoying nature.
• Lights – A town in the distance or light painting using LED torches or torches with coloured film filters. You can light paint buildings, bridges, signs and statues. Use your imagination.

Combine the Inspiring foregrounds.

Water – Camping, Water – Silhouette, Water – Lights, or Cabins – Camping, Trees – Camping, Camping – Silhouette.
As you can guess the combinations are only limited by your imagination. Combine this with the guide I made and you will be well on the way to some great photographs-

A BING image search for ideas.
A GOOGLE image search for ideas.

Examples of foregrounds

These photographs were taken by Narongsakh Nuengubn. These are great inspiring foregrounds for northern lights. Narongsakh Nuengubn is part of our northern lights group, Aurora Alerts in Finland.