A letter from beside the tripod

Take the photograph.
Then take a moment.

You do not need the most expensive camera to bring home a memory. You need a steady place to put it, a clean lens, and an exposure that suits what the sky is doing.

Roy beneath sweeping green and violet northern lights in Iceland — Leave room for the sky. And a little room to be in the moment.

My first rule: set up before the show. My second: don’t spend the whole show looking at a screen. Take a test shot, make one small change, and look up again.

These are practical starting points, not perfect settings for every camera or every aurora. A faint slow arc and a bright dancing curtain need different exposures. Menu names and controls depend on your model and firmware.

— Roy

Choose what’s in your pocket or backpack.

Camera	Photo starting point	What I would change first
iPhone with Night mode	Main 1× lens, Night mode, tripod, flash off, 3-second timer. Try the automatic exposure first, then a shorter capture for moving curtains.	Keep it still for the entire countdown. The longest available Night mode time varies; a tripod can unlock longer captures. Avoid digital zoom.
Samsung Galaxy	Night mode on the main lens. If Pro mode offers manual controls: try ISO 800–1600, 2–8 s, focus on a bright star. RAW if supported.	Shorten the shutter for fast aurora. Expert RAW/Astrophoto availability varies; multi-minute star stacking can smear moving aurora.
Google Pixel	Night Sight on a stable tripod, main lens, flash off. Use a short Night Sight shot for movement; astrophotography is aimed at steadier night skies.	A long computational capture may soften fast curtains. Check your model’s available controls.
Xiaomi / OnePlus / OPPO / vivo / Huawei and other phones	Start in Night mode on the main camera. If manual mode is available, try 2–8 s and ISO 800–1600 with a steady support.	Manual RAW and shutter ranges differ by device. Lower exposure for a bright display; do not force a minute-long capture just because the phone offers it.
DSLR / mirrorless	RAW, manual exposure, wide 14–24 mm full-frame equivalent, f/1.8–2.8 if available, ISO 1600, 4 s. Fixed white balance around 3500–4500 K.	Bright and fast: 0.5–3 s. Moderate: 3–8 s. Faint and slow: 8–15 s. Change ISO to suit the aperture; inspect sharpness and highlights.
GoPro HERO10 / models with Night Photo	Tripod, Night Photo, Wide, shutter 5–10 s as a first test; ISO minimum 100 and maximum 800–1600 where offered. RAW if available.	Night Lapse for a sequence; keep the interval at least as long as the exposure plus processing time. Use the options your model actually exposes.
Insta360 X5 / supported X-series	Stable tripod, Starlapse for a sequence. Start with its supported low-light preset; if manual controls are offered, test 5–10 s and ISO 800–1600.	Keep both lenses clean and free of snow. Put the tripod on stable ground. Shorten exposures when aurora moves quickly; review stitching and noise.
Low-light compact / bridge / other action camera	Use the brightest lens and a tripod. If possible: RAW, manual focus, widest aperture, ISO 800–3200 and 2–8 s.	If it has no manual exposure or Night mode, a bright aurora may work better than a faint arc. A phone may outperform an older small-sensor camera.

Photo, video or time-lapse?

A still photograph

Use a short enough shutter to keep the curtain’s shape. A long exposure gathers faint light but can turn moving rays into a smooth green cloud. Check the histogram and keep bright green areas from clipping.

Real-time video

Bright aurora and a fast lens help enormously. Try 24/25 fps, about 1/25–1/50 s, the widest useful aperture and ISO 3200–12800 on a capable large-sensor camera. Expect noise; test your camera’s limits.

Phones and action cameras may only show strong displays. A 5-second photo setting cannot produce normal 25-fps video.

Time-lapse / Starlapse

Lock focus and white balance. Use the shortest exposure that gives useful detail, keep a consistent interval and leave enough time for processing. Hundreds of stills become a short film; it is accelerated time, not live movement.

Make the whole frame work.

Where to stand

Find an open view away from direct lights. Keep a safe foreground: a shoreline path, a mountain silhouette or a person on firm ground. Do not climb a roadside snowbank, walk onto a frozen lake or stand in a traffic lane for a cleaner frame.

Leave room above the horizon. Aurora can grow overhead, so take one wider frame before zooming in. Keep the horizon level.

Focus before the cold wins

Magnify a bright star in live view and manually focus until it is as small as possible. Infinity markings are approximate. Recheck after a lens change, a bump or a temperature shift. Use a timer or remote shutter; turn stabilisation off on a tripod if the maker recommends it.

You, under the lights

Use a rear camera and tripod rather than a handheld front-camera selfie. Compose, mark a safe standing spot and set a timer or remote. Hold still. For a silhouette, let the sky do the work; for a visible face, briefly use a dim warm light, away from other photographers.

A short exposure is easier for people. A separate portrait and sky blend is a creative composite: label it honestly.

Tripod, batteries and kindness

Spread the legs, keep the centre column low and protect the setup from gusts. Keep spare batteries warm. A power bank can help compatible cameras, but protect cables from snow. Put cold equipment in a closed bag before entering a warm room to reduce condensation.

Use a dim red headtorch when practical. Turn off car headlights once legally parked and safe. Never shine a torch into someone else’s exposure.

What I check after the first frame

Are the stars sharp? Fix focus and shorten the shutter if they trail.
Is the aurora too smooth? Shorten the exposure, then increase ISO if needed.
Is green becoming a flat neon patch? Reduce exposure.
Is it noisy but visible? Keep the memory. Improve the exposure without erasing all the texture.
Have I actually looked at the sky? Put the camera down for a moment.

For editing, start with a believable white balance, restrained noise reduction and gentle contrast. Keep the original. A photograph can be expressive without pretending the camera saw exactly what your eyes did.