Photographing the Northern lights in Harwich, Essex - The brightest aurora borealis seen in the UK in over 100 years!
On Friday 9th May 2024 from around 11pm until around 3am Saturday 10th May, the whole of the UK was shocked to see the brightest display of the aurora borealis (the Northern lights) in over a decade, caused by an extreme solar storm. Many people have the Northern lights on their bucket list and pay a lot of money to visit Northern countries such as Iceland, Norway, Sweden, etc. in the hope of seeing this phenomenon. I personally have been to Tromsø for this reason and only managed to see a very faint glow for one evening, so I was very fortunate to be awake with my camera on this absolutely spectacular evening to see an incredible display of bright Northern lights over my own home on the border of Essex and Suffolk.
What are the Northern lights?
The aurora that we see is actually Earth’s magnetic field breaking up electronically charged particals that are created by solar storms on the sun. These particles travel millions of miles and heat up when they collide with atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere. The colour of the lights that we can see are dependent on which gases the particles collide with, as different gases produce different colours when they heat up: Oxygen burns green at lower altitudes and red at very high altitudes (which only occurs during extreme solar storms), Nitrogen burns with various hints of blue, purple, and pink. The Sun has a solar cycle of approximately 11 years (although this can extend to 15 years), during which time it reaches its mimumum and maximum levels of solar activity. 2024 or 2025 are expected to be this current cycle’s solar maximum, which, in layman’s mean it’s the highest chance in 11-15 years of seeing the Nothern lights; more solar activity means more particles that are likely to collide with Earth’s atmosphere. However, even at solar maximum, its still incredibly rare to see the aurora in the UK at all, let alone as far south as Harwich, where these photos were taken. I never in a million years expected to have a picture of my own house surrounded by an incredible display of dancing Northern lights, and it’s definitely one I’m framing for the hallway!
What is the best way to see the Northern lights in the UK?
The best way to see the Northern lights in the UK is to use either a digital camera or your mobile phone. Even with a very bright display of lights, it’s difficult for the naked eye to see the Northern lights properly as your eyes naturally adjust to night-vision mode in the dark, and they become less colour-sensitive, plus we are surrounded by light pollution in the UK which makes that even more challenging. I could see the aurora with my eyes on May 9th but not as bright or as saturated as they appear in photographs. Digital cameras can be set to a longer exposure, which lets more light into the camera over a longer period of time. Most modern mobile phones can also do this with “night mode”, although you will not have the same level of control or same detail come through as a digital camera. In an ideal scenario, you will need a tripod for this, as any movement with your hand will make for a blurry photograph. I personally shot all of these pictures handheld, but only because I did not have my tripod in my house.
My gear and settings:
Canon EOS R6
Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L
ISO 5000, f/2.8, 2s shutter speed (handheld - hence the slight blur!)
What are the best camera settings to photograph the Northern lights?
You will absolutely need a tripod to make use of these settings. I did not have one with me for my photographs and you can see some level of blur, which would have been avoided with the tripod. My camera uses both in body stabilisation and lens stabilisation which helped me a little, but it’s still not technically perfect. It’s best to use a wide-angle lens to capture more of the scene - something like a 16mm or 24mm lens is ideal. Your camera settings will differ for every scenario, so there is no “one-size fits all” option, however the following settings are a good starting point for capturing photos of the aurora borealis:
ISO 1600
Aperture f/2.8 or wider (lower number)
Shutter speed 2-15 seconds
If the aurora is very bright then you may need to decrease the shutter speed to reduce motion blur. If your image is too bright, you can reduce your ISO and/or increase (shortern) your shutter speed.
The solar cycle will reach solar maximum either late 2024 or 2025, so there is every possibility that the Northern lights will make a return to the British skies soon!
Thank you for taking the time to view my photos of the aurora. If you like my work and would like to book me to photograph your wedding, you can view more information and prices here.