Tag: photography

RAW or JPEG

Should I stick to JPEG when photographing the Northern Lights or dare I use RAW?

I usually use JPEG when I take photographs. It’s not something I’ve thought about, it’s just what my camera does and sites like blogger and facebook like it. But the research I’ve done so far on photographing the Northern Lights seems fairly consistent in telling me to use RAW. The memory card I’ve ordered can do this, so I do have the option. My conundrum is whether or not I’ll know what to do with it once I’ve taken the photographs. I don’t want to have amazing photographs and not be able to download them to any websites or even worse, be able to get them off my camera and onto my laptop.

I’ll have to try to speak to someone in the photography department at school and get some advice.

Photography

Learning how to photograph the Northern Lights.

Now I’m thinking about how I’m going to photograph that amazing view I’m soon to have of the Northern Lights, lava, bonfires and fireworks. Yes, all at the same time. I’ve requested it.

After looking at a few websites for tips on photographing the Aurora Borealis (to give it its proper name) I’ve realised that my snappy camera probably isn’t going to be up to the job. So I’ve just ordered myself a DSLR. I didn’t want a full-blown SLR as I know I’d get too confused by it and I can’t afford one anyway. So I’ve got a combi type that has got really good reviews. It should arrive by the end of next week, so then I need to get out and about practising with it and learning how to be a good night photographer. All in the next few weeks.

I’ve also ordered an ‘extreme’ memory card. Apparently memory cards can give up when the temperature gets too hot or too cold. The extreme cards are meant to cope with extreme lows and highs. The temperature in Reykjavik should be hovering around 0 when I’m there, but it has been known to get down to -17, so I want to be prepared.

I need to get a spare battery too, for the same reason. Then I can keep one next to my body and keep swapping them over. And a tripod. I’ve been researching tripods, but I’m not too sure which one yet. I want something light to carry but it has to be strong enough to stand steady in big winds. Iceland can be VERY windy. The other thing is a coat. I have my waterproof which I use for walking, but I’m not sure if this will be warm enough. I can layer up underneath it, but I can only fit so many layers. I had a look a down jackets which seem really snug, but they’re not particularly waterproof. At least not waterproof for the full-on sideways blasting rain that Iceland will throw at me. So I’ll have to ponder a bit more on that one.

I found this blog with some really good advice on how to photography the Northern Lights.