Northern lights - Amateur

[Arx]

This is my second time catching auroras! Tips & Tricks are more than welcome!
Had trouble finding good foreground, but my main first goal was actually catch them on camera, next time I'll be going to the seaside and focus more on the foreground. I'm also looking forward to make panorama out of them.
I shot in FINE JPEG and with SMALL resolution
I've been shooting in sRGB, is it bad?

CAMERA: Nikon D3200
ISO:3200
WB: AUTO
SHUTTER: 15-20 seconds
F-STOP: F/3.5-5.6
LENS: Tamron 18-200mm

Should I change WB in camera or should I do it in post-processing? And I've recently looked into using histogram...is it somehow helpful when shooting in dark?

1)

2)

3)

Noise reduction decreases quality quite a lot.

 

[Fujidave]

Nice set of images, but it might be better to just show them instead of having the spoiler to click.

 

[astroNikon]

This is my second time catching auroras! Tips & Tricks are more than welcome!
Had trouble finding good foreground, but my main first goal was actually catch them on camera, next time I'll be going to the seaside and focus more on the foreground. I'm also looking forward to make panorama out of them.
I shot in FINE JPEG and with SMALL resolution
I've been shooting in sRGB, is it bad?

CAMERA: Nikon D3200
ISO:3200
WB: AUTO
SHUTTER: 15-20 seconds
F-STOP: F/5.6
LENS: Tamron 18-200mm

Should I change WB in camera or should I do it in post-processing? And I've recently looked into using histogram...is it somehow helpful when shooting in dark?

1)

2)

3)

Noise reduction decreases quality quite a lot.

Must be my browser.
This is all I see above .... nothing

 

[Warhorse]

I have no answers for your questions, but I must say I like these pics a lot.

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

I see them. I can’t click them to make them bigger though.

I think they look cool.

The wb is something you can adjust in post. I wouldn’t worry about it so much while shooting. Especially a shot like this where there’s no real reference to what the colors should be (the stars might be the only way to tell).

I don’t know if it’s possible to open up your aperture any more to be able to shorten your shutter speed. You might be able to get less movement from the Aurora.

 

[Arx]

Nice set of images, but it might be better to just show them instead of having the spoiler to click.

Thank you, removed spoilers aswell

 

[Arx]

This is my second time catching auroras! Tips & Tricks are more than welcome!
Had trouble finding good foreground, but my main first goal was actually catch them on camera, next time I'll be going to the seaside and focus more on the foreground. I'm also looking forward to make panorama out of them.
I shot in FINE JPEG and with SMALL resolution
I've been shooting in sRGB, is it bad?

CAMERA: Nikon D3200
ISO:3200
WB: AUTO
SHUTTER: 15-20 seconds
F-STOP: F/5.6
LENS: Tamron 18-200mm

Should I change WB in camera or should I do it in post-processing? And I've recently looked into using histogram...is it somehow helpful when shooting in dark?

1)

2)

3)

Noise reduction decreases quality quite a lot.

Must be my browser.
This is all I see above .... nothing

Removed spoilers, maybe now you can see them?

 

[Arx]

I have no answers for your questions, but I must say I like these pics a lot.

It's nothing special..It's the auroras itself that make everything look nice Thank you!

 

[Arx]

I see them. I can’t click them to make them bigger though.

I think they look cool.

The wb is something you can adjust in post. I wouldn’t worry about it so much while shooting. Especially a shot like this where there’s no real reference to what the colors should be (the stars might be the only way to tell).

I don’t know if it’s possible to open up your aperture any more to be able to shorten your shutter speed. You might be able to get less movement from the Aurora.

That's informative, thank you! I just checked my camera and it can go down to F 3.5 with ISO 3200 and shutter 10-30 seconds. Yesterday when I was on shooting I thought I had my aperture as down as possible but I guess I was wrong.

 

[astroNikon]

This is my second time catching auroras! Tips & Tricks are more than welcome!
Had trouble finding good foreground, but my main first goal was actually catch them on camera, next time I'll be going to the seaside and focus more on the foreground. I'm also looking forward to make panorama out of them.
I shot in FINE JPEG and with SMALL resolution
I've been shooting in sRGB, is it bad?

CAMERA: Nikon D3200
ISO:3200
WB: AUTO
SHUTTER: 15-20 seconds
F-STOP: F/5.6
LENS: Tamron 18-200mm

Should I change WB in camera or should I do it in post-processing? And I've recently looked into using histogram...is it somehow helpful when shooting in dark?

1)

2)

3)

Noise reduction decreases quality quite a lot.

Must be my browser.
This is all I see above .... nothing

Removed spoilers, maybe now you can see them?

Yes, very nice greens in the first image. Good job on all of them.

 

[astroNikon]

I see them. I can’t click them to make them bigger though.

I think they look cool.

The wb is something you can adjust in post. I wouldn’t worry about it so much while shooting. Especially a shot like this where there’s no real reference to what the colors should be (the stars might be the only way to tell).

I don’t know if it’s possible to open up your aperture any more to be able to shorten your shutter speed. You might be able to get less movement from the Aurora.

That's informative, thank you! I just checked my camera and it can go down to F 3.5 with ISO 3200 and shutter 10-30 seconds. Yesterday when I was on shooting I thought I had my aperture as down as possible but I guess I was wrong.

Your Tamron 18-200 will open up to f/3.5 at 18mm. As you extend the range to 200 it gets to f/6.3 quite quickly.

I use a 18-35/3.5-4.5 also. As the f/3.5 is faster @18mm than the more expensive 18-35/4 but much cheaper and lighter than the 18-35/2.8 lenses. Sometimes fixed apertures such as f/4s are slower at certain focal lengths than variable aperture lenses and if you use it at wide angle all the time, you'll be slightly faster (and save a lot of money).

 

[Arx]

I see them. I can’t click them to make them bigger though.

I think they look cool.

The wb is something you can adjust in post. I wouldn’t worry about it so much while shooting. Especially a shot like this where there’s no real reference to what the colors should be (the stars might be the only way to tell).

I don’t know if it’s possible to open up your aperture any more to be able to shorten your shutter speed. You might be able to get less movement from the Aurora.

That's informative, thank you! I just checked my camera and it can go down to F 3.5 with ISO 3200 and shutter 10-30 seconds. Yesterday when I was on shooting I thought I had my aperture as down as possible but I guess I was wrong.

Your Tamron 18-200 will open up to f/3.5 at 18mm. As you extend the range to 200 it gets to f/6.3 quite quickly.

I use a 18-35/3.5-4.5 also. As the f/3.5 is faster @18mm than the more expensive 18-35/4 but much cheaper and lighter than the 18-35/2.8 lenses. Sometimes fixed apertures such as f/4s are slower at certain focal lengths than variable aperture lenses and if you use it at wide angle all the time, you'll be slightly faster (and save a lot of money).

Then I believe at least 1 or 2 of the photos I posted here are with the aperture of F/ 3.5 because I mostly used 18mm length. First one is definitely not 18mm though.
Thank you!

 

[Designer]

(disclaimer) I have not attempted to photograph the aurora, but just from looking at your settings, I think if you try a longer shutter opening, and lower ISO setting, I think you will end up with less noise. Just a thought.

 

[Arx]

(disclaimer) I have not attempted to photograph the aurora, but just from looking at your settings, I think if you try a longer shutter opening, and lower ISO setting, I think you will end up with less noise. Just a thought.

What about the auroras movement?I'm trying to lower the shutter speed to get more detail in. I'll give it a try any way Thank you!

 

[astroNikon]

I see them. I can’t click them to make them bigger though.

I think they look cool.

The wb is something you can adjust in post. I wouldn’t worry about it so much while shooting. Especially a shot like this where there’s no real reference to what the colors should be (the stars might be the only way to tell).

I don’t know if it’s possible to open up your aperture any more to be able to shorten your shutter speed. You might be able to get less movement from the Aurora.

That's informative, thank you! I just checked my camera and it can go down to F 3.5 with ISO 3200 and shutter 10-30 seconds. Yesterday when I was on shooting I thought I had my aperture as down as possible but I guess I was wrong.

Your Tamron 18-200 will open up to f/3.5 at 18mm. As you extend the range to 200 it gets to f/6.3 quite quickly.

I use a 18-35/3.5-4.5 also. As the f/3.5 is faster @18mm than the more expensive 18-35/4 but much cheaper and lighter than the 18-35/2.8 lenses. Sometimes fixed apertures such as f/4s are slower at certain focal lengths than variable aperture lenses and if you use it at wide angle all the time, you'll be slightly faster (and save a lot of money).

Then I believe at least 1 or 2 of the photos I posted here are with the aperture of F/ 3.5 because I mostly used 18mm length. First one is definitely not 18mm though.
Thank you!

FYI, just because you are at 18mm does not mean you are at f/3.5
at 18mm you can select from f/3.5 up to f/22 (as an example)
at say 35mm your lens may allow you to use f/4 up to f/22
at 100mm your lens may allow you to use f/5.6 to f/22
at 200mm your lens would be from f/6.3 to f/22

Always check your aperture setting as with a variable aperture lens it may not be what you think it is.