This course covers the basic photographic techniques which are then reinforced in the field to photograph the wonders of the night sky including the Milky Way and aurora. The workshop also provides an introduction to aurora forecasting.

With respect to the aurora, we are now in the second half of solar maximum and there has been some great activity in 2026 already. The question inevitably arises: "should I head out?", "When should I head out?" To answer these questions, an understanding of the basics of interpreting the various data about solar weather to make informed decisions about whether to head out to chase the aurora really helps set the photographer up for success.. It has given me a lot of satisfaction to see previous participants acquiring their first shots of the Aurora Australis after doing the course. I am a qualified Science teacher, so I am able to unpack this in a practical down to earth way.

The second part of the course covers the basics photographic techniques which are then reinforced in the field to photograph the wonders of the night sky including the Milky Way and Aurora? This will enable you to learn learn photographic techniques that will allow you to maximise your opportunity to photograph these events. I also cover some basic processing tips for processing your images of the aurora.

In the field I will teach you how to:

• focus your DSLR/Mirrorless camera to help ensure the sharpest and most pleasing shots of our night skies taking into account the Earth's rotation and NPF rule. Emphasis is given to aurora photography.
• adjust your camera settings in manual mode for ISO, shutter speed and aperture taking into account reasonable exposure levels using the histogram
• light paint foreground objects such as buildings, trees etc to create images with the stars in the background
• shoot multiple images of foreground and background shots to be stacked so to further reduce noise in your images

Please join me! I have had more than 10 years experience chasing the aurora from the Canberra area after capturing my first aurorae (on film) back in 1989 in Hobart. I have also captured the aurora from Iceland in 2018 and 2019. This experience has allowed me to gather information to be able to make informed decisions to commence my own aurora chase.

Each participant receives detailed notes for future reference.

Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via the contact table on my website.

As an aside the timing of this workshop may provide an opportunity to image the Ghost fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis) is a bioluminescent species of fungi found in south east Australia from southern Queensland through to Tasmania. 

The cost is for my tuition on the course, you are responsible for arranging your own accommodation, travel and any other costs such as travel and insurance. 

Places are limited to 5 participants. Please note that should I receive less than 4 registrations I may need to cancel the course as it would become unviable for me to operate it. Cost is $250.00 per person.