Hi there The Northern Lights are in fact very variable and very unpredictable. Normally the light level is much less than a full Moon, after all it is illuminated by full sunlight and needs an exposure as such like say 250th at f16 with 200 ISO film or it will be washed out, while the aurora needs more like 30 sec at f5.6 and 400 or 800 ISO. For some reason the digital camera I have now is MUCH better than film at getting a feeling for the effects. Probably this is because it (Nikon D100) has a special noise reduction feature for long exposures which makes the blacks black, but also if you use RAW files there is another 2 stops of exposure latitude to use. Sorry to be technical but I think many folk would like to try getting shots of the northern lights. I suggest any digital camera will do, but set exposure to manual if possible, and sensitivity to 400 ISO. A tripod is also a good idea! Set the focus manually at infinity to avoid the autofocus going daft. Then take lots of pix. The biggest reason for not seeing the Northern Lights is not that they are not there - but rather not being able to see them. Clouds of course obscure them, but a bright Moon also makes them barely visible. Of course light pollution so favoured by our politicians also tends to make them invisible to town, village and even many country dwellers. A good idea is to subscribe to http://www.spaceweather.com which gives early warning and lots of info on the sun and thus is useful as a predictor. The result of the moon and clouds is that in Orkney we see the effects much less than we could. Yes they can be green, yellow, blue, red, but are most often green. In fact when you take photos you will see colours you did not see visually. They can be in curtains, a huge arc across the sky, radiate from a point or all of these. They also can make a noise, a hum or crackle, and can be quite eerie when one is on one's own in a remote place in the dark.... We will post more pix when we get them. Hope these tips might be useful to others. Take plenty photos and write down what you did. Of course I always do that......?? -- Charles Tait Photographic Limited, Kelton, St Ola, Orkney, UK KW15 1TR Tel 01856 873738 Fax 01856 875313 Mobile 07785 220269 All outgoing and incoming mail is checked by Norton Antivirus 2003 email charles.tait@zetnet.co.uk website http://www.charles-tait.co.uk