A spring equinox aurora photography workshop is a multi-night workshop built around the March equinox, when geomagnetic activity tends to run higher. Mine runs March 19 to 24, 2028 in Fairbanks, Alaska, with seven photographers, a private bedroom each and lodging included for $5,000. If you're a photographer who wants to photograph the aurora borealis in Alaska, this workshop is for you, and you'll spend every clear night in the field with me learning to get the shot while it's moving.
The Workshop
$5,000 per person
$1,250 deposit holds your spot
Dates
March 19–24, 2028, six shooting nights
Group
Seven photographers, a private bedroom each
Included
Lodging, ground transport and nightly instruction
“This workshop is excellent for those looking for more than a simple tour and seeing the Northern Lights.”
Kerry F. · Spring Equinox Aurora Workshop, Alaska
★★★★★ 5.0 · 34 five-star reviews
WHY THE EQUINOX
March Aurora Photography Workshop, Alaska: Why the Spring Equinox
The weeks around the March equinox are some of the best of the year for aurora photography in Alaska. Geomagnetic storms are statistically more common around the equinoxes than around the solstices, and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks lists late February to early April as the best aurora viewing months in Alaska. The 2028 equinox falls on March 20, the second of six shooting nights on this workshop.
I was born and raised in Alaska and I've spent 22 years photographing it, and the weeks around the equinoxes are the ones I plan my own year around. That's why this is a March aurora photography workshop, Alaska in the last weeks of winter, and not a January one. There's a reason for it beyond habit. Around the March and September equinoxes the tilt of the Earth lines our magnetic field up with the solar wind in a way that lets more of that energy in, which scientists call the Russell-McPherron effect. Geomagnetic storms are statistically more common around the equinoxes than around the solstices, so the odds of an active night are better than they are in midwinter.
The 2028 spring equinox falls on March 20, which is the second shooting night of this workshop. I didn't build the week so the equinox lands on the drive in or the flight home. It sits right in the middle of six nights in the field.
None of that guarantees a display on any one night. The aurora runs on solar wind and the weather decides whether we can see it, and if I could tell you which night would be the big one I'd be a very rich man. What stacks the odds in your favor is being out as many nights as possible, in places dark enough and clear enough to see it, with your camera already set up when it starts moving.
The best months for the northern lights in Interior Alaska are February and March, along with September and October, and March has a few other things going for it. The deep cold of December and January has usually let up, so standing outside for hours is easier on you and your batteries. The snow is still deep, which gives you clean white foregrounds. And the Interior's continental climate tends to give us clearer skies than the coast, with the more stable weather patterns that are common in late winter and early spring.
You can see the photos and read how the spring equinox week went in 2026 in my spring equinox trip report, and how the fall version runs in my fall aurora trip report.
DARK SKIES
A New Moon Week: Dark Skies and Lit Foregrounds
The moon is below the horizon on every shooting night of this workshop. The last quarter moon is March 17, 2028 and the new moon is March 25, so the six nights from March 19 to 24 are fully dark. That shows the faint aurora that moonlight washes out, and it puts the light on your foreground in your own hands.
THE MOON
Below the Horizon All Week
The moon was the second thing I looked at when I set these dates. The last quarter moon is March 17, 2028 and the new moon is March 25, so over the six shooting nights the moon is a thin, shrinking crescent that rises around seven in the morning. It's below the horizon the whole time we're out, and the sky stays fully dark.
THE SKY
What Dark Nights Show You
Dark nights show you the faint aurora activity that moonlight washes out, the low glow on the horizon before a display builds and the softer colors at the edges of the curtains. The stars come through too, so your aurora frames have a full sky behind them.
THE FOREGROUND
Light You Bring Yourself
Moonlit weeks have their own advantage, since the moon lights the landscape for you. On a dark week the light on your foreground comes from us. I'll teach you how to use low-level lighting and light painting to bring out a spruce stand, a cabin or a snow-covered ridge without blowing out the sky, and how to blend a foreground exposure with a sky exposure when one frame can't hold both.
GALLERY
Winter Nights in Alaska
THE DAILY RHYTHM
How the Week Runs
You arrive in Fairbanks on March 18, 2028, shoot six nights from March 19 to 24, and fly home on March 25. Each night's location is set by the solar wind, the cloud cover and the forecast rather than a fixed itinerary, and the afternoons are for reviewing and processing what you shot the night before.
MARCH 19 TO 24
Six Shooting Nights
Every night we look at the solar wind, the cloud cover and the forecast, and then we go to whichever of the best locations has a clear sky. Aurora photography takes flexibility to chase clear skies, so the plan for each night is set by the weather conditions, not a fixed itinerary. Some nights that's close to Fairbanks and some nights it's a few hours of driving into the Interior to get away from the city lights and the light pollution and around the clouds. Chasing the aurora can mean driving a couple hundred miles from the house in a night, and I've driven as much as 200 miles to find a clear patch of sky.
The aurora isn't usually out the minute it gets dark, so there's patience involved. We set up on a composition, get your exposure dialed in, and wait it out, sometimes for extended periods. When it starts to build I'm moving between photographers giving hands-on guidance with focus, exposure and framing while it's happening, because a display can change completely in a couple of minutes and that's when people miss the shot. Depending on the activity we can be out into the early morning hours.
MARCH 18
Arrival
You fly into Fairbanks International Airport on March 18 and settle into the house that night. The arrival night is included in the price and it isn't a shooting night. We use it to get your gear sorted, go over your camera settings and talk about what the forecast is doing, so on the first real night you're ready the moment we step out of the van.
DAYTIME
Afternoons and Daytime
This is an aurora workshop first, so the week is built around the nights and the days are built around recovering from them. You'll sleep late most days, and in the afternoons we sit down at the house with the previous night's images and work through them together, both what went right in the field and the post-processing methods I use in Lightroom and Photoshop. Everyone wants to shoot the daylight too, and March in the Interior has good light on the snow, but nights out until the early morning add up fast when you're also out all day, and short sleep in the cold wears people down quicker than they expect. So daytime outings are a call I make day by day, based on how the group is holding up and what the forecast says for that night.
MARCH 25
Departure
You fly home on March 25. If you're joining the Sitka whale workshop, you fly from Fairbanks to Sitka that day instead.
Add-On · Sitka
Add the Sitka Humpback Whale Workshop
The Sitka humpback whale photography workshop runs March 26 to 29, 2028, the week after this one, and you can add it to the aurora workshop for $5,450 in a shared room or $6,200 in a single, and your airfare from Fairbanks to Sitka isn't included. Booked together, the two cost $1,500 less than booking them separately, and the add-on is open until December 1, 2027.
The week after this workshop I'm running a humpback whale photography workshop in Sitka during the spring herring spawn, and the dates line up so you can do both on one trip. You fly from Fairbanks to Sitka on March 25 and stay that one night in Sitka on your own, and then we spend four days on the water from March 26 to 29 before you fly home on March 30. The add-on price covers the whale workshop and your lodging for the workshop nights, so you book your own flights, including the one from Fairbanks to Sitka, and meals are on your own.
When you book the aurora workshop you can add the whale workshop for $5,450 in a shared room or $6,200 in a single. Booked together, the two cost $1,500 less than booking them separately. The add-on is available until December 1, 2027 or until the boat fills, whichever comes first.
On the Water
March 26–29
Four days in Sitka
Shared Room
$5,450
Added to the aurora workshop
Single Room
$6,200
Added to the aurora workshop
Combo Savings
$1,500
Open until December 1, 2027
WHAT TO BRING
Gear for Spring Equinox Aurora Photography
For aurora photography in Fairbanks in March you need a camera that handles high ISO well, a wide-angle lens at f/2.8 or faster, a solid tripod and at least three charged batteries, plus clothing rated for twenty to thirty below, because March nights can still drop into the minus twenties and minus thirties Fahrenheit.
CAMERA GEAR
Camera Gear for Night Photography
- •A DSLR or mirrorless camera that handles high ISO well
- •A wide-angle lens, ideally 12 to 16mm or 14 to 24mm, with an aperture of f/2.8 or faster
- •Optional: a 20mm prime, a 24-70mm, a 70-200mm or a 100-500mm for daytime landscapes and wildlife
- •A solid tripod with a ball head, not a lightweight plastic one, so long exposures stay sharp
- •A remote shutter release, which prevents camera shake during long exposures, or the built-in 2-second delay if you don't have one
- •Extra batteries: at least three fully charged batteries kept in an inside pocket, plus the charger
- •Memory cards and a card reader
- •A microfiber cloth and a rocket blower
- •Optional: a laptop with Lightroom and Photoshop for the afternoon sessions
- •A two-gallon zip-top bag and a few silica packets, so your camera can warm up inside the bag when you come in from the cold without fogging up
CLOTHING
Clothing for Interior Alaska in March
Nights in March can still drop into the minus twenties and minus thirties Fahrenheit, and daytime highs usually run from about ten below to twenty above.
- •Warm base layers in wool or synthetic, not cotton
- •A heavy parka rated for twenty to thirty below
- •Insulated snow pants or bibs rated for the same
- •Snow boots rated for twenty to thirty below
- •Wool socks, a warm hat and a face cover
- •Liner gloves you can work camera buttons in, with heavy mittens over them
- •Hand and toe warmers
- •A headlamp with a red light setting to protect your night vision
- •A water bottle and snacks for long nights in the field
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
About Your Instructor
I'm Michael Schultz. I was born and raised in Alaska and I've spent 22 years photographing it, and the aurora still gets me every time it starts moving. Face The Outdoors was featured in National Geographic. I'm a professional photographer and I've been teaching photographers in the field for years, and I keep this photo workshop to seven photographers so I can actually spend time with each of you in the field, and I've made most of the mistakes you can make out there at thirty below, so you don't have to.
If you have questions about the workshop or your gear, email me and I'll get back to you. You can also read my guide on how to photograph the northern lights before you come.
