Firstly to get a great photo of the northern light require a lot of experience especially if you are using a film camera, saying this some digital cameras can capture a nice image using some basic setting.

1. Use a tripod. You need to hold your camera very steady so hand holding your cameras will more than likely result in a blurred or less sharp image
2. Use a camera remote control or a shutter release cord. If you do not have any of these items you could try use you cameras timer. You are trying to photograph in the dark so even the slight amount of camera shake from you pressing the shutter button could result in a poor quality image, this is why remotes or shutter release cords are recommended,
3. Select a ISO from 400 up. The desired ISO setting all depends on how bright the northern lights are. Sometime an ISO of 1600 can result in some great images.
4. A wide-angle lens is best lens type for this activity if you are using a DSLR.
5. Shutter Speed and aperture
   • Full Manual: Set the dial on your DSLR camera to "manual mode". Use an aperture of f/4 to f/5.6 and a shutter speed of about 30 seconds. If you are using a wide angle lens this aperture setting should give you enough depth of field to make it appear as if the foreground and the background are in focus.
   • Aperture Priority: Set you camera top Aperture Priority Mode. start with a aperture of f/4 and take a few practise shots increasing the aperture slightly to see which test image give s the best results.
6. It’s dark and there is very little to focus on so your auto focus on your lens will probably find it difficult so it is recommended  that you manually focus your camera lens. 
7. Set you camera to a single focus point, or single metering point. Normally central metering is recommended.
8. Set the white balance to bulb mode.

So our camera is not setup but this does not guarantee you will get a great image. First you need to take a few test pictures. If the results are an images that are too dark open you aperture and increase your ISO. If the image is too bright try reducing your shutter speed or aperture. Continue taking test images and adjusting you camera one setting at a time until you get the desired exposure.

Note : Long shutter speeds are not recommended because they can cause the image to appear blurry.