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Aurora in Kellyville
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Aurora in Kellyville



behind the lens badge
cameraCanon EOS 7D Mark II

settings Aperture f/1.4 ISO 1600 Shutter 23/10 Focal Length 20/1 

upload_dateOct, 2017

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2 Comments |
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 March 21, 2018
WOW..hella awesome! シ
tepelstreel
 
tepelstreel March 23, 2018
Nice shot! :)

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#nature #aurora #night
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at the Incoherent Scatter RADAR facility in Kellyville, Kangerlussuaq Greenland in October of 2017.

Time

This photo was taken early in the evening. Early enough to still have a bit of light left to illuminate the hills and the antenna.

Lighting

One of the keys in my book when taking aurora photos is to get the exposure time low enough to capture details. This can be achieved by increasing the ISO. The aurora can be very dynamic and move around a lot. Using too long exposure times blurs the images to a green blob. Another key factor is to get something besides the aurora into the frame. In this case I used our antenna and the hills for that purpose. I was lucky enough to have a very nice aurora display early in the evening when there was still some light left to illuminate the antenna and hills.

Equipment

Key equipment. Canon 7D mk II, sigma 20mm f1.4 and a tripod. A full frame camera would have been better but my main passion in photography is wildlife for which I prefer the 7D MK II with it's crop factor. Since my work takes me to places with aurora I invested in the sigma 20mm f1.4. Getting a fast wide angle lens is key to better aurora shots.

Inspiration

For me the aurora itself is inspiration enough. I have lived in or frequently traveled to Greenland for more than 40 years and I still run outside every time I get an opportunity to watch the amazing displays.

Editing

No post processing used on this image.

In my camera bag

Canon 7D MK II Canon 300mm f4 Canon 24-105 mm f4 Sigma 20 mm f1.4 Canon 1.4x and 2.0x tele converters Manfrotto tripod I like shooting anything nature related but my real passion is wildlife photography.

Feedback

To capture the aurora obviously you have to be at a place where the aurora occurs. Most of the time this means in the Arctic or Antarctic. Once there you have to get away from the cities where there is too much light pollution. Like I talked about above you need a fast wide angle lens. Wide angle to be able to frame more than just the aurora. Fast to get your exposure times as low as possible to capture the details in the aurora. After you have found your place you need a tripod to keep you camera steady for exposure times usually in the range 2-16 secs depending on your equipment and the intensity of the aurora. I usually use the Bulb setting on the camera and just count seconds in my head. I start low and increase exposure time until I get the desired results. I fix the f-stop at 1.4 and start with ISO 1600. I make sure the lens is set to manual focus and adjusted to infinity sometime where there is enough daylight to do so and then taped down with some electrical tape. Turn off image stabilization. Make sure to bring a small flashlight to allow you to read and change the settings on the camera. Most importantly dress warmly since cold clear nights are the best. In the Arctic that can mean temperatures below -30 Deg C.

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