simonmigaj

aurora lit plane wreck

Check out more travel inspiration at https:--instagram.com-simonmigaj

Check out more travel inspiration at https:--instagram.com-simonmigaj
Read less

SONY ILCE-7RM3

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 800 Shutter 20/1 Focal Length 190/10

upload_date

Mar, 2018

Views

2703

Likes

+447

Awards

Action Award

Chatter Award

Legendary Award

Community Choice Award

Contest Finalist in Aircraft Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 16

Staff Favorite

Peer Award

+856

Absolute Masterpiece

+29

Superb Composition

+25

Top Choice

+21

Outstanding Creativity

+14

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Superior Skill

Genius

Virtuoso

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Behind The Lens

Location

I've managed to capture this photo at the famous Sólheimasandur plane wreck in Iceland.

Time

This photo was captured around midnight, but I was lucky enough that there was an aurora show happening in the sky right above the plane wreck.

Lighting

Lighting this photo was a bit challenging as the aurora itself did not produce enough light to properly expose the whole scene, so to show the wreck itself I've used a head torch and rotated my head few time directing the light at different parts of the wreckage. It was a bit of a challenge and took me few tries to achieve this effect, but the final image is one single photo, so I guess I've managed to achieve what I wanted to.

Equipment

The image was captured with a Sony A7rIII camera with a Sony 16-35 f/2.8 GM attached to it. The whole setup was placed on a MeFoto Roadtrip tripod. In addition to that I used a head torch to bring out the shape of the plane.

Inspiration

Not sure if there was any kind of inspiration for this particular shot. To be honest I was never suppose to visit this famous location and taking this photo was a challenge. It was already 11pm and I slept very little two nights before so I was rushing back to my overnight stay to finally get some rest. As I was driving an incredibly powerful aurora appeared in the sky. It was completely by chance that at that time I was passing by this famous spot. Well, passing by is a bit of an overstatement as (and I did not know it at the time) to get to the wreckage itself you still have to walk almost an hour from the parking spot. When I finally got to the plane wreck I was excited to be able to capture this amazing view, to see for the first time in my life the aurora borealis so bright and clearly visible, but my way back to the car was a real struggle. I could barely stand on my feet, I fell asleep few times, just leaning against my tripod and I immediately fell asleep when I sat down in my car. Like I've said: taking this photo was a challenge.

Editing

I've done a bit of post-processing in Lightroom, raised the exposure a bit, made the colours a bit more saturated and added some clarity to the sky so that the shapes inside the aurora would be a bit more visible.

In my camera bag

I try to travel relatively light. I have a tripod, my Sony A7rIII, 16-35 2.8, 24mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8 and a DJI Mavic Air.

Feedback

I had the pleasure and opportunity to capture the aurora few times before and it always reminded me of astrophotography. You should be prepared to bump up your ISO and maybe have a lens that has a wider aperture. This photo was captured with the aperture of 2.8, but if I had a 1.4 lens with me, I'd be able to take the shot with even less noise and more prominent shapes in the aurora itself. Plus do your research. I didn't know that the walk to the wreckage is an hour long one and I completely wasn't prepared for the hardship of that distance. Try to avoid such unpleasant surprises.

See more amazing photos, follow simonmigaj

simonmigaj

simonmigaj

aurora lit plane wreck

Check out more travel inspiration at https:--instagram.com-simonmigaj

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow simonmigaj

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.