Imagine Auroras
For some strange reason while standing alone at Spåkenes I got afraid... afraid that I might miss the aurora. It was a good feeling to experience that kind of ...
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For some strange reason while standing alone at Spåkenes I got afraid... afraid that I might miss the aurora. It was a good feeling to experience that kind of adrenaline rush.
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May, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in Nature By Night Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Light Sensitivity Photo Contest
People's Choice in Nature At Night Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Nature At Night Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Fascinating Landscapes Photo Contest
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mstansfield
September 15, 2015
Fantastic, I like the composition. It must have been amazing to witness this scene!
brentleonardwolters
December 12, 2015
I know it's the Aurora...but it looks like a green meteor shower.
ShutterBug76
December 23, 2015
Stunning photo - truly stunning. There is so much visual interest here
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Spåkenes in Kåfjord, Norway. The backdrop is the famous Lyngen Alps.Time
The capture actually was my first panorama of the aurora borealis. The forecast told about a geomagnetic storm approaching the atmosphere, so I drove to Spåkenes, so I would be ready in time before the show started. It's not given that the forecast is correct, so like the forecast we usually relate to whether or not it's going to rain, is similar to spaceweather - the approaching solar wind might not spark a geomagnetic storm. At first it seemed like the storm wouldn't make an appearance, so I decided to shoot a panorama of the alps and the moon, but as I was about to correct the first try, I noticed the green curtains beaming down, like a galactic war had begun. This was captured February 8th 00:30am.Lighting
Capturing the northern lights during a full moon can be both tricky, but also very advantageous since the moon will light up your scenery.Equipment
This was shot on my Nikon D800 mounting a Nikkor 24mm f1.4.Inspiration
I'll admit that the placement of the moon is coincidental, my intention was to capture a panorama of the Lyngen Alps with a major aurora show above.Editing
The panorama was stitched using Lightroom CC. I have raised some shadows and reduced highlights to reduce the intense moonlight. That's the basic processing.In my camera bag
Today when I go out to capture the aurora borealis I carry a D810, D800E, Zeiss 15mm, Zeiss 21mm and also a Samyang 12mm fisheye. Obviously a tripod, this one is from Sirui. Both my cameras have a batterygrip. The reason I bring 2 cameras is because I sometimes shoot timelapse scenes - this really depends on the location and light. So when one camera captures images for a timelapse, I use the other one to capture stills.Feedback
I have written a guide to shooting the aurora at my blog (www.torivarnaess.com), but my main advice would be to make sure you at least have the background in focus. Also know your cameras limitations when it comes to ISO, at least to me it's important to be able to control the noise in post-processing.
