The Camping Experience
After night exploring the dark and enjoying the night sky and nature in the mountains I set up camp to have a nights sleep here....
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After night exploring the dark and enjoying the night sky and nature in the mountains I set up camp to have a nights sleep here.
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Aperture f/2 ISO 1600 Shutter 20/1 Focal Length 18/1 
Dec, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this on the top of Emblemsfjellet outside of the city of Ålesund, in norway. Though the Northern Lights forecast wasn't that strong there was nice show the whole time to the north as I went out at 8 in the evening in autumn we got a lot of darkness unlike the summer.Time
This is shortly after midnight after walking around on the top of the mountain in the wilderness for 4 hours in the darkness trying to find things to photograph.Lighting
I shot at a 1/20th of a second so that I could get an even exposure throughout with lots of details and sharper stars and not get the northern lights completely blended together where 2 seconds is often what I like most when it comes to the northern Lights. being able to shoot wide angle at f2 allows for a lot of nice light. Was also nice to get a great deal of ambient light from both the city lights nearby and the northern lights to light up some of the shadows in the foreground.Equipment
I used a crop factor canon 550d with the beloved Sigma Art 18-35mm f1.8. my tripod is a middle class from Sirui, light enough to include in my travel and camping gear but still heavy enough to have a great amount of stability and weight to stand the a bit of wind. No flash but a flashlight was turned on in the tent to illuminate itInspiration
I love making great compositions for panoramas, and this was a great scene to share my love of northern lights, the milky way, nature, camping, outdoors and general exploration of the night. I was wrapping up the evening and tried to find a nice scene to set up camp and realised I could use the tree to balance the scene opposite of the tent and also use it to make a divide between the milky way and northern lights. Due to the large scene it made it hard to see the details so I applied a heavy filter and air brushed the milky way a bit to show where it was and some of it patterns.Editing
I did a bit of retouching as in lightening and darkened specific areas to help draw the eyes of the viewer to where I wanted them to look at. a little easy enhancement of the milky way, I was also practicing a new method to editing the milky way. and some color compensation, addition, subtraction to represent the scene more according to what I remembered that what the camera was telling me it saw.In my camera bag
At the time it is only the canon 550d and sigma art 18-35mm f1.8 which I find a great balance for a nature photographer unless wanting to zoom far in and if you want wider scenes you can put in the time and make great large panoramas. I also have a Zeiss cleaning kit to keep the gear photo worthy at all times a Sirui tripod, a few snacks and drinks and one flash and flashlight, I have 3 flashes but on trips like these I never has use for more than one unless I have a very specific photo in mind. leaving it behinds lets me take more food or clothes for cold nights.Feedback
Go out there and explore, Dont let gear stop you, Share your vision and not what the camera tells you or others tell you to do but also be careful. If you can get friends along that is awesome, and safer. and dont be afraid to experiment. This shot I would say was in the works by the way my other work has developed me as a photographer and going out there and doing stuff makes the difference, sitting at home and editing will only do so much. you have to enjoy nature itself before you can really share your love for it. Have a great Day and keep Shooting!
