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Northern lights in Norway
Northern lights in Norway
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Feb, 2016Views
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Winner in Night Photo Challenge
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken in Tromso Norway, on a small hill, overlooking the fjord and the mountains. Finding good places is best done during daytime scouting for area's with potential to view the northern lights. This should be a spot with: free sight and open skies to the north north and preferably a nice landscape to make the photo more interesting. Aditionally it, the spot is preferably on a small road with little traffic, with pullouts to safely park the car (unfortunately in Norway sometimes safe spaces to park are hard to find, because the pullouts are used to dump the snow when shoveling the roads), and a place to put the tripod off the road (you don't want to be in 1 meter or more of deep fluffy snow).Time
The northern light started about 9PM, and lasted at least untill 11PM. The lights are about 200 km above the earth and caused by solar wind particles clashing with molecules in the earth atmospheer. Clear skies are a must, otherwise the clouds will block the view on the flight.. For the northern light itself, best is to keep track of the solar activity on the Internet. It can be very cold standing still in the snow.Lighting
Aperture as open as possible. In this case F3,5 for 30 seconds. ISO put up to 640. In the D300 it is compromise to have as little noise as possible.Equipment
D300, 10-24 zoomlens, set to the widest angle, and of course a tripod. No flash.Inspiration
The northern lights are extremely beautiful to see. It is very much worth to visit countries within the polar circle to view it. Staying outside for longer times to find dark places and wait for the lights is very rewarding. The scenery of the fjord and mountains, a nice subject on the foreground, and the possiblility for reflections of the lights in the water are the things to look for. It is pretty much the same as for standard landscape photogrophy, with a prominent role for the sky.Editing
Some noise reduction, not much elseIn my camera bag
The D300, 2 zoom lenses 18-200 and 10-24, a tripod, some neutral density filters.Feedback
Patience, patience, patience..... Northern lights can flare up and die down in seconds. It's a waiting game. It can also be very cold. Sometimes up to -30C. So it is usefull to invest in good clothing. Keep an extra battery for the camera close to your body, in case if looses energy when it gets too cold.
