He Tries to Speak to Us
The magical Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights... How amazing!
The magical Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights... How amazing!
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Mar, 2016Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Mountains And The Night Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Color In The Night Photo Contest
Winner in Your City at Night Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in The Battle Of Professionals Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Contemplating The Aurora Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Virtuoso
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Behind The Lens
Location
I made this photo on a snow covered hill close to the fjords near Tromsø, a small and beautiful town in Northern Norway. To see and photograph the Northern Lights, the magical Aurora Borealis, was a dream come true for me. I was leading a small group of travelers and photographers and it was a challenge to aid everyone in need and take photos at the same time. However, I believe I managed to grab few nice shots. :)Time
After waking up around 6:30 in the morning to take a flight from Copenhagen to Oslo, and then from Oslo to Tromsø, just to find out upon arrival that all the luggage is missing, including the tripod and the special winter cold protection clothes, shoes, etc., getting the rent-a-car and checking in in the hotel at around 9:00 PM, it was a real show of passion and desire to find myself driving the car and chasing the Northern Lights after 10:00 PM. I recall I first saw it around midnight and this photo I took around 00:30 AM on February 15, 2016. It was cold, between -12 and -15 degree C but the chase continued until around 3:00 AM that night. :)Lighting
My camera was in manual mode, but I was in enchanted mode, after seeing the Aurora Borealis. The Lights are so powerful, both as a physical phenomenon and also as a way that affects you. They constantly change, in shape and in density and they take sometimes a second to appear or fully disappear. I was glad the long hours pf practice have paid off because I was able to quickly change the setting of my camera in the dark. I wanted to have both the Northern Lights and the stars in my photos so I used the widest aperture of my lens, f/2.8 and ISO values of 1600 and 800.Equipment
I shot this light show with my Canon EOS 5D Mark III with Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L II USM and a good solid Benro tripod. To be successful at those latitudes during the winter nights one has to be prepared with a lot of enthusiasm, extra batteries, patience and very good winter clothes, boots and gloves. The headlight is a must as well.Inspiration
The Northern Lights themselves, the scenery, the ambient lights, the mountains, the sky full of stars, the Moon - strong but letting all the other sky players perform their roles... it was a huge magical show of the sky theater :) And I wanted so much to bring some wonderful photos back home to show to my friends and loved ones.Editing
I shoot in RAW, so yes, I always post-process. For this particular photo I slightly fixed the White Balance, added whites and blacks to increase the dynamic range a bit and brought in more clarity. I decided to decrease the saturation of the red, orange, purple and magenta colors and increase slightly the yellow and green colors. And added a pinch of color noise reduction. :)In my camera bag
That's a hard one to answer :) I have several bags, depending on my destination. I love prime lenses so very often I go out only with my camera, a spare battery and my Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, that's a very useful and light lens. However, for the photos of the Aurora Borealis, I had also the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L II USM, Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM, 3 spare batteries, lens cleaning set, a radio remote trigger, a flash, an anti-condensation bag for the camera, a thermos full with herbal tea, some sweets and a military grade paper spray just in case with meet a polar bear! :) It was such a relief I didn't use the last one! :DFeedback
Don't go out without a solid tripod. Have wide and fast lens with you. As wide as possible, since from time to time the Northern Lights fill the whole hemisphere above you. As you could guess you cannot stitch a panorama, the Lights play so fast ;) Also, be ready to change your daily cycle - sleep during the day and chase the Aurora at night. And the most important one - be patient. Good luck!
