Northern light trails
Mar, 2019Views
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Awards
Runner Up in Winter Road Trip Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in My Ultimate Road Trip Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Moving Fast And Quick Photo Contest
Celebrity Award
Contest Finalist in Lapse Of Time Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Volume2
Contest Finalist in Winter Long Exposures Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Winter Roads Photo Contest
Peer Award
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
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Virtuoso
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on the Ylläs Scenic Route - a fellside road in Finnish Lapland.Time
The photo was taken around midnight after spending the night snowshoeing in the forest next to the road hunting the northern lights.Lighting
As I wanted to capture both the light trail from the passing-by car and the northern lights, I needed to revert to multiple exposures. I shot the headlights with very long exposure and a small aperture. Then in order to get some of that Milky Way visible as well, I shot 10 consecutive shots with wide aperture which I stacked in post.Equipment
I used Canon 5D Mark IV with a Sigma 14 mm f/1.8 Art lens together with a Sirui tripod.Inspiration
On an active aurora night it's always challenging to capture the Milky Way behind all green veil. I also wanted to make the photo more interesting by emphasising the roadside location and to capture the headlights from a car.Editing
The post-processing included my "normal" optimisation in Lightroom and stacking the shots without the light trails in Starry Landscape Stacker to reduce noise and to bring out more details of the Milky Way. Then I combined the result of the stacking and the shot with the car in Photoshop.In my camera bag
When hunting auroras, I usually carry two cameras and to Sigma Art lenses - the 20 mm f/1.4 and 14 mm f/1.8. Naturally I also need two tripods and usually I also carry Syrp Genie which I use to pan the camera while shooting timelapse sequences. On cold nights such as this, I also carry hand/feet warmer pads which I tape to the lenses to stop them from developing disturbing frost.Feedback
As far as advice goes, I already pretty much shared the techniques used to capture this shot, but the most challenging part is probably getting you to a location where you can capture the northern lights. For that I recommend visiting the Finnish Lapland!
