Aurora Borealis

1 place (2016/05) group Contest Without Prize 'Green'. I am far from being a professional northern light photographer but it hurts a little when I see people trying to make pictures of the northern light using automatic presets and a flash. So maybe I can come with some pointers for those who are trying to catch the aurora one time. The main thing is; keep it simple. What you need is a camera with manual settings, wide angle lens, a stable tripod, location, good clothes and some luck. Get to know your camera so that you are able to control the exposure time, the aperture, focus and the ISO settings. The ISO setting is most important as high settings often mean noise in your image. The amount of noise depends also on the qualitiy of the camera. Try to find out how much noise you can accept. For simpler cameras ISO 500 is perhaps the limit, for higher quality cameras ISO 3200 or higher is not any problem. The aurora is not a static phenomenon, it is moving and varies a lot in brightness. So when you have found the ISO values you are confortable with, it is a all about balancing the exposure time and the aperture. The aperture can be more of importance if there is light polution. A smaller aperture means a greater depth of field and light pollution, f.ex. streetlights, will be shown as a nice star instead of a spot. That brings me to the location. Try to find a place with a minimum of light pollution. That is hard to find even here in northern Norway when you are not in the middle of nowhere. Preferably use a wide angle lens.It makes it much easyer to cover a large part of the sky. As long as the aurora is the main focus, just set your focus on infinite. I learned that a good quality tripod is a necessity. Sometimes the exposure time can get quite long and when it is blowing the cheaper tripods are not stable enough. I hope this is of some help and I would appreciate comments and thoughts about this issue. The kit I use for aurora photographing: Canon EOS 6D (full frame for low noise when using higher ISO settings), Samyang ED AS IF UMC 14 (easy to use manual wide angle lens) and a stable tripod from Benro. The settings of the photograph above: ISO 640, exp. time 15'' and F/8. Don't forget the chocolate... You will find the high resolution image here: 1x.com/photo/1023171/all:user:505580 Lonely Man Photography © All Rights Reserved. Made it to EXPLORE frontpage.

It is all about the light, isn't it? After summer with light around the clock and the opportunity to take midnight sun pictures the fall came with red- and orange colours in the sky. This year the aurora season started already early october. The sun went crazy and that resulted in northern light that could be seen in big parts of Europe. This image was taken about a year ago. There was little snow before Xmas, so an extra light show from mother nature was a welcome intermezzo. It was a stormy night but the sky was clear. You will find the high resolution image here: 1x.com/photo/777354/all:user:505580 Lonely Man Photography © All Rights Reserved. Made it to EXPLORE frontpage.

Sometimes light pollution is unavoidable. But it is not said that one can not get a decent image. The northern light is not the main object anymore. But it is playing a role in the ambiance of the image. To give the streetlights a role in the image I used a small aperture so that they become nice stars. This means that the ISO value and exposure time must be higher and longer. The settings of the image above: ISO 800 30'' F/11 - ISO 3200 30'' F/22 - ISO 1600 30'' F/22. It is a 3 exposure hdr edit. I wish you all good light in the new year. Lonely Man Photography © All Rights Reserved. Made it to EXPLORE frontpage.

High solar activity resulted in northern light across Europe, with up to 6 on the scale in norhern Europe. A sudden burst of activity during a 30'' exposure resulted in an over exposed image. But who cares if one is fortunate to experience a show like this.... You will find the high resolution image here: 1x.com/photo/1031770/all:user:505580 Lonely Man Photography © All Rights Reserved. Made it to EXPLORE frontpage.

2 place (2016/04) group Contest Without Prize 'The dispute of elements'. The northern light forecast was spot on for last saturday. After setting up on a scouted location, I had to relocate. The sky was too bright and the wind too strong. While driving by car to an other location the northern lights flaired up again and an 'emergency' stop was necessary. Setting up the equipment in a haste resulted in one on the most spectacular images that night. Kp-index 6. ISO-1600 / 10'' / 2.8 For more pictures taken this night look here; 1x.com/member/nordicscapes Lonely Man Photography © All Rights Reserved. Made it to EXPLORE frontpage.