Iceland Aurora

canon_togger

canon_togger

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Marie
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I'm just back from my Iceland trip. I have to say that I've never been so cold in my entire life. A windchill of -15C meant that the cold even got through thermals and all the usual garb like hats, gloves and neck choobs. The high winds also made it difficult to shoot a lot of the time.
However we were blessed with the most amazing displays of northern lights every night we were there. It was possible to capture them from the hotel grounds, which meant we could go into the warm for a break.

Here's a selection of what I captured. Mainly shot at iso 800, F4 and manual focus on infinty. Cable release on bulb and anything between 10 and 160 secs roughly (depending on available light).
All a bit hit and miss really in the dark and the wind :)

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all very nice -love 3 though with Orion and Pleiadies.......
 
These are cracking Marie. You are one lucky person, I envy you totally!

#1 & 2 for me!
 
Excellent aurora captures Marie, gorgeous colours.

Lucky you... despite the wind and cold I`d love to go to Iceland, especially if the aurora was showing like that!

(y)
 
Superb shots which you must be very pleased with, I just had rain last time I was in Iceland.
 
Stunning, ive been dying to go see the aurora for years but the mrs is a vampire :D, she gets really cold with even the slightest of temperature drops. Since every man wears the trousers but the women choose what trousers we wear then it looks like i gotta fatten her up a bit first :D. I love the whole idea of a log cabin in the middle of nowhere and a proper fire on the go, having a wobbly coffee looking at the aurora with a blanket. Wouldnt even take my camera im just gagging to see it. Serious envy!!

Great shots though, love all four. Curious though, was it an expensive holiday? Some saving in order i think :)

Si
 
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They are stunning shots. This is something I would love to witness for myself.
I agree with the earlier post about number 3. It looks great with the two constellations visible.
 
Thanks for comments folks.
I'd never seen the aurora before, so this experience was awesome beyond belief. I shot a lot of images, some are a bit oof and I think it was due to the high wind. Some people were using in camera noise reduction but I didnt, the 5D mk2 coped well enough at iso800 and the exposures weren't that long.

Si, this trip was a photography workshop with tatra photography and cost £1699 incl flights and half board.

As for constellations, I know nothing about them so if they're in the shots its not by design :D
 
Unique and pretty amazing images Marie, and I can appreciate where your skills as a photographer have shown through, a novice photographer would possibly be overwhelmed by the Aurora , and just concentrate on that, while I can see your landscape photographers eye coming into play, particularly using the building to 'anchor' the image, without dominating or being lost in the composition, at the same time adding to the drama and sense of place.
 
All a bit hit and miss and, erm, fantastic! (y)

Last three are a wee bit too 'Ghostbusters' for me but I really like the first one :cool:
 
The moon wasn't full, the long exposure means you cant see the true outline. We were told that the bright moon might hamper things, but the activity was so strong that it didnt really affect it too much.
 
Here's another.
I had to clone out the stars in this as they were too blurry for my liking and looked like dust bunnies. Also removed some pesky photographers from the left f/g.

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Les McLean said:
Unique and pretty amazing images Marie, and I can appreciate where your skills as a photographer have shown through, a novice photographer would possibly be overwhelmed by the Aurora , and just concentrate on that, while I can see your landscape photographers eye coming into play, particularly using the building to 'anchor' the image, without dominating or being lost in the composition, at the same time adding to the drama and sense of place.
Click to expand...

I can only endorse the sentiment as I view with my blue eyes turned greeeeeen :clap:
 
Really lush shots - very nice!!
 
Amazing stuff Marie, :clap: no 4 I like, it seems to wrap itself around the hotel/chalet, giving a perfect frame.

Return visit soon??

It does look like a most wonderful place to visit - one day.


Graham.
 
I went last year and got some good shots. I'm not sure how you've captured it without totally blowing out the light in the hotel in 2 & 3. The first shot almost looks like it's taken in daylight.

Where we went to capture it was almost totally "light free" I had to sit on the ground with my tiny tripod, it was indeed a wonderful experience seeing the light dance in the sky
 
Wow, what a sight, it must be awesome to be there and see this. I am green looking at them, but thats envy, I've wanted to see this for a long time. Excellent work Marie and thanks (y)
 
Thanks again folks, comments appreciated.
Chivers, the snow and the moon helped to lighten the f/g.
I dont know how I managed not to blow the lights either...lucky I guess :p
 
Stunning shots, I too would love to see the Aurora for myself.

Best wishes, Mark
 
Great shots. I've been to Iceland twice now and still not seen the lights.
Were these taken at the Hotel Ranga ?
 
excellent! it is my dream to catch this someday, can you please tell us which lens you used? what is the 17 - 40?
 
Holy crap :eek:
They are incredible :clap:

You are the one person I utterly envy, with all my heart.
You live in the second most amazing place on earth, and have visited, and got some amazing shots of the first!!!!!

One of my dreams is to visit Iceland and see the lights :crying:

Many congrats on the pics. They really are amazing ;)
 
Very impressive shots Marie (y) ... as usual.
You certainly made the most of your trip, photographically speaking, and I'm sure you had a fantastic time too generally.
 
What an experience! I was just looking at another guy's work yesterday evening of the aurora and the quality of the light in his shots is just amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing some daytime landscapes from this trip!

The shots of the hotel(?) remind me of ghostbusters/scoobydoo... :LOL:
 
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