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Author Topic: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland  (Read 6189 times)

Rhossydd

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Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« on: August 14, 2011, 12:00:17 pm »

I’d like to visit Iceland this winter to see and photograph the Aurora Borealis as I understand this winter should be the best in terms of the solar cycle for 12 years. I’ve also read that the best chance of seeing it is when there’s no moon, which starts to narrow down suitable dates a lot. The loose plan is to start in Reykjavik and hire a 4x4 to allow us to chase good weather opportunities.
My gamble seems to be either going closer to mid winter, less daylight, more night hours to see it, but that means more travelling around in the dark which I think won’t be much fun. Alternatively wait until the end of winter (March?) when there’s more daylight and driving longer distances to find clearer skies will be more practical, plus more daylight photography will be possible too.
Can anyone from Iceland, or who’s travelled there at those times of year, offer any additional information that might help decide when to visit ? eg is the weather at any particular date range likely to be more benign in terms of clearer skies or malignant in terms of heavier snow fall and difficulty of travel.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Paul Holman
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Jon Meddings

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2011, 12:43:55 am »


Paul, I won't presume to speak for the more knowledgeable regarding the best time to visit Iceland for the aurora - local weather really should be relatively clear.  However, I would not restrict your trip and shooting to moonless nights.  I do a lot of aurora shooting in northern Canada (although I do have some shots from Iceland).  When the aurora is good you will see it with or without the moon being up. Photographically I've become more entranced with shots with the moon used to lighting the foreground - it gives the pictures some more depth to me.

Now, this is not a great shot but here is one with a full moon behind me in the southwest sky




In contrast here is one from almost the same location with only a flashlight for foreground illumination:




Have a great time Paul - Iceland is wonderful and the aurora is magical.


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wolfnowl

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2011, 01:32:46 am »

Probably among the best person to ask that question is: http://focusonnature.is/

Mike.
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If your mind is attuned t

Rajan Parrikar

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2011, 04:03:51 pm »

Mid-October to early-March is the best time for aurora photography in Iceland.  It is better to set up your base in the north (eg. at Mývatn) and be flexible enough to drive out into the wilds at a moment's notice.  Another option is to base yourself in the south near Hella (but my preference would still be the north).  A lot will depend on cloud cover at the place you are in, so you have to be nimble.  I was there last October and got to photograph the aurora a few times.  The best displays were after 11 pm.

See -

http://www.parrikar.com/blog/2010/10/10/the-painted-heavens/

Rhossydd

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2011, 03:35:53 am »

Thnanks to everyone for their thoughts so far;
I would not restrict your trip and shooting to moonless nights..... When the aurora is good you will see it with or without the moon being up. Photographically I've become more entranced with shots with the moon used to lighting the foreground - it gives the pictures some more depth to me.
This is an issue I hadn't considered much.
I do have two concerns though;
Firstly, given the expense of the trip, seeing the Aurora is more important than photographing it, so if there isn't a 'good' aurora not seeing anything at all because of moonlight on a marginal night would be very disappointing.
Secondly, I'm not convinced that too much foreground fill looks 'right' I actually prefer the balance of your second shot, it more how I imagine the Auruoa to look in real life. Of course that may change when I've seen it.

Probably among the best person to ask that question is: http://focusonnature.is/
There's a few locals I'll contact nearer the time, it might be nice to have a guide/shooting companion for one night and give the rest of the family a break ;-)

It is better to set up your base in the north (eg. at Mývatn) and be flexible enough to drive out into the wilds at a moment's notice.  Another option is to base yourself in the south near Hella (but my preference would still be the north)....  The best displays were after 11 pm.
I'm certainly keeping my options open, but visiting the north wouldn't be my first preference. Internal flights aren't cheap and the drive up there from Reykjavik is pretty long and tedious enough in summer. Also there's less choice of accommodation, but if that's the only area with good weather we'll get up there.
First choice is working out from Reykjavik for a couple of nights, then moving along road one eastwards. We know a good place to stay at Hveragerdi, but may go much further out towards Hofn if conditions are good.

Any further thoughts very welcome, especially with respect to how different weather conditions might be between Early Feb and late March.

Paul
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Rajan Parrikar

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2011, 12:34:26 pm »

I just looked up Air Iceland and checked the fare for Nov 1 (arbitrary date) from Reykjavík to Akureyri.  I got 40 Euros oneway for the cheapest fare.  That is not expensive, in my view.  You may get even better fares than that if you monitor the prices.

http://www.airiceland.is/

Rhossydd

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2011, 01:22:38 pm »

I just looked up Air Iceland and checked the fare for Nov 1 (arbitrary date) from Reykjavík to Akureyri. 
4th November (arbitrary date) and I see 71 euro as the cheapest flight plus taxes, more than 50% more than the figure you see. That figure is only if I can book well in advance and am happy to be tied into the north. Multiply that both ways and for three people and it gets to 426 euro, then add a credit card handling fee, lower luggage allowances, so a chance of being hit for excess baggage too....... it soon adds up.

As I said the north is really a 'if everything is terrible on the south coast' option. Accommodation is sparser and let's not mention the difficulty of getting good food around there. I don't expect 5* luxury and Michelin restaurants, but I really don't want to be eating horrible pizza and hot dogs every day. When Icelandic food is poor, it's very grim.

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Dewi Sant

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2011, 04:50:58 pm »

Hi Paul, new fella here so only just caught up with this. I did Iceland back in February this year with a view to photographing the Northern Lights, 4 days (3 nights) there and they never put in an appearance once, despite me standing out in a frozen wasteland for hours - it was bitterly cold! The disappointment of that was offest by the fact that the place itself is stunning, lovely people and a landscape photographers dream. I was fortunate enough to get on a small mini bus with just a handful of people where the driver took us out for the day to some beautiful places on our way to the usual geysers and waterfalls. He was a real character but very knowledgeable about his home, at one point he evenlet us out so we could walk through the frozen landscape and he picked us up a couple of miles away. I would very much like to go back there - and I intend to, but I want to go when there's not so much snow around which will enable me to rent a car & get to places otherwise inaccessible during the winter months.

What I'm basically saying is that if you go purely to shoot the Northern Lights then you may be disappointed, (this year was also supposed to be a bumper year to see them too, which is why I went) but go to photograph the island as a whole and you'll not be. It's a wonderful, magical place

Dewi

Rhossydd

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2011, 03:36:06 am »

Thanks for your experiences Dewi,

I've been to Iceland several times before in spring and summer, so I've got an idea of good idea where to go and how to approach the logistics of the trip.
Yes, I'm fully aware that the aurora might simply not happen for any given time period. Hopefully a week long trip ought to help improve the probability. The real issue is trying to mitigate the risks of bad weather hence the specificity of the original question, but again you can never predict the weather so there will always be a risk of not seeing anything.
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nightfire

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Re: Photographing the Aurora Borealis this winter in Iceland
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2011, 04:44:19 pm »

When Icelandic food is poor, it's very grim.
The foil-wrapped sandwiches at the gas stations are actually quite fresh and tasty, are restocked daily, and come in different varieties. I survived on these plus Diet Coke and Kokomjolk for two weeks without having to resort to grease food ;)
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