Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Iceland Aurora  (Read 593 times)

Rajan Parrikar

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3950
    • Rajan Parrikar
Iceland Aurora
« on: November 12, 2019, 12:27:04 pm »

In Haukadalur á Rangárvöllum.

Peter McLennan

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4690
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2019, 12:49:03 pm »

Extraordinary!

What's lighting the camera side of the building?
Logged

brandtb

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 972
    • http://www.brandtbolding.com
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2019, 01:20:01 pm »

Nice image
Logged
Brandt Bolding
www.brandtbolding.com

MattBurt

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3912
  • Looking for that other shot
    • Matt Burt Photography
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2019, 06:05:55 pm »

Great image! I'd love to do some aurora shooting sometime.
Logged
-MattB

RBFritz

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 294
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2019, 06:29:29 pm »

Must be fantastic to see in person. How do remember to set up when watching something like that?
Logged

RBFritz

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 294
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2019, 06:30:04 pm »

forgot the you in the question.
Logged

Arlen

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1707
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2019, 07:19:24 pm »

Wow, that is really striking. I would think living there gives you much better odds of seeing something like that, instead of just visiting for a short time.
Logged

Eric Myrvaagnes

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 22814
  • http://myrvaagnes.com
    • http://myrvaagnes.com
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2019, 07:38:01 pm »

So that's why you moved to Iceland, Rajan.

Very nice,

I've seen moderate Aurora in Western Massachusetts in autumn about forty years ago, but not in Iceland in June of 1974.   :)
Logged
-Eric Myrvaagnes (visit my website: http://myrvaagnes.com)

Arlen

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1707
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2019, 07:43:03 pm »

I've read some stories about people going to the far north to see auroras and being disappointed. One article in particular pointed out that when you see them in person they rarely look as impressive as they do in photographs, because of the camera's ability to gather light on the sensor over time. How did this one look in person, Rajan?
Logged

John R

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5248
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2019, 07:58:02 pm »

Extraordinary!

What's lighting the camera side of the building?
Indeed!

JR
Logged

Rajan Parrikar

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3950
    • Rajan Parrikar
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2019, 03:17:43 am »

Thank you, gentlemen.

Extraordinary!

What's lighting the camera side of the building?


Peter, my friend Börkur (whose ancestral family farm is seen here) used the car's dimmed headlights. The illumination wasn't direct.

Must be fantastic to see in person. How do remember to set up when watching something like that?

If you go prepared, it doesn't take long to get up and running.


Wow, that is really striking. I would think living there gives you much better odds of seeing something like that, instead of just visiting for a short time.

That's true. Although if one is mobile and flexible you can find a 'hole' in the sky. For example, when we started out in Reykjavík it was extremely windy and there were large patches of clouds. But 100 Kms and 90 mins away, we got this scene and it was still and cold (around -6º C).

I've read some stories about people going to the far north to see auroras and being disappointed. One article in particular pointed out that when you see them in person they rarely look as impressive as they do in photographs, because of the camera's ability to gather light on the sensor over time. How did this one look in person, Rajan?

It depends on the strength which depends on solar activity. There are years when the sun is very active. If the activity is strong, the displays are spectacular and dynamic, with lights rippling across the sky in a kind of celestial dance. At other times, you will see wisps of mild green moving across but only the camera's long exposure will fully pick up the colour. In the case of the photo above, the strong display lasted just 5 minutes or so before it went into the weak mode. On a couple of occasions I have seen fantastic displays out of the Icelandair window between Baffin Bay, Greenland and Iceland.

So that's why you moved to Iceland, Rajan.

Very nice,

I've seen moderate Aurora in Western Massachusetts in autumn about forty years ago, but not in Iceland in June of 1974.   :)

That must have been an unusually strong year for you to get it that far south.



Rajan Parrikar

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3950
    • Rajan Parrikar
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2019, 03:24:30 am »

This site tracks the solar activity and during the day/night this arc gives an indication where the display is strongest at any given time. Iceland and Tromsø in Norway are directly in the band, as are areas in Alaska.

Paulo Bizarro

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7393
    • http://www.paulobizarro.com
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2019, 04:20:00 am »

Excellent shot.

Aram Hăvărneanu

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 214
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #13 on: November 13, 2019, 05:32:47 am »

I've read some stories about people going to the far north to see auroras and being disappointed. One article in particular pointed out that when you see them in person they rarely look as impressive as they do in photographs, because of the camera's ability to gather light on the sensor over time.

I found the opposite to be true. They are far more impressive in person, and also more beautiful. Auroras move, quite fast actually, and have lots of texture, and this aspect is lost when photographing them because of the relatively long exposure time.
Logged

PeterAit

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4559
    • Peter Aitken Photographs
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #14 on: November 13, 2019, 09:50:43 am »

Great image! I'd love to do some aurora shooting sometime.

Great photo! Hell, I'd be delighted just to do some aurora seeing! The one chance I had was in central Alaska when they were forecasting a good show--and then the clouds came.
Logged

bobfriedman

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 315
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #15 on: November 27, 2019, 08:08:12 pm »

excellent capture.
Logged
Bob Friedman
pbase.com/bobfriedman

Dave (Isle of Skye)

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2514
  • I've even written a book about it
    • SkyePhotoGuide.com
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #16 on: November 28, 2019, 02:18:21 pm »

I think the real test of a whether a landscape shot can be classed as being good or not, is does it make the viewer (us) wish they had been there to see the same scene and perhaps even get the chance to shoot it for ourselves, and this shot Rajan certainly does that for me and I am truly envious...

I have never seen an Aurora ever, even though I once traveled to within 150 mile of the North Pole and I now live in the North of Scotland, where they do happen occasionally but fairly regularly, but so far I have managed to miss every single one of 'em...

Yes, I really am envious  :'(

Dave
Logged

Rajan Parrikar

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3950
    • Rajan Parrikar
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #17 on: November 28, 2019, 08:08:57 pm »

Paulo, Peter, Bob, and Dave - thank you.

Dave - these days I shoot the Aurora only if there is a compelling foreground or scene to go with it. This farm belonged to the family of my friend Börkur and we were lucky to get the Lights on the night we went there.

francois

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13769
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #18 on: November 29, 2019, 06:38:48 am »

Fantastic and the farm is perfectly welcome in the frame.
What a beauty, Rajan… I love it very much.
Logged
Francois

maddogmurph

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1117
    • Maddog's Photography
Re: Iceland Aurora
« Reply #19 on: November 30, 2019, 06:05:06 pm »

Well processed, these scenes can be tricky with that vivid out of gamut green.
Logged
Maddog Murph
www.depictionsofbeauty.com
Mostly here for constructive feedback.
Pages: [1]   Go Up