# Northern Lights



## Alex_B (Sep 19, 2008)

*Aurora Borealis - as spotted last week on September 11 at Lake Torneträsk* close to the Swedish/Norwegian border in Lapland - some 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle. 

It was extremely cold, my batteries were dying and I could hardly move my fingers after the first hour outside the sleeping bag. So please excuse that I totally messed up exposure on some!

This thread belongs to my Lapland series, with the following threads so far:
Reindeer-mania: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138573
Climbing Kebnekaise: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138703
Ladjuvaggi&Tarfala: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138716

1: Just after sunset, you can still see the red glow in the sky. Unfortunately this was my first shot that night and I totally underexposed, so I had to compensate later in processing.






2: Slightly better exposed, shortly afterwards.





3: They also come as stripes.





4: Detail





5: .. even more





6: .. always changing shape, coming and going ...





7: You can nicely see Ursa Major (the Big Bear) on this one and all following ones.





8: The darker it gets, the more stars you can see.





9: I spent almost the whole night outside





10: But I won't post all of the images I took that night.


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## icassell (Sep 19, 2008)

Wow, Alex, these are gorgeous.  I'm jealous -- I'd love to see them this well.


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## Kalikala (Sep 19, 2008)

I've always wanted to see the northern lights!  (In person   You got some pretty nice pictures!


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## Alex_B (Sep 19, 2008)

Well, these were long exposures, so you see more on the images than in reality in a way.

But this particular night was quite good. I had them on several nights, but mostly not as good as this one. Also, I might have missed some nights, hiding in my tent and sleeping bag to escape freezing to death


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## Antarctican (Sep 19, 2008)

Oh Alex, these are marvelous!!! [The only time I have seen the green northern lights I was on a small ship and with the vibrations of the engine it was virtually impossible to get a good shot.] 

Love how you can see the stars so clearly, and the reflection of the lights in the water. I'll be drooling over these shots for a long time to come. Thanks for sharing them.


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## Alex_B (Sep 19, 2008)

Yes, I was quite happy to finally get them. Shooting Northern Lights was one of the goals of this Lapland tour. And there were extremely clear nights where I out of boredom photographed stars, shooting stars, satellites and even my headlamp because I stayed awake, waiting, but no Northern Lights showed up


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## Tangerini (Sep 19, 2008)

Those are beautiful! I especially like the reflection off of the lake(?) It adds an extra bit of drama.


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## Alex_B (Sep 19, 2008)

Yes, it is a lake, but actually a smaller lake close to Torneträsk, not the large lake itself. Torneträsk is the largest mountain lake in Scandinavia and the waves on Torneträsk were to rough to give good reflections, so I chose this smaller water.


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## Teknik (Sep 19, 2008)

Those are some nice shots i like the colors in them, my favorite is #2


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## MissMia (Sep 19, 2008)

Gorgeous series Alex! What an adventure you had. Thank you for sharing the images with us.


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## kundalini (Sep 19, 2008)

Awesome series Alex. Hard to pick a favorite, but I really like #2 & 3...... but then, there is the Ess shape in #6 and I think I see a Lowland Gorilla in #9 (  )


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## icassell (Sep 19, 2008)

kundalini said:


> Awesome series Alex. Hard to pick a favorite, but I really like #2 & 3...... but then, there is the Ess shape in #6 and I think I see a Lowland Gorilla in #9 (  )




A lowland gorilla??????????? In Lapland??????????


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## Alex_B (Sep 19, 2008)

icassell said:


> A lowland gorilla??????????? In Lapland??????????



:lmao:, he is referring to another thread of mine, where I asked people to spot the imaginary beast in a rock formation


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## DRATOM (Sep 19, 2008)

Very nice, I haven't seen these in years!  Thanks for sharing!


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## Smilemon (Sep 20, 2008)

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska. I see northern lights all the time and I can say that those are pretty spectacular. Picture #2 is my favorite. I can't wait to try some Aurora shots with my OM-1. Any tips on exposure?


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## Alex_B (Sep 20, 2008)

Smilemon said:


> I live in Fairbanks, Alaska. I see northern lights all the time and I can say that those are pretty spectacular. Picture #2 is my favorite. I can't wait to try some Aurora shots with my OM-1. Any tips on exposure?



Well, if the NL are not extremely strong, you will need some high ISO and probably noise reduction afterwards.
Use a wide aperture.

My shots were f/4-ish and exposures were between 15 and 30 seconds and ISO 400 and 800. You have to experiments as not all NL have the same brightness. I could have gotten out an f/1,4 lens, but wider apertures would not have helped much since that would have blurred the foreground even more. 30 seconds is about the limit at wide and normal focal lengths not to see stars as trails. Of course if you see my images as originals, you will see they already are trails, but not pronounced.

Of course sometimes you might want star trails, then it is OK, but keep in mind that Aurora is not static but changes alot, so exposures which are too long, will also blur the Aurora.

One problem is focussing as it is very dark. try to focus manually on something just below infinity.

I was 400 km North of Fairbanks (OK, and on the other side of the globe ), so the further North you get, the larger the lights get in the sky and the better you can work with wide angles. Wide angles are just easier regarding focussing, the star trail problem, camera shake (which you even get on strong tripods in stormy nights) and all that. 

Also of course September is pretty early since darkness is not really that good yet to see them nicely, but you will know that.


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## matt-l (Sep 20, 2008)

Really like #2 with the reflections on the little bit of water. great series!


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## Alex_B (Sep 21, 2008)

Thanks matt. I guess you see them too where you live?


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## 250Gimp (Sep 21, 2008)

Awesome shots Alex!!!


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## Alex_B (Sep 22, 2008)

Oh, more feedback  Thanks!

So, any advice what is not good in these? Probably composition is poor, but I did not have much choice.


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## BoblyBill (Sep 22, 2008)

These are beautiful Alex! #2 is by far my favorite.


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## Alex_B (Sep 22, 2008)

Thanks  mine too actually ....


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## Big Bully (Sep 22, 2008)

Wow Alex, these shots are amazing! Simply amazing. I love the sillouettes and how you can see the stars as well as the perfect lights.
Great job!


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## Arch (Sep 22, 2008)

Now thats something i gotta see... you did a good job under the conditions, i like 2 the most i think. :thumbup:


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## Alex_B (Sep 22, 2008)

Thank you 

As stated, they look more intense in the images, than in reality. Still in reality they are impressive. In particular since the change all the time.


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## Parkerman (Sep 22, 2008)

Very awesome.. #2 is also my favorite.


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## Alex_B (Sep 22, 2008)

Thanks, so I will declare #2 the official winner.


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## matt-l (Sep 22, 2008)

Alex_B said:


> Thanks matt. I guess you see them too where you live?



sadly no. they are much more northern..Labrador can see them though.


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## photo28 (Sep 22, 2008)

Very Nice! I love #2, I'd love to see them myself!


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## Alex_B (Sep 23, 2008)

photo28 said:


> Very Nice! I love #2, I'd love to see them myself!



Actually, on very clear nights they can be seen thousands of miles south even. But even in the clearest nights they are very faint and much less spectacular of course.

From time to time you can even see them in northern Germany.


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## lostprophet (Sep 23, 2008)

:thumbup:


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## Alex_B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thanks , Andy!


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## TrickyRic (Sep 27, 2008)

Wow, I really love the Aurora lights! Unfortunately I've never had the chance to see them for myself, which makes shots like this all the better.


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## Alex_B (Sep 27, 2008)

Thanks! Travel north then!


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## TrickyRic (Sep 27, 2008)

If only I could!


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## Alex_B (Sep 28, 2008)

But you are already in Canada, so you have a good starting point


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## SwitchFX (Sep 28, 2008)

Those are stunning, Alex. Absolutely beautiful!


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## duncanp (Sep 28, 2008)

incredible stuff! i guess you could get some really nice light trails out there too....


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## Alex_B (Sep 28, 2008)

Thanks both of you! The sky was incredibly clear, and you have no light pollution since there are no cities.

I also have some shots just of the stars, and maybe even of the many shooting stars which you could see. I did not do any long exposured for star trails though since I was so busy with the northern lights and did not want them with star trails. I have just seen too many images of NLs with star trails by others that I got tired of that concept and wanted the stars frozen


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## TrickyRic (Sep 28, 2008)

I'm not sure how far north I'd have to travel from here to be close enough to see them, or even if it would be possible to see them from here if it wasn't for the light of the city below, (I'm on the 18th floor of an apartment building so given the view, it is a shame I've never seen any).

In any case though, traveling just isn't an option right now. I don't have a driving license over here yet, and probably won't be able to afford to even hire a car for quite some time. We have 3 kids too, so a trip like this would have to be incorporated into a family holiday really.

You really are quite lucky to get opportunities like this ;-).


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## Alex_B (Sep 28, 2008)

TrickyRic said:


> You really are quite lucky to get opportunities like this ;-).



Well, I had to put effort into this as well.

one day you will also see them


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## tpe (Sep 28, 2008)

Sorry everyone has already said it but i have to repeat it

wow 

tim


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## Alex_B (Sep 28, 2008)

tpe said:


> Sorry everyone has already said it but i have to repeat it
> 
> wow
> 
> tim


appreciated nevertheless!


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