Aura Borealis - Finland

[olv]

I was lucky enough to see the Northern Lights whilst on holiday in Lapland, Finland a few weeks ago. They were truly amazing to see and my pictures do a poor job of conveying what it's like to see them. Here's a couple I've had time to look at so far.

 

[olv]

Amazing pictures!!, would love to see them! Last time i was in Finland i was too far south, plus it was wet and cloudy

Thanks, we were up in Levi which is teeny tiny little ski town quite far north.

Very nice, and very jealous. I was there at the end of Jan but just missed the good ones, we only saw a few green tinges and some slightly stronger ones on the plane on the way back. It looks like yours was very strong!

It was actually really cloudy when we set out on the snowmobiles and halfway into the journey we saw a very faint tinge coming through the clouds but once we arrived I didn't think we would see them at all, there was just too much cloud. But slowly they started to come through. Much of my photos are through cloud so they would have been really strong if it had cleared up a little bit sooner.

YOU ABSOLUTE BAR-STEWARD!



Not that I'm bitter and jealous or anything.

Next year is supposed to be the strongest year in the 11 year cycle to perfect time to go and see them.

 

[olv]

I used a 30D with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. Experimented with settings a bit and settled on ISO800, F/3.5, 20-30 second exposures for the majority.

I was stressing out before the trip whether or not the 30D was up to the job and whether or not I should get a new camera (and whether or not I'd even see them) but the reality was that it was much more difficult to photograph that I imagined and my abilities were the weakest point. Composition is an utter nightmare in the pitch black, as is nailing the focus manually with no reference point and just hoping that I could remember the infinity focus point for each focal length.

The only slight disappoint is that in some shots the noise in the shadows would be noticeable in large prints but I don't think any of my shots were good enough to print that big and they will look fine at more modest print sizes.

 

[olv]

One more.