Aurora Borealis?

[madsock]

Anyone tried taking photos of Aurora Borealis?

I'll be flying off for my honeymoon.
And honestly speaking, i'm a nature geek.

So what better place to fly off too than good Iceland, where the volcanoes meet snow, where the glacier meets the sea, where the aurora borealis (aka northern lights) hovers over hot springs....

sounds tempting? planning for the trip is a headache.... (actually the planning is not the headache... its arranging to take leave from work)

So, anyone had experience with taking photos of aurora borealis?

I own a Olympus E500 (just bought from IT fair) in its standard package (lens × 2), sturdy tripod, no cable release, and didn't buy the remote either. Lenses are 14-40mm, and 40-150mm.

Would appreciate general help/ tips. BTW, i used to own an old Pentax SLR camera, with a few decent night sky shots taken many years ago when i was still schooling. Since i started working i hadn't been dwelling much into this hobby.

 

[Francis247]

Hi there,

Don't have any experience with taking Aurora Borealis. But you can try checking out some of these links.

The Aurora Page
Shooting The Aurora Borealis
http://www.northern-lights.no/

Hope that it helps.

 

[asterixsg]

Can't help you on how to shoot the Aurora Borealis, but if you can share tips with all of us about your trip and first hand experience of shooting the Aurora Borealis, it will be great.

We can then ask Zoossh to add this writeup to his travel thread.

I hope to see the Aurora Borealis at least once in my lifetime.

Cheers.

 

[night86mare]

Can't help you on how to shoot the Aurora Borealis, but if you can share tips with all of us about your trip and first hand experience of shooting the Aurora Borealis, it will be great.

We can then ask Zoossh to add this writeup to his travel thread.

I hope to see the Aurora Borealis at least once in my lifetime.

Cheers.

:kok: :kok:
Four weeks ago leh!

I've read about one photographer's experiences about shooting the Northern Lights , he did mention (if I remember correctly) that you'd probably need to experience rather extreme temperatures to get a higher chance of catching them. Something like that, but anyways it looked really daunting and scary, there were tips about how to avoid frostbite, and how to protect your camera, and ensure that the battery would work, etc.

Along with a very scary photo of an extremely frosted up D200. :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

 

[asterixsg]

:kok: :kok:
Four weeks ago leh!

Bro,
Of course I knew when I dug up a 4 weeks old post, that its 4 weeks old. :bsmilie:

My intention was to get first hand info from TS about his travel and experience in photographing the Northern lights.

"but if you can share tips with all of us about your trip and first hand experience of shooting the Aurora Borealis, it will be great.

We can then ask Zoossh to add this writeup to his travel thread."

Hope this clarifies.

 

[night86mare]

Ah, I see.

Didn't read properly. :embrass:

 

[zoossh]

Anyone tried taking photos of Aurora Borealis?

I'll be flying off for my honeymoon.
And honestly speaking, i'm a nature geek.

So what better place to fly off too than good Iceland, where the volcanoes meet snow, where the glacier meets the sea, where the aurora borealis (aka northern lights) hovers over hot springs....

sounds tempting? planning for the trip is a headache.... (actually the planning is not the headache... its arranging to take leave from work)

So, anyone had experience with taking photos of aurora borealis?

I own a Olympus E500 (just bought from IT fair) in its standard package (lens × 2), sturdy tripod, no cable release, and didn't buy the remote either. Lenses are 14-40mm, and 40-150mm.

Would appreciate general help/ tips. BTW, i used to own an old Pentax SLR camera, with a few decent night sky shots taken many years ago when i was still schooling. Since i started working i hadn't been dwelling much into this hobby.

i hope your wife-to-be enjoys that too. she may like the aurora but she may not like you having all attention in capturing that and not sharing the moments with her.

if not, it is best to leave your photographic passion on separate trips.

and if you want to spend so much on such a rare exciting trip that hardly any sg photographers too, better to go after being well trained and equipped.

 

[madsock]

i hope your wife-to-be enjoys that too. she may like the aurora but she may not like you having all attention in capturing that and not sharing the moments with her.

if not, it is best to leave your photographic passion on separate trips.

and if you want to spend so much on such a rare exciting trip that hardly any sg photographers too, better to go after being well trained and equipped.

I'm back from Iceland!

Actually, i couldn't catch any northern lights. Sigh. Of the 6 nights i spent there, 4 are cloudy. 2 nights are clear, i took some star shots with my Olympus. You are right about being equipped, but remember we are talking about post-"london bombing" europe. I got shot so much X-rays through each customs that i dun think my honeymoon can yield any results.

So, no aurora borealis for this trip.

I think you are confusing me with some other person. I'm not a full photography geek. I still have a life. Photography is a hobby. It is nice to take beautiful photos when you are going on a honeymoon right? Don't have to "spend all attention in capturing that and not sharing the moments". At least i didn't on my honeymoon.

Iceland is a beautiful country. Highly recommended for any honeymooners if you can stand the cold. Geysers, Waterfalls, Volcanoes, Glaciers, Snow, Mountains, Shops that closes on Sundays, McDonalds meals that costs ~ IKR 800 (eqv to SGD 20).

Madsock

Photo of the famous constellation Orion taken over the southern horizon. 40 sec exposure. Some trailing seen. Done with Olympus E500 with f14 lens.
Photo taken from Hofn, a small fishing village in Iceland.
You can see the entire Orion, as well as Taurus's Aldebaran on the top right side.