Aurora Prospects 2012

Mountainsandh

Sorry to resurrect old-ish thread, cool video here for those interested, didn't know where to put it.
http://vimeo.com/32001208

muckish

Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Light on at the moment on Eden, channel 532 Sky. Some stunning video of the aurora. Repeated at 10pm on +1

mayfly757

saw it the other night , very beautifull , seemed like it was alive , like a big curtain blowing in the breeze

Iancar29

Bought My gear today for the oul Artic Circle! WOOP WOOP!

Thermals, Snow Shoes , Gloves, hats, sock, socks .. and socks!

9 weeks from 2moro!

Mountainsandh

That must be so exciting... take plenty of pics !

muckish

Ian,

hope you get something like this when you visit Kiruna. I'm back from Sweden and nothing. Very disappointing.

Iancar29

muckish wrote: »

Ian,

hope you get something like this when you visit Kiruna. I'm back from Sweden and nothing. Very disappointing.

Cheers man ,

I ll be delighted if i get to see them .. but ill have the snow and scenery to keep me content!

muckish

Great aurora on at the moment in Northern Scandinavia. Watch it here
http://uk.jokkmokk.jp/

muckish

Nice Aurora in Alaska at the moment here

Ellis Dee

Auroral displays are not easily predictable even in the northern parts of Fennoscandia, but worth seeing when they do appear. The Finnish name for them, revontuli, literally means "foxfire" and comes from a traditional belief that they were caused by a giant fox brushing its tail across the summits of the Arctic hills.

snowstreams

According to this link on independent.ie there is a good chance of an aurora sighting soon.

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/skywatchers-set-for-northern-lights-2982683.html

eskimocat

snowstreams wrote: »

According to this link on independent.ie there is a good chance of an aurora sighting soon.

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/skywatchers-set-for-northern-lights-2982683.html

I checked the website that Muckish uses to monitor the KP values required for us to be able to spot them and there doesn't seem to be anything brewing over there. Still worth keeping an eye on the site all the same.
http://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/auroral-activity/kp

Iancar29

FOlks... dont get high hopes over that article . Basically all its saying is statically its the best time soon for solar flares ... hence then better chance of a big one heading this way so much so we could see them here. But that article is a bit over the top to be honest.

And the KP monitoring system is only for flares on their way here already.. Youd want to an eye on the growth of sunspots and the general number, the more the bettter basically for chances of flares. http://spaceweather.com/

12 more days till my trip! , its flying in! , bettter organise my stuff ! eeek!:D

muckish

Iancar29 wrote: »

12 more days till my trip! , its flying in! , bettter organise my stuff ! eeek!:D

What are you taking camera wise? Ian is this an organised Aurora trip, or just you going on your own.
Hopefully the sun wakes up a bit more for you and the skies stay clear.

Iancar29

muckish wrote: »

What are you taking camera wise? Ian is this an organised Aurora trip, or just you going on your own.
Hopefully the sun wakes up a bit more for you and the skies stay clear.

Story ...

Im taking my NEW best friend!!
>>>

Kit lens 18-105 f3.5 , and a Sigma 10-20 f5.6 .Have a shutter release also .Still deciding if i should buy a new tripod. One i have now is a bit awkward to use and heavy. Have been doing some practice out my back with the sky but i only have it a week so i still need more! ha. ANy tips will be greatly appreciated
Will be mainly concentrating on HDR shots as i love the detail that can get in them so thats what im set for.

haha no theres 6 of us going. 4 of them being lads that were on the net weather tours to America.
Ye fingers crossed!

muckish

I haven't tried any HDR for aurora shots, so I'm not too sure how they'd work out. I'd imagine the times involved in getting 3 +/-2EV bracketed exposures would blur out any detail of the aurora itself. It might be worth trying some single shots in RAW and pushing them to +/-1EV and use the bracketed single exposure to form the HDR image. Look forward to seeing the results.
As for equipment to bring: Have you got some sort of cover for the camera to keep it warm when you're out. Don't forget the plastic bag to put the camera in before you bring back it indoors. Condensation on the outside and not inside. Wouldn't worry about your tripod being heavy, the extra weight will give you a good solid platform for long exposures, especially if there's any wind about. An intervalometer is also a good addition.
The only thing I would say is your lenses aren't particularily fast, especially the sigma one. You'll have to bump up the ISO to compensate. What's the noise like in the Nikons? I'm a Canon user myself (new 7d for xmas!). Any chance you could borrow a faster lens or hire one for the trip?

best of luck.

Iancar29

Hmm ye ill definitely be trying a few options. They way i did it was set the interval timer for 3 shots at one second each , all 3 at different EV . That way i can quickly change and EV and try even get a 6 or 9 Set for HDR . ONe of the lads already has experience with it in iceland so hopefully hell know roughly where to start.
Ye thats one thing i still have to get, i saw one the other day but it was real awkward making it not really accessible but ill be needing one no doubt.
PLastic bag... thanks! .. Ye the shutter release is also an intervalometer.

OH sorry ye mistake there, the sigma is f2.4! so that should be alright. Noise on the nikon are great, i specifically chose the D7000 for all the comments on how well it looks even at ISO 6400!
Woah 7 D .. Noice!

HOping to get a short set of film too , if im REALLY lucky , we'll get THE BIG ONE , and itll reflect off all the snow and be easier for the camera to pick up then

Gettin me all excited now!! haha... WOOOOO!!

muckish

1 other thing: if your tripod is aluminium you should consider covering the legs with insulating pipe sleeves if you haven't done so already. Don't go licking your tripod legs in minus 20! Also makes it more comfortable for carrying across the shoulders. This is what I've done to mine.



Sigma f2.4 is plenty fast! Good stuff

Iancar29

muckish wrote: »

1 other thing: if your tripod is aluminium you should consider covering the legs with insulating pipe sleeves if you haven't done so already. Don't go licking your tripod legs in minus 20! Also makes it more comfortable for carrying across the shoulders. This is what I've done to mine.



Sigma f2.4 is plenty fast! Good stuff

Awh brilliant idea!! ... cheers ! , i'll go post this on the our event page so i can let the lads know.

Ye , i knew i made a mistake when i saw ur comment! ha.

Heres where we are going.

http://www.auroraskystation.se/

muckish

Looks super. How long will you be there. I might try and get over to Tromso next year. Should start a thread on Weather related photography tips.

Iancar29

muckish wrote: »

Looks super. How long will you be there. I might try and get over to Tromso next year. Should start a thread on Weather related photography tips.

Did ya look at the webcam screensnaps over the last 24hrs?.. some greens in them! ... going for 4 nights . So ye , hopefully thatll be enough .


Ye do! ... Im sure that would be appreciated around here.

fizzycyst

That looks like an amazing trip Ian, looking forward to seeing/hearing all about it on your return

nilhg

Iancar29 wrote: »

Story ...

Im taking my NEW best friend!!
>>> [IM*G]http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/407922_10150572480761718_631736717_11494454_1034884777_n.jpg[/IMG]

Kit lens 18-105 f3.5 , and a Sigma 10-20 f5.6 .Have a shutter release also .Still deciding if i should buy a new tripod. One i have now is a bit awkward to use and heavy. Have been doing some practice out my back with the sky but i only have it a week so i still need more! ha. ANy tips will be greatly appreciated
Will be mainly concentrating on HDR shots as i love the detail that can get in them so thats what im set for.

haha no theres 6 of us going. 4 of them being lads that were on the net weather tours to America.
Ye fingers crossed!

Have you seen Mark Humpage's shots from his Aurora trip?

Watch out for your camera, could end up like this,

Iancar29

nilhg wrote: »

Have you seen Mark Humpage's shots from his Aurora trip?

Wow.. he has some amazing shots there! A collection that i will love to eventually have of my own someday. Got my severe storms one ticked already


Great to hear his camera was still working in the morning! ha , but that only being english -9 C... i wouldnt exactly chance it being in the - 20's in Sweden! ha

PixelTrawler

I spent 6 nights shooting aurora in September. Pictures are in my Flickr in the signature. I'm pretty sure hdr will be a non runner. They shift and shimmer constantly and you will be running long ish exposures.

I second the tip on having foam on the tripod legs, add some if you don't.

I was shooting iso 1600 to 3200 and my exposures were 1 to 20 seconds. On my 5d2 that still gave very clean images. You want as little noise as possible so push iso as high as will give clean images only. Test that the next few nights. Be as familiar with your cameras controls as you can as it will be dark and cold. A red bulb torch can reduce the loss of night vision if you have to use it.

You'll have to experiment with the settings when you get there, maybe widen the aperture to run a lower iso if need be. Also the presence of the moon can have a huge impact on your settings.


Good luck, enjoy, I'm very jealous. Is it Tromso you are going?

Iancar29

Solyad wrote: »

I spent 6 nights shooting aurora in September. Pictures are in my Flickr in the signature. I'm pretty sure hdr will be a non runner. They shift and shimmer constantly and you will be running long ish exposures.

I second the tip on having foam on the tripod legs, add some if you don't.

I was shooting iso 1600 to 3200 and my exposures were 1 to 20 seconds. On my 5d2 that still gave very clean images. You want as little noise as possible so push iso as high as will give clean images only. Test that the next few nights. Be as familiar with your cameras controls as you can as it will be dark and cold. A red bulb torch can reduce the loss of night vision if you have to use it.

You'll have to experiment with the settings when you get there, maybe widen the aperture to run a lower iso if need be. Also the presence of the moon can have a huge impact on your settings.


Good luck, enjoy, I'm very jealous. Is it Tromso you are going?

Some amazing shots there pal! AH i see, id thought they might be bright enough if there was a strong event to pick them up with long exposures.
Ye i found around 3200 was looking well enough picking up the sky @25secs.
Ye will do, oh yeah , great idea! , ill just get a red plastic foil for my torch.

Moon wont be an issue, we planned it so therell be a new moon, PITCH BLACK!

Thanks, na its Abisko Sweden .

gothwalk

I and my wife will be taking a trip in late February up the coast of Norway on one of the Hurtigrute ferries. I'm not much of a photographer, but she's pretty good, so we should come back with some images of snow and ice, and hopefully the aurorae as well.

The route goes from Bergen right up to Kirkenes and back, over two weeks, so we've a fair chance of seeing some.

PixelTrawler

Iancar29 wrote: »

Some amazing shots there pal! AH i see, id thought they might be bright enough if there was a strong event to pick them up with long exposures.
Ye i found around 3200 was looking well enough picking up the sky @25secs.
Ye will do, oh yeah , great idea! , ill just get a red plastic foil for my torch.

Moon wont be an issue, we planned it so therell be a new moon, PITCH BLACK!

Thanks, na its Abisko Sweden .

Enjoy it, it was experience of a lifetime for me and a lifelong ambition to see them... looking forward to the photos

Iancar29

ALL this media hype about them being visible over Ireland in the next few weeks is annoying me! ... They dont mention Statistically speaking ! Its even trending on twitter now here! People like.. " everyone look up tonight " ... " cant wait for tonight to see the NLs! "

Shocking...

Apparently they wer seen last night up in Inishowen ... Surely not with a Kp of 3?????

Trogdor

Iancar29 wrote: »

ALL this media hype about them being visible over Ireland in the next few weeks is annoying me! ... They dont mention Statistically speaking ! Its even trending on twitter now here! People like.. " everyone look up tonight " ... " cant wait for tonight to see the NLs! "

Shocking...

Apparently they wer seen last night up in Inishowen ... Surely not with a Kp of 3?????

I've read quite a few dodgey sounding articles from irish papers. While technically correct i suppose they are very misguiding for people who know very little about the phenomenon. Pretty poor journalism in my opinion.