Aurora

Perfect Dance

The Aurora Dances Over Vesturhorn Mountain Hofn, Iceland Preparing for a photo-vacation is both exciting and frustrating. I research locations, lookup moon and sun rise and set times, track the weather, figure out the best place to stand, view hundreds of photos ... the list goes on. By the time I’m ready for the trip I have a pre-visualization of the exact photo that I’d like to take. I also know that the perfect photo rarely happens. Still, I had my hopes up for an aurora-filled visit to Vesturhorn Mountain in Iceland. Willie, Alan, Rebecca and I had enjoyed an amazingly spectacular display of Northern Lights the night before, when the sun kicked up a Kp 5 solar storm for us. We watched in amazement as the aurora danced before our very eyes and took hundreds of photos of the amazing display. Selfishly we hoped it would repeat the following night when we made our way further east to Vesturhorn. The following night we drove to Vesturhorn, parked our Happy Camper RV’s on the side of the road and waited. Clouds had rolled in after sunset and we were a bit discouraged. We could see the Northern Lights hiding behind the clouds but those dang clouds were obscuring it! We went to bed hoping the clouds would clear. Every hour I would wake up, check the sky, reset the alarm and go back to bed. I repeated this 5 times and, finally, at 5am, with a few hours left before sunrise, I noticed the clouds were disappearing. I grabbed the camera and raced outside. Before our eyes the northern lights danced, twinkled and streaked across the sky. Rebecca and I were so engrossed with watching the aurora perfectly dance through the sky that we almost forgot to wake up Willie and Alan! The next 3 hours were spent taking photo after photo, mostly in complete silence, as we made sure to soak in the scene. The images coming out of my camera blew me away — they were better than I had even imagined: an amazing mountain, a beautiful display of Northern Lights, and the aurora reflected in the ice ... what more could I ask for?! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/2.8 2.5 sec, ISO 1600

Love is in the Air

The Aurora Dances Over Mountains Vatnajökull, Iceland I've been to Iceland three times now and every trip has been absolutely amazing. My first trip was during the summer and we saw more waterfalls and beautiful scenes than I could possible count. I drove around the entire island and saw as much as I could, but some things that I had wanted to see in Iceland just weren't possible in the summer. I had to go back in the winter if I wanted to see ice-caves and the northern lights! So go back I did ... with Willie, Alan and Rebecca. We spent 10 days at the end of February and early March exploring Iceland in the winter. During the trip we were treated to 2 (and a half) beautiful nights of northern lights! On our first night the sky was crystal clear and the 4 of us saw the lights for the very first time. None of us wanted to go to bed because we were so mesmerized! We had spent a good portion of the day scouting locations for photographing the aurora and as soon as we finished dinner we raced to this spot. We learned what people mean when they say that the lights "danced" across the sky. At one point the lights twisted and turned into the shape of a heart - love was definitely in the air! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 4.0 sec, ISO 800

Pillows for a Peaceful Night

Aurora over frozen lake and mountains Lofoten Islands, Norway Rebecca, Andy and I spent 7 days in Norway in 2017, 5 of which were a photography trip and the remaining 2 were spent backcountry ski touring. We had hoped to see and photograph the northern lights during our 5 day photography portion but alas, Mother Nature had different plans. Either the lights didn't come out, or they did but so did the clouds and blocked our view. The night before our skiing was set to begin, they finally came out in fury. We were just wrapping up dinner when we noticed them, so we quickly finished, paid and hopped in the car. We had scouted a spot along a bridge earlier in the day so we went there first and photographed the lights for a while. The bridge and road made a nice leading line into the photo. But I also wanted a photo without man-made objects, so I carefully picked my way down to the water. This part of the fjord was susceptible to tides and the tide was lower (but coming in), so I was able to get to the waters edge, where I noticed the water had frozen into this beautiful ice-chunks. I used the ice as foreground elements while the mountain peaks towered above and the aurora danced in the night sky. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/11, 4 sec, ISO 400

Lovers Light

The Aurora Dances Over Mountains Vatnajökull, Iceland I've been to Iceland four times now (once during the summer and 3 times during the winter) and every trip has been absolutely amazing. There's something captivating about going in the winter when the island is transformed into this frozen, dead tundra. Gone are the beautiful green hills, the gushing waterfalls at every turn, the endless number of RV's, and the sheep greeting you at every bend in the road. Instead you're greeted with snow and ice and green sky that dances before your eyes! During this trip Willie, Alan, Rebecca and I spent 10 days at the end of February and early March exploring Iceland. During the trip we were treated to 2 (and a half) beautiful nights of northern lights! On our first night the sky was crystal clear and the 4 of us saw the lights for the very first time. None of us wanted to go to bed because we were so mesmerized! We had spent a good portion of the day scouting locations for photographing the aurora and as soon as we finished dinner we raced to this spot. We learned what people mean when they say that the lights "danced" across the sky. At one point the lights twisted and turned into the shape of a heart - love was definitely in the air! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 4.0 sec, ISO 800

Aurora Touring

Aurora over mountains Lofoten Islands, Norway Prior to 2017, I had visited Iceland 3 times: once in the summer and twice in the winter. I wanted to go back again to explore more ice-caves and see more aurora but Rebecca convinced me that I should do Norway instead. We compromised: a stopover in Iceland on our way to Norway. We invited Andy along, partially because I wanted his help actually *planning* the trip, but also because we thought he'd enjoy the views and the photography. Turned out he had another, even better idea: skiing. Our 7 day Norway photography trip became a 5 day one, with 2 days of backcountry skiing tacked on. He found a ski lodge in the eastern part of the Lofotens. A beautiful lodge provided a home base while trained alpine guides took you out to mountains. We had never done backcountry skiing (also known as "ski touring") before so it was a great way to get our feet "wet". They had gear to rent to us, so we didn't have to significantly increase our packed luggage. The ski lodge was in a quaint fishing village off the main road. As we turned off to arrive we came across this beautiful scene of mountain peaks (from left-to-right: Vågakallen, Kallebordet, Glomtinden (main peak), Nordfjellet, Nattmålskaret, Lyngværfjellet, Høgtinden). The fjord crossed this little bridge and would reflect the mountain peaks. So when the aurora started going off while we ate dinner, we raced back to this spot to capture the lights over the peaks. This was one of my favorite spots to sit and watch the aurora dance. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 20mm, f/2.8, 6 sec, ISO 3200

Sky Streaking

The Aurora Dances Over the Ice Lagoon Jokulsarlon, Iceland The aurora over Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 8.0 sec, ISO 1250

Sky Full of Glow

The Aurora Dances Over Mountains Vatnajökull, Iceland The aurora came out in full force and it just blows my mind! What a beautiful display of Northern Lights. We jsut kept shooting till the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes it would be in one part of the sky, sometimes in another, and sometimes all over! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 5.0 sec, ISO 640

Minty Snowcone Surprise

Aurora over ice cracks and mountains Lofoten Islands, Norway Part of the reason for visiting the Lofoten Islands in Norway was to see the northern lights again. So when we saw the lights finally start to come out at the end of our trip, while eating dinner, we finished quickly and hopped in the car. Throughout the night we ended up nearly an hour and a half away, back near the town of Leknes. We were supposed to have our first day of backcountry skiing the next morning so we wanted to get *some* sleep and made our way back to the lodge. The aurora came out and went away throughout our hunting attempts. For a while it completely disappeared and we were content to go home and get some sleep. But at one point on the drive it came back out and I saw this mountain peak and screamed for Andy to find a spot to pull over. Once in a safe spot, he and Rebecca took a nap while I walked out to the shoreline and took some pictures. I was rather fortunate in that this was an unplanned, unspotted spot that turned out a nice surprise: frozen ice. There was a little rocky beach that gave me a place for unobstructed views and when I got out there, I saw the water had frozen into tons of cracked patterns. In the rush to capture the lights before they went away again, and to get back to bed, I forgot to take a photo focused on the foreground ice, so it ended up a bit blurry. It'll have to suffice but I loved the little scene. The tall peak here is called "Svarttinden" and a beautiful long bridge connects it to the next set of islands. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 24mm, f/2.8, 6 sec, ISO 1600

Camping Fire

The Aurora Dances Over Vesturhorn Mountain Hofn, Iceland Here the aurora dances over Vesturhorn. I loved that it looked as if it was a campfire burning over the mountains. The aurora danced as if it was the flames. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 5.0 sec, ISO 1600

Stop in Awe

The Aurora Dances Over Mountains Vatnajökull, Iceland The aurora came out in full force. What a beautiful display of Northern Lights. We jsut kept shooting till the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes it would be in one part of the sky, sometimes in another, and sometimes all over! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 25 sec, ISO 800

Aurorabow

Aurora over Skogafoss with Moonbow Skogar, Iceland When I visited Iceland last July, I crammed in almost everything I wanted to see into a very busy and amazing 12 days but a return in winter visit was in order. Willie, Alan, Rebecca and I made that happen at the end of February. In the middle of our trip we were treated to 2 nights of stunning aurora and on this particular evening we drove to the Skogafoss waterfall in hopes of a 3rd night of aurora. When we arrived at Skogafoss we knew cloudy skies were on their way. We also knew the sun had been quiet and our chances at the radiation storm required to produce the aurora were pretty low so we parked our Camper Vans with a view of the waterfall and went to bed. Every few hours I would wake up, stick the camera at the window and take a photo to see if the aurora had come out. Around 5am I noticed the clouds had thinned and the sky had a nice green glow to it. Rebecca and I hopped out of the car and fired off a few quick photos. I was so focused on making sure the camera was in focus that I almost didn’t notice the rainbow. When I finally had the camera all set I looked up and realized “OH MY GOSH! A MOONBOW!” I think Rebecca thought I was insane. “What’s a moonbow?!” she asked. “THE RAINBOW! LOOK! FROM THE LIGHT OF THE MOON! WITH AURORA!” I quickly fired off a few more shots and looked behind me to see the moon was about to set below the mountains. I didn’t even have time to get a better composition before it was gone. Nikon D800 w/Bower 24mm f/1.4: 24mm, f/5.6, 25 sec, ISO 800

Glacierglow

The Aurora Dances Over the Ice Lagoon Jokulsarlon, Iceland The northern lights over the Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 6 sec, ISO 640

Fuzzy Dance

The Aurora Dances Over Vesturhorn Mountain Hofn, Iceland Aurora over Vesturhorn Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 6 sec, ISO 1600

Aurora Dance

Aurora over Vesturhorn Mountain South East Iceland Massive 1.3 gigapixel image - can be printed at 28.5 ft x 14.25ft wide Preparing for a photo-vacation is both exciting and frustrating. I research locations, lookup moon and sun rise and set times, track the weather, figure out the best place to stand, view hundreds of photos ... the list goes on. By the time I’m ready for the trip I have a pre-visualization of the exact photo that I’d like to take. I also know that the perfect photo rarely happens. Still, I had my hopes up for an aurora-filled visit to Vesturhorn Mountain in Iceland. Willie, Alan, Rebecca and I had enjoyed an amazingly spectacular display of Northern Lights the night before, when the sun kicked up a Kp 5 solar storm for us. We watched in amazement as the aurora danced before our very eyes and took hundreds of photos of the amazing display. Selfishly we hoped it would repeat the following night when we made our way further east to Vesturhorn. The following night we drove to Vesturhorn, parked our Happy Camper RV’s on the side of the road and waited. Clouds had rolled in after sunset and we were a bit discouraged. We could see the Northern Lights hiding behind the clouds but those dang clouds were obscuring it! We went to bed hoping the clouds would clear. Every hour I would wake up, check the sky, reset the alarm and go back to bed. I repeated this 5 times and, finally, at 5am, with a few hours left before sunrise, I noticed the clouds were disappearing. I grabbed the camera and raced outside. Before our eyes the northern lights danced, twinkled and streaked across the sky. Rebecca and I were so engrossed with watching the aurora perfectly dance through the sky that we almost forgot to wake up Willie and Alan! The next 3 hours were spent taking photo after photo, mostly in complete silence, as we made sure to soak in the scene. The images coming out of my camera blew me away — they were better than I had even imagined: an amazing mountain, a beautiful display of Northern Lights, and the aurora reflected in the ice ... what more could I ask for?! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/2.8 2.5 sec, ISO 1600

Painting in Iceland

Painting with a Flashlight Over Vesturhorn Mountain Hofn, Iceland Rebecca and I decided to try some light-painting with the flashlight. She grabbed the flashlight, stood away from me, and had to write words in reverse order. She would cover the flashlight with her hand to separate each letter. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 30 sec, ISO 250

Cloudy Aurora

The Aurora Dances Over Vesturhorn Mountain Hofn, Iceland I wanted to see aurora over epic mountains but found it cloudy 😡😰. We parked our RV’s right here and went to bed, hoping the clouds would clear. I woke up every hour to check the clouds and sure enough... at 2am the clouds were gone and the place was *amazing*! The cloudy photo, here, was kinda neat too. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 32mm, f/2.8, 6 sec, ISO 800