Northern Lights, Northern Scotland

[dubzter]

here area couple of shots of the Northern Lights last night up in the North of Scotland.


Northern Lights 22/01/2012 by dubzter, on Flickr


Northern Lights 22/01/2012 by dubzter, on Flickr

[AndWhyNot]

Great stuff.

Set for another great show tonight, I spent half of last night investigating transport options to get up there but there's nothing viable within cost & time constraints - car is out of the question and to fly was going to be £200+ & 6hrs each way

Glad to see others are making the most of it though

[cptsideways]

wowzers

keep us posted with new pics please, I've seen it once in N Dorset a few years back & once flying over Greenland to the USA. An awesome sight.

[dubzter]

AndWhyNot said:

Great stuff.

Set for another great show tonight, I spent half of last night investigating transport options to get up there but there's nothing viable within cost & time constraints - car is out of the question and to fly was going to be £200+ & 6hrs each way

Glad to see others are making the most of it though

Aye, another solar flare kicked off lat night so hoping for Tuesday/Wednesday night.

[Hooli]

I'd love to see that, shame I'm too far south.

Great pics too

[dubzter]

cptsideways said:

wowzers

keep us posted with new pics please, I've seen it once in N Dorset a few years back & once flying over Greenland to the USA. An awesome sight.

I'll do my best

gtrpeter123 said:

Damn - wish it could have been seen further south!

Think this one was visible in Northern England

Hooli said:

I'd love to see that, shame I'm too far south.

Great pics too

Thanks

[Lefty]

Great shot OP, I could see it in West Aberdeenshire but it wasn't as bright as that. Lovely.

What camera/lens did you use?

[utgjon]

I'm going out tonight in Northumberland.
Wanted to be out last night but it just wasn't feasible.

Got the morning off work tomorrow, camera has been charged etc...

Fingers crossed we'll get to see something. As with many people, it's been a lifelong dream of mine to see them.

Anyone else going to be out and about in the area?

[dubzter]

Lefty said:

Great shot OP, I could see it in West Aberdeenshire but it wasn't as bright as that. Lovely.

What camera/lens did you use?

Thanks, I was using my Canon Eos 450d with 18-55 kit lens

utgjon said:

I'm going out tonight in Northumberland.
Wanted to be out last night but it just wasn't feasible.

Got the morning off work tomorrow, camera has been charged etc...

Fingers crossed we'll get to see something. As with many people, it's been a lifelong dream of mine to see them.

Anyone else going to be out and about in the area?

Not sure what the Aurora forecast is for tonight but I think there may be something Tuesday/Wednesday night. Oh and these shots were taken between 21.00 21.30.

Check http://spaceweather.com/ for updates.

[utgjon]

dubzter said:

Not sure what the Aurora forecast is for tonight but I think there may be something Tuesday/Wednesday night. Oh and these shots were taken between 21.00 21.30.

Check http://spaceweather.com/ for updates.

Yeah, unfortunately tomorrow night's a no-go for me as well, so it's tonight or not at all really.

If there's nothing, then so be it...

What settings were you using?

[Planet Claire]

utgjon said:

What settings were you using?

I'd be interested to know what settings you were using too. I'm off to Norway later this year to attempt to see the Northern Lights and having only just got my DSLR I need all the help I can with settings etc at the moment (I really need to be practising night time shots in preparation!). I only have the kit lens too so glad to see you used the same with good results.

[dubzter]

utgjon said:

Yeah, unfortunately tomorrow night's a no-go for me as well, so it's tonight or not at all really.

If there's nothing, then so be it...

What settings were you using?

The first one was
iso400
60 seconds
F3.5
18mm

The second was
iso400
59 seconds
F4.5
18mm

[YorkshirePudding]

I managed to capture some activity last year, more by chance that anything, nowhere near as good as those though.

Forecast is for a clear night tonight by me,

[chrisj_abz]

posted this in the random photos thread as well....


northern lights by chrisj_abz, on Flickr

gutted i didnt have my dslr with me, but glad i took the S95!

[dxbtiger]

Beautiful OP, it's on a very long list of photography to do's!

[jonny33]

Its just said on look north that the northern lights should be visible tonight from anywere north of Yorkshire

[flat-planedCrank]

So sciency-astro people don't think there will be much chance of seeing the Northern Lights tonight? Wondering if I should head out

[anonymous-user]

I'm in Cumbria where it is indeed very Northern and very dark!

I wonder if I should head out tonight armed with my DSLR??

[Adz The Rat]

Nice work, they are great pics.
You are very lucky to see the lights.

[anonymous-user]

If I do go out can anyone give me any tips on what to do/use/settings?

I have a D90 and a choice of:
Nikon 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 VR
Nikon 50mm F1.8
Tokina 11-16mm F2.8.

I also have a good tripod and a remote for triggering and using the Bulb setting for exposures longer than the standard max 30 secs.

Never taken long exposure night shots for stars or anything like that before.