Northern lights
Discussion
Guys,
I'm going to Sweden (Icehotel!) and Iceland very soon, with 4 nights in each. One of the main reasons is for the girlfriend and I to see the northern lights, and while there of course I'll be trying to photograph them (assuming they're visible in the first place). I've got no experience whatsoever with shooting stars, and a fairly modest setup.
What advice can you give me?
Current kit:
- Canon EOS 500D camera
- 18-55mm IS kit lens
- 10-24mm Tamron lens
- 50mm f/1.4 prime lens
- 55-250mm IS lens
- a few filters of various sorts for the 18-55 and 50mm, but none for the 10-24
- gorilla pod (no other tripod - this strikes me as perhaps a big problem)
I've just purchased a battery grip, and both the cabled remote shutter release and the remote control one, all of which I figured might come in handy, but haven't tried them out yet.
I'm happy to spend a little on some kit but don't want to go crazy. Second hand or even hiring a lens are being considered, but I don't really know what I need.
Thoughts?
I'm going to Sweden (Icehotel!) and Iceland very soon, with 4 nights in each. One of the main reasons is for the girlfriend and I to see the northern lights, and while there of course I'll be trying to photograph them (assuming they're visible in the first place). I've got no experience whatsoever with shooting stars, and a fairly modest setup.
What advice can you give me?
Current kit:
- Canon EOS 500D camera
- 18-55mm IS kit lens
- 10-24mm Tamron lens
- 50mm f/1.4 prime lens
- 55-250mm IS lens
- a few filters of various sorts for the 18-55 and 50mm, but none for the 10-24
- gorilla pod (no other tripod - this strikes me as perhaps a big problem)
I've just purchased a battery grip, and both the cabled remote shutter release and the remote control one, all of which I figured might come in handy, but haven't tried them out yet.
I'm happy to spend a little on some kit but don't want to go crazy. Second hand or even hiring a lens are being considered, but I don't really know what I need.
Thoughts?
Forgetting the photography bit at the moment, apart from hoping for no clouds(!) this is the site you should keep your eye on
http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/rt_act...
Good luck
http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/rt_act...
Good luck
As youve mentioned- Tripod - and id get a good one. good one will last you forever. Cheap plastic ones are horrid and you'll forever be cursing them when your in the field, in the dark and cant quite get it to do what you want. I bought a cheapy one, and have regretted it ever since.
From what ive heard, northern lights arent that bright, so youd need a longish exposure, so youd really really need a tripod.
other than that you seem pretty sorted. Anything else would be practical stuff:
Get a tiny led torch, for fumbling through your kit back etc. this little puppy is awesome: http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/led-lenser-key-ring-r...
its tiny - so small its on my keyring, which is great as that means i always have it handy. Its brighter than my double AA maglight. And my other half has had one for 4 years and has never had to change the batteries.
Id get some hand warmers - to get northern lights, you'll be dicking about in the cold and dark, and will inevitably have to take gloves off at some stage, and those hand warming things are great to have in your ski jacket pockets. just putting gloves back on never warms them up once theyve got cold.
very jealous- id love to see the northern lights!
From what ive heard, northern lights arent that bright, so youd need a longish exposure, so youd really really need a tripod.
other than that you seem pretty sorted. Anything else would be practical stuff:
Get a tiny led torch, for fumbling through your kit back etc. this little puppy is awesome: http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/led-lenser-key-ring-r...
its tiny - so small its on my keyring, which is great as that means i always have it handy. Its brighter than my double AA maglight. And my other half has had one for 4 years and has never had to change the batteries.
Id get some hand warmers - to get northern lights, you'll be dicking about in the cold and dark, and will inevitably have to take gloves off at some stage, and those hand warming things are great to have in your ski jacket pockets. just putting gloves back on never warms them up once theyve got cold.
very jealous- id love to see the northern lights!
Try this article. Whilst mroe about Alaksa it will give some ideas of settings to use
Aurora link
If in Reykjavik there are lots of lights to give light pollution, but up at Perlan (restaurant / hot water tanks) is darker and generally above most lighting, it's also quite a cool building to have in shot if you can manage it
Chris
Aurora link
If in Reykjavik there are lots of lights to give light pollution, but up at Perlan (restaurant / hot water tanks) is darker and generally above most lighting, it's also quite a cool building to have in shot if you can manage it
Chris
I've just bought a Giottos MTL 8251B Tripod and Giottos MH5011 3 Way Head for around £160 and so far I'm very pleased with it. Being carbon fibre it manages to be reasonably big (it goes taller than me), reasonably light and very sturdy. It comes with the hook Steve mentions above and you can also reverse the center column to get very close to the ground (should you ever want to).
I guess it depends how much you consider to be expensive. Mine is cheap by carbon fibre standards, but a lot more than a 7dayshop special.
I guess it depends how much you consider to be expensive. Mine is cheap by carbon fibre standards, but a lot more than a 7dayshop special.
For the legs, Manfrotto or Giottos are the two I'd recommend, on the basis of seeing a million recommendations for and handling a few of the former and owning one of the latter. Roughly £70-120 for a aluminium one, depending on what size you want and whether you want a fancy tilting centre column. About twice that for a lighter (but not half the weight) carbon-fibre equivalent.
For the head (they come separately), you need to decide whether to go for a three-way where you control all there axes independently, or a ball head (aka ball and socket) where you control all three at once. A three-way is easier to be precise with; a ball head is quicker and less faff to use. If you want to be super-precise, you can get a geared three-way head. If you go with a ball head, which is my preference, bigger is better; even though the small ones have a rated capacity high enough for most 35mm-type cameras, they won't hold the weight as rock-solid as a bigger one. Manfrotto and Giottos both make heads, or I bought one from a company called Redsnapper.
For the head (they come separately), you need to decide whether to go for a three-way where you control all there axes independently, or a ball head (aka ball and socket) where you control all three at once. A three-way is easier to be precise with; a ball head is quicker and less faff to use. If you want to be super-precise, you can get a geared three-way head. If you go with a ball head, which is my preference, bigger is better; even though the small ones have a rated capacity high enough for most 35mm-type cameras, they won't hold the weight as rock-solid as a bigger one. Manfrotto and Giottos both make heads, or I bought one from a company called Redsnapper.
A little torch is an absolute must, I keep a mini maglite in my camera bag. And your hands will get cold 
You might get away with the Gorillapod, I did for night sky shots, but it's no substitute for a decent tripod.
Something you can do before you go, practice in the garden for a bit. Wider angle usually best but depends what you want to do. Getting a decent star focus was the hardest part for me, not having live view 1:1 pixel zoom. That involved a good few 20-30 second exposures while manually fine tuning the focus.
You might get away with the Gorillapod, I did for night sky shots, but it's no substitute for a decent tripod.
Something you can do before you go, practice in the garden for a bit. Wider angle usually best but depends what you want to do. Getting a decent star focus was the hardest part for me, not having live view 1:1 pixel zoom. That involved a good few 20-30 second exposures while manually fine tuning the focus.
jon- said:
Slightly OT but have you any details on where you're staying? My girlfriend has always wanted to see the northern lights, it would make a nice present.
Stating the obvious, but you still have to be lucky to see them, no matter how far north you go. Some friends went up for a week to the north of Sweden in October specifically to see the lights, and didn't see squat.We get them here in northern Scotland about twice a year. I've missed them every bloody time.
Tip for the Ice Hotel.
A short walk away through Jukkasjarvi there is a cafe where they do great hot chocolate at a bargain price in comparison to the fortune you'll be paying every time you do anything in the hotel.
Drink in the Ice Bar - it's a must.
You only need one night in the Cold Accomodation. It's fun, but not that much fun you have to keep doing it!
Try to get a chalet with the glass roof. It increases your chances of seeing the Lights.
A short walk away through Jukkasjarvi there is a cafe where they do great hot chocolate at a bargain price in comparison to the fortune you'll be paying every time you do anything in the hotel.
Drink in the Ice Bar - it's a must.
You only need one night in the Cold Accomodation. It's fun, but not that much fun you have to keep doing it!
Try to get a chalet with the glass roof. It increases your chances of seeing the Lights.
GetCarter said:
jon- said:
Slightly OT but have you any details on where you're staying? My girlfriend has always wanted to see the northern lights, it would make a nice present.
Stating the obvious, but you still have to be lucky to see them, no matter how far north you go. Some friends went up for a week to the north of Sweden in October specifically to see the lights, and didn't see squat.GetCarter said:
jon- said:
Slightly OT but have you any details on where you're staying? My girlfriend has always wanted to see the northern lights, it would make a nice present.
Stating the obvious, but you still have to be lucky to see them, no matter how far north you go. Some friends went up for a week to the north of Sweden in October specifically to see the lights, and didn't see squat.We get them here in northern Scotland about twice a year. I've missed them every bloody time.
My aunt has been north of Tromso in Norway three times now, once with Patrick Moore and she's still yet to see them.
Don said:
GetCarter said:
jon- said:
Slightly OT but have you any details on where you're staying? My girlfriend has always wanted to see the northern lights, it would make a nice present.
Stating the obvious, but you still have to be lucky to see them, no matter how far north you go. Some friends went up for a week to the north of Sweden in October specifically to see the lights, and didn't see squat.jon- said:
Don said:
GetCarter said:
jon- said:
Slightly OT but have you any details on where you're staying? My girlfriend has always wanted to see the northern lights, it would make a nice present.
Stating the obvious, but you still have to be lucky to see them, no matter how far north you go. Some friends went up for a week to the north of Sweden in October specifically to see the lights, and didn't see squat.Don said:
Tip for the Ice Hotel.
A short walk away through Jukkasjarvi there is a cafe where they do great hot chocolate at a bargain price in comparison to the fortune you'll be paying every time you do anything in the hotel.
Drink in the Ice Bar - it's a must.
You only need one night in the Cold Accomodation. It's fun, but not that much fun you have to keep doing it!
Try to get a chalet with the glass roof. It increases your chances of seeing the Lights.
Know what you mean about the prices - we ate in the restaurant "over the road", but part of the Ice Hotel and it cost a small fortune - the one with the bar below. Went on a night "safari" on the snow bikes which was great fun - about 2 hours riding - didn't see the lights that night though.A short walk away through Jukkasjarvi there is a cafe where they do great hot chocolate at a bargain price in comparison to the fortune you'll be paying every time you do anything in the hotel.
Drink in the Ice Bar - it's a must.
You only need one night in the Cold Accomodation. It's fun, but not that much fun you have to keep doing it!
Try to get a chalet with the glass roof. It increases your chances of seeing the Lights.
There was another cheaper restaurant further along the road, and then down towards the river, which served great food, if a tad more rustic. Half way through the meal, the waitress called us all outside, and there the lights were - very lucky to see them, especially in town.
Had a few drinks in the ice bar, but for some reason always had a chomp on the glass afterwards!
Cheers Bradders.
This is useful advice, about the accomodation too - aren't we a well travelled lot :-)
I'm going to the Abisko (spelling?) viewing station on the first night. This is apparently the best place in Sweden to view them due to lack of cloud, clear skies, and perhaps altitude too?
We've got one night in an ice room (the mid range one, between snow room and deluxe ice room), and one night in a chalet with skylights (in case the lights are out again).
Then its a night in stockholm, followed by 4 nights in Rejkavik.
There's lots of tours to pick from, such as various snowmobiling, ice sculpting, husky rides but the one I want to do most is the ice driving course. Sadly its only on some days and doesn't fit my schedule - gutted!
All organised through the Discover The World company.
Will start googling for tripods soon. The ones suggested are a bit more than I wanted to spend but may look second hand too.
I'm going to the Abisko (spelling?) viewing station on the first night. This is apparently the best place in Sweden to view them due to lack of cloud, clear skies, and perhaps altitude too?
We've got one night in an ice room (the mid range one, between snow room and deluxe ice room), and one night in a chalet with skylights (in case the lights are out again).
Then its a night in stockholm, followed by 4 nights in Rejkavik.
There's lots of tours to pick from, such as various snowmobiling, ice sculpting, husky rides but the one I want to do most is the ice driving course. Sadly its only on some days and doesn't fit my schedule - gutted!
All organised through the Discover The World company.
Will start googling for tripods soon. The ones suggested are a bit more than I wanted to spend but may look second hand too.
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