Aurora Rainbow

Gallery: LandscapePosted January 18, 2015488 views21 comments

Just returned from my 1st trip to Iceland, a 5 day attempt to see the Northern Lights. It is something I have always wanted to see, and photograph if possible. This is my 1st attempt at star/night/aurora photography so any tips or suggestions would be great. The 4th night of my stay the skies cleared around 1 AM long enough to see the aurora. Luckily they appeared. A very cold but amazing experience.

A 1/2 moon rise shortly before this shot added extra light and was responsible for the shadows seen. I slightly overexposed this single exposure to hopefully limit noise, and then reduced the exposure during the RAW conversion. I also reduced the white balance below the Daylight setting to give it more of a night time feel. I then processed the same RAW image and applied a little more noise reduction for areas of the sky and lower left water.

5DII, ISO 3200, 29 sec., f2.8

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Dan Kearl on January 18, 2015 at 11:58 AM

Incredible sight....
A bucket list item for sure and you had an excellent Landscape FG to go with it.
Where in Iceland?
I am going this summer, no Aurora's unfortunately at that time......

Registered on September 2, 2013, 209 Posts, 1514 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on January 18, 2015 at 12:07 PM

Thanks Dan - This is on the Southeast coast near Jokulsarlon. I'm heading back in July as well with my wife during more hospitable conditions, so I may run into you.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on January 18, 2015 at 12:14 PM

Wow, Harry, what an amazing image. You packed so many good things in here and handled the conditions quite well. I am certainly inspired to visit there someday. I think you managed the noise issues quite well. No nits from me, I love it.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on January 18, 2015 at 1:10 PM

A very nice scene for sure, well done! Nothing beats night photography with snow and the moon illuminating the land....

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on January 18, 2015 at 1:14 PM

Stunning Image! An amazingly beautiful scene with such a wonderful mood. The light and colors are to die for and a perfect comp to set it off. Sure makes me want to head there!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on January 18, 2015 at 1:22 PM

Wow! This turned out beautifully, Harry. Everything works here from the frozen landscape to that aurora filled night time sky. Photographing an aurora is number one on my bucket list.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on January 18, 2015 at 1:33 PM

I really like the color balance, and I think that the frozen landscape works beautifully with the aurora.

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on January 18, 2015 at 4:01 PM

This is real nice, Harry! The color looks great, and I really like the floating clouds below the aurora.

Well done, sir!

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on January 18, 2015 at 4:31 PM

Surreal! Exquisite mix of foreground and sky. Gosh, that emerald green reflection is super! Weird vertical cloud-smears…but not a distraction. A little more sky above would have been preferred…mostly a preference. Excellent!

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on January 18, 2015 at 7:55 PM

This is really nice. There is so much to take in. What a beautiful landscape you've shot. It's even pretty neat without the aurora in the sky. One of the more enjoyable landscapes I've seen in quite a while.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on January 18, 2015 at 10:05 PM

Hi Harry

You captured this remarkable scene perfectly. love the aurora and it's reflected light

Albert Darmo
Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Apodaca on January 19, 2015 at 1:58 AM

Spectacular, and it's a plus to see so much shadow detail coming naturally from the aid of the 1/2 moon. The processing looks great to me. Nice shot!

Registered on November 16, 2011, 67 Posts, 1127 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on January 19, 2015 at 9:42 AM

The colors both in the sky and their reflections are great, Harry. It's also way cool how clear the clouds and sky are between the aurora and the horizon. Your processing is interesting in that it does feel like a night time image, but there's great clarity and detail in the land. Looks great!

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on January 19, 2015 at 10:35 AM

Beautiful. Quite the spectacular scene.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on January 19, 2015 at 4:22 PM

Darn great image Harry. Looks like a paradise wonderland!

The only small nit I have is some sharpening/artifacting in the sky. No biggie though... I'd be proud to have this image!

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on January 19, 2015 at 5:08 PM

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Glad that it appears that it is indeed night, as many night shots have a daytime feel. I also don't like the fact that some night images need to be viewed in a dark room, as this is not where the images will eventually end up. So to produce a bright enough image yet still portray night is a challenge. Further smoothing of the sky should be easily accomplished, but I didn't want to over-do initially if not needed. So thanks all for the extra set of eyes on this.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on January 20, 2015 at 10:00 PM

Amazing display! I think this looks almost like a daylight shot. I also think the trick to these is to achieve the same level of appearance as a standard landscape shot in terms of image quality. I think this does that, so congrats.

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Reid on January 21, 2015 at 4:20 PM

Wonderful shot Harry with beautiful colors and details through out. Having lived in the central Yukon and NWT for many years in the past my first thought was this was way too bright. But having read your posting I can agree with the brightness level. But a great image Harry.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Wade Hardy on January 22, 2015 at 6:07 PM

Wow! Incredible image! The execution and processing look great. That had to be an amazing experience. Congrats on a fantastic shot.

Registered on May 2, 2006, 121 Posts, 1824 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on January 24, 2015 at 8:27 PM

I think this is very well done for your first time attempting something like this, Harry, nice job!

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on January 27, 2015 at 5:09 AM

The moonlit landscape works really well here. I generally prefer to see more form to the auroras with shorter exposures but that blanket of green look pretty fine here.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments