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- Indian rock in Kleifarvatn
Chasing the wonders in the sky above Iceland during the winter is a challenging sport but also lots of fun.
In this blog I will give you a few tips how you can shoot the northern lights, the milky way and do time lapse of Aurora and Milky way in Iceland - how you should prepare yourself, settings on your camera and what you should bring with you.
Hope it will help in your search - if not, you can alway contact me or come on a photo tour.
- Mountain Vestrahorn, panorama
The Aurora is one of the most fascinating natural phenomena known to mankind. Its many hues flash and burn across the night skies of the Earth‘s Polar Regions. The Aurora seemingly appears from nowhere, beginning as a faint glow of greenish light that gradually forms rays, arcs and curtains of red, blue and purple hues across the sky.
The colours slowly fade away only to reappear. This process, known as Aurora display is repeated several times. The phenomenon is known as Aurora Borealis in the Northern Hemisphere. The Aurora Borealis is usually seen in the Arctic region but sometimes may stretch further south.
The Aurora display repeats itself at intervals of 1-3 hours several times during the night. Auroras can be calm, active or pulsating – the most common being the calm or quiet type.
If the forecast is good for the aurora and cloud cover is in your favour, then it is time to go out on a aurora hunt. When all factors align well it usually results in good aurora display.
The K-index and the extension the Planetary K-index, are used to characterize the magnitude of geomagnetic storms. The Kp-index ranges from Kp 0 to 9 where a value of 0 means that there is very little geomagnetic activity and a value of 9 means extreme geomagnetic storming.
Pick a good location. In order to find auroras, it is necessary to find dark places, away from light pollution and where there are little or no clouds. For me it is important to find a location that has interesting foreground for example like, abandoned house, lakes that give reflection, mountains, seascape and lighthouses.
Once you have chosen your destination, the next step is to watch the skies and await the wonderful light show. Clouds move and change rapidly so it is necessary to look regularly at updated forecast. It is also important to be able to go to various locations over a night of northern light chasing.
- The rock Hvítserkur
Websites for aurora and weather forecast in Iceland:
- Mountain Kirkjufell at Snæfellsnes peninsula
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Aurora can be seen any time after dark from late August till beginning of May, with activity peaking at the start and end of this period. Displays occur most frequently between 8pm and 1am, with the most intense occurrences happening between 10pm and 11pm. However, the Northern Lights are highly unpredictable, so when you are learning how to photograph the Aurora Borealis, you cannot rule out appearances outside of these times.
It is important that you know your camera gear well before shooting the aurora, you don’t want to be spending time outside in the cold adjusting and trying your settings during northern light display. No settings are perfect for every camera but here are some tips to keep in mind to get you started.
- The Aurora Tree
You will likely be spending long periods of time standing still outdoors while you are waiting and shooting the aurora.
Jon Hilmarsson, landscape and nature photographer - photo guide and photo tour operator
Feel free to contact me for tours - day tours - northern light tours - personal tours - multiday tours