Lights fantastic
Ihave taken N-photo as a subscriber since the first issue and have benefited greatly from the many articles, tips, advice and equipment reviews, basing my purchasing decisions on such advice. You recently welcomed contributions of readers’ travel experiences, so I am sharing shots taken on our cruise to see the Northern Lights. Naturally, before travelling I referred to the astro articles in N-photo issues 78, 132 and 133.
The pictures were taken on my Z fc with 16-50mm and 50-250mm kit lenses – it is a delight to use and a fantastic travel companion.
The shot of the Northern Lights was taken near Tromso. Being a natural phenomenon, the lights do not appear on demand, and, of course, skies need to be cloud-free. I was very well wrapped up for the cold and wore fingerless gloves. Despite preparing my initial manual camera settings, there were challenges coping with the pitch dark (I used a torch) and the wind (I used my Manfrotto Befree tripod). The pictures were Gps-tagged via Snapbridge, so I carried spare EN-EL25 batteries due to the increased battery drain.
I took many other pictures and thought the one of the 258m Torghatten Mountain – the mountain with a hole –would be of interest. The hole is 35 metres high, 20 metres wide and 165 metres long. Technical challenges were the ship’s movement, a high wind and the cold – and a very short window of a minute or so when the ship was opposite the hole. I started with the 16-50mm lens and then did a rapid lens change to 50-250mm to get closer. I didn’t want to go higher than ISO6400 but, at the same time, I was not observing the ‘one over focal length’ rule for shutter speed. The close-up was 1/13 sec at ISO6400 (VR on) and handheld!
Simon Littlejohn
Thanks for sharing your superb shots or your Norway adventure, Simon, it sounds like a trip of a lifetime!