Sunday 24 February 2013

The end of the chase


Well that's nearly it for 2013 for the aurora chase for us. We certainly struck lucky at the start of the week.

The end of our holiday which coincided with the end of this week has come and gone with little more than a whimper and so we are no getting ready for our journey home tomorrow back to the UK, and by all accounts that is a snowy UK so we should be more than able to handle anything thrown at us when we touch down at Heathrow tomorrow early evening.

The weather, which we are aware of our previous trip and something I have mentioned before regarding the climate in Norway has taken a turn for the worse. We haven't been out for the last 3 nights as there has been a weather front hanging all over northern Norway which has produced rain, rain and more rain along with some sleet which is now turning into snow. When we arrived at Ersfjordbotn we were welcomed with snow covered mountains adorning the sides of the fjords. These same mountains have now taken on a very different look with the majority of the snow being washed off and probably now only covering between 30%-40% of them rather than the 90% coverage when we arrived. We have had so much rain that the small waterfall next to the cabin sprang  back into life and has been almost been in a state of spate for the last 3 days solid as the water literally pours off the mountainside.

We are leaving with flood warnings and also high alerts of avalanches advised for the locality due to the sheer amount of rainfall that has been nothing short of relentless.



It goes without saying seeing the auroras at the start of holiday, which was always our goal, was the highlight. The lowlights include the Polar Zoo, which for the distance travelled and cost was a waste of both time and money. We found it very disappointing, certainly when visiting in winter time as we did. The drive there was the only high point of the trip through the fjords and mountains in nearly cloudless blue skies which afford great views to Bardu where the Polar Zoo is.

The zoo has elk, wolves, wolverines, deer, arctic foxes, lynx and whilst these are very appealing animals to photograph there is only one very small viewing platform over one of the wolf camps which was inaccessible due to snow when we went. All the other time you have to shoot through wire fencing so you are picking a single focus point so you can obscure the wire out of your images.

One of the highlights apart from the auroras was undoubtedly Grotfjord and standing on the beach surrounded by snow covered mountains and seeing the afternoon move into dusk just before sunset that afforded us a great opportunity to capture some great long exposure images like the one below.




The last opportunity we had to capture the auroras entailed a 60 mile drive to Nordkjosbotn in search of clear skies on Thursday. Although, slightly obscured at times by cloud we still had the chance to capture the aurora in temperatures that dropped down to -10.




So that ends our trip for the this year, it is hard not to fall in love with Ersfjordbotn Kystferie due to it's location and the beauty of the aurora borealis on a cloudless evening in winter time over the fjord. Having visited twice now in literally just over 12 months we need to consider all our options for next year. Time for somewhere new or time for a new project maybe, I don't think I or my suffering family know that answer just yet. I seriously doubt though we will find anywhere that feels as much as home as this place does though. A lot will depend on the solar maximum and if it has peaked already? Then I think pastures new will be calling............ In my heart though I hope it hasn't.




I have some projects I would like to devote more time to at home that I have been planning for a while. Anyone though he has taken interest in my blog and fancies a trip next year to this place please let me know................... I am always happy to give you a quote for my personal guiding services ;-)

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Aurora borealis the chase is on...!!


So I am sitting here in Ersfjordbotn with family and friends waiting for the cloudy weather to pass us by at the moment.

We have been incredibly lucky with the weather this year and so have been treated to some amazing displays from the aurora borealis so far. We have been left in awe and wonderment at their beauty.

If our secret hideaway is now more out in the open than it was before, then it is a shame. Although, Henry the owner of the cabins here won't be too upset. We even had to book a year in advance for the dates we wanted, which just shows how popular it is here already.

We have been blessed with the auroras and far more importantly clear skies at points during the past few days. This has only served to capture the images I so hoped for.



In my previous blog post I mentioned Lens Locker who I had hired a Canon 16-35mm F2.8L lens from specifically for this trip and I have to be honest and say it is possibly the best short term investment I have made with regards camera gear. Most of the images posted in this blog post are taken with that lens and it certainly has been the lens of choice without a shadow of a doubt. I also have a Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM and a Canon 24-70mm F2.8L with me. The majority of the time these have stayed in my bag though as the 16-35mm has just been what I needed and certainly the lens of choice. 

As you shoot on manual focus the speed of autofocus isn't an issue. The ability to shot wider or closer in depending on the aurora itself, plus the quality of the images captured is what you need in my opinion. The aurora is forever changing in size and position and so a fixed focal length lens will always be a challenge so I feel you need some flexibility offered by a zoom lens.



I have been shooting anywhere between 400-3200 ISO and this is really dependent on the strength of the aurora. The stronger the aurora then you can drop the ISO and adjust your exposure time accordingly. The exposure time I use is usually around 4 to 10 seconds long whilst trying to factor in the strength of the aurora itself and also ISO settings I am using. This is very much a trial and error learning curve that you very quickly pick up as you go so I can't give any exact advice on this. If you are lucky enough to see the aurora for long enough you have the chance to perfect these settings yourself though and you soon pick these up.

Unfortunately whilst we have been here I managed to fall down the stairs in our cabin (I still wonder why they insist on calling them cabins when they are really like a house). I ended up tearing a hamstring muscle that I felt rip across my leg as it went. It wasn't very nice and has limited my ability to walk long distances up scramble up the sides of the fjords. At the moment that hasn't been a major inconvenience to me though.

We have managed to have a quick walk around Tromsø and visited a really lovely glass blowing shop called Blåst which is the most northernly glass blowing shop in the world. Tromsø is full of the 'World's most northernly' shops and businesses I believe. I do though want to thank Silja the owner of the shop for allowing us to photograph her and her staff/partners at work there yesterday afternoon and they have some wonderful pieces there that you can purchase.

Norway and Tromsø in general isn't just appealing due to the auroras. Yes, they are one of the main reasons for the tourists, certainly in winter time. From a photographers perspective it is a a paradise though. If you have an off day from hunting the auroras then wake up the next morning and if the weather is good you may be rewarded by a sunrise as I was over the Lyngen Alps 



Alternatively if the skies are clear then look out for a brilliant sunset at a suitable location and you may be rewarded as well. The image below was captured on a Canon 24-70mm F2.8L lens using a Heliopan ND 3.0 filter (This filter is what some people refer to as a big stopper)



So it isn't just auroras that Norway or Tromsø has to offer, there is plenty of things to do if or see if you look around. All I would say is simply........... if you hire a car make sure it is a 4x4, even if it is a Skoda Yeti like ours.

There is a lot of solar acitivity at the moment and the outside possibility of an X class flare in the next 24 hours. Whilst there weather isn't looking great for Saturday if one is released from the sun then I will certainly be travelling as far as is needed to reach clear skies as that will be worth the effort and also a lack of sleep.

Tomorrow is also forecast to be fairly good weather and possibly clear skies as well, as I said at the start of my blog we have been blessed with good weather for the majority of this week here and I am so pleased that it has been on our side. As anyone who has been here or lives in Norway knows, when it gets bad it gets very bad.

Hopefully I will get another post of before the end of the week and include some more images of the auroras, if the weather holds.



Saturday 16 February 2013

Welcome to Ersfjordbotn Norway our first night!!

 Well having not blogged for a while due to work commitments taking priority I have finally got around to posting again.

We arrived in Ersfjordbotn yesterday in the mid afternoon. After completing the vital tasks like going to supermarket to buy supplies and so spending a huge amount of money on very little food we settled down for our first evening here. Little did we realise that we would also get a light show as well from the auroras

The first image is our cabin/apartment here in Ersfjordbotn Kystferie bathed in the green of the auroras. They were present between 8.00pm and 9.00pm and then returned between 11.00pm ans 12.00am


It was wonderful to see and experience the auroras on our first night and totally unexpected. Last year we had to wait 4 or 5 nights to experience them, so to get a sighting before even having a nights sleep here was wonderful, although slightly tiring.

The weather for the next week is the usual mix bag of snow and cloud. Although with a CME being launched from the sun yesterday and forecasted clear skies for tomorrow evening the prospects for sustained auroral activity over a number of hours is a huge possibility that will keep us all entertained and very busy. 

I would just like to thank Jo at Lens Locker who helped me out when I wanted to hire a Canon 16-35mm F2.8L for our trip and I hope that she smiles when she reads this as all the images posted on my blog today were taken using that lens so thanks Jo for you assistance.

Today's forecast isn't great and so in anticipation of a very long night tomorrow it will be a quiet one here this evening. I am though very excited about tomorrow.

Hopefully I will get to see someone I know on the look out point over Ersfjordbotn, who know's?