The end of the world or maybe not, 21st December 2012?

 Thanks to the Mayan's I have been busily buying Christmas presents purely for myself this year. I saw little point in purchasing anything for anyone else considering today is supposedly the end of the world as we know it. I think I may live to regret that decision though........

It did though get me thinking about photographic gear, what I had and also what I need. Not just for myself but also for members of my family who will travel with us in February to Tromso. I have read many posts, articles and threads around the Aurora Borealis and compact cameras and what you can or more often what you can't do, due to their limitations. Whilst much of it makes sense to a point around what you can't do the alternative options aren't that clear or may seem confusing to some. Yes, I shoot on a Canon 7D DSLR so don't have these issues, but I wasn't prepared to spend a silly amount of money on kit for my 14 year old daughter who is also coming to Norway with us. She though needs a camera that suits her needs, that being small enough to fit in her pocket, face detection, HD video and an adequate zoom coupled with the needs and requirements to enable her to go on what could literally be a once in a lifetime trip and to capture images of the auroras. 

The biggest 'must have' requirement for a compact camera is that it must have the functionality to use manual settings. Sorry for those that know this, but in plain English to people who don't know what this means, simply put you control the camera and so the camera doesn't control the images it captures. There is a huge difference, albeit very subtle. Take a compact camera with only automatic settings on holiday to capture the Aurora Borealis and you will comeback possibly very disappointed. 

I was torn between 2 cameras the Panasonic TZ-30 and the Canon SX 260HS. It is always open to conjecture which one is best, but from what I have read the Canon SX 260HS performs a lot better in lowlight. I am not for or against one manufacturer or another, I am only interested in the output that is produced. So, if an image was captured using a Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Panasonic or Canon this fact is totally lost on me as I am interested in the picture itself.

So now you have a camera capable of capturing images of the auroras, but if you want them to be sharp you need a few additional items. These include the obvious, that being a tripod and also a way of controlling the exposure time. Hold on a second though the Canon SX 260HS doesn't have a means to do this as it can't be operated by some form of shutter release either via remote or a cable. Can you seriously operate the camera in freezing conditions on a tripod with your finger on the shutter button  for anywhere between 5 and 30 seconds without introducing shake and blurring the image? The simple answer is 'No', so you need to find a way around this.

After a lot of searching and one unsuccessful attempt to purchase the required piece of equipment from an online retailer I wont mention (their website doesn't take online orders so I contacted the owners and got no response!) I managed to find a local company literally just a few miles away that sold what I needed. It is basically a bracket that fixes to a compact camera on a tripod to allow you to use a shutter release cable with it, therefore giving you control over the exposure time. Incredibly useful, just what I needed, ordered and delivered the same week just before Christmas as well. This is link the item SRB Photographic so all I need now is a shutter release cable and thanks to the fact the Canon has manual controls we are all good to go. 

For people using DSLR's and going to shoot the auroras for the first time I would strongly recommend buying an angled viewfinder for low shots unless you like getting either very cold or covered in snow from laying down. I also carry one of these around with me photography mat which really is a standard bit of kit for a photographer who is into capturing landscapes or nature images.

One last thing, it was very rewarding to get a mention from a friend, Ryan Clark, who is studying environmental biology on his website with regards his wildlife highlights of 2012. I took Ryan over to Brownsea Island in November to go and see the red squirrels and we had a great day with these superb creatures literally running a few feet from us for most of the day. Below are a couple of images I captured and this is the link to Ryan's website with some great images on there Ryan Clark

Christmas trees, cats and the auroras

So the Christmas tree is up and our 1 year old cat has decided to take up residence in the tree yet again. He did exactly the same last year as well when he was literally a kitten only a few weeks old. I am praying he grows out of this as he gets older before his causes untold damage either to the tree, house but more importantly himself as he loves to chew the cables for the led lights.



I have been posting over the weekend on the Tromso forum on Tripadvisor and there are some really interesting threads there about the impact of moonlight and the auroras when taking photographs. I, like a number of other photographers who have posted, don't/didn't find bright moonlight an issue and believe that this only serves to enhance the image. I can appreciate if the auroras are weak then bright moonlight will only serve to over power and weaken there impact. Tromso though is so far inside the arctic circle that any auroras seem to be strong enough to overcome this. Either that or as a photographer you learn to adapt and to be mobile and that is most definitely a huge advantage. 

One thing we learnt this year is that whilst it maybe cloudy and horrible in one place you can literally drive around the side of fjord to another place just 10 minutes away and you will be treated to clear skies. Hence I would definitely recommend hiring a car if you go. One word of warning to UK drivers, you are literally driving on snow or perma ice or sometimes slush depending on the weather which is something we really don't experience here at home. That's fine, until you remember that the excess on your car hire for any damage to the vehicle including the underneath of it will cost you the princely sum of £1000! This year we will be taking out car hire excess insurance before we go which is around £40-£60 per annum and covers this cost. We will also be hiring a 4x4 as well as two wheel drive isn't really suitable even with snow tyres on the car.

One evening when we were photographing the auroras on the hill just overlooking Ersfjordbotn I had the enjoyable company of talking to a professional photographer called Bjørn Jørgensen who was also there. Bjørn is a very friendly and knowledgeable photographer and a real wealth of useful information as he lives very close by and makes a living from selling his images of the auroras. He has his own website that can be found here http://www.arcticphoto.no  I Googled him this weekend in preparation of returning to Ersfjordbotn and was pleased to see he has a new DVD out. I am not sure what it is like, but I would expect that it would certainly be worth the investment for anyone interested.

One slightly disappointing fact I also found out this weekend is that the Rica hotel in Tromso is offering evening trips to Ersfjordbotn this season to see the auroras so maybe it wont be as peaceful and quiet as February 2012. Just to give you an idea of costs though the charge for the trip taking into account  Ersfjordbotn is only 19km from Tromso is around £100 per person! I am just glad we are based there and so can make the most of the location and if the weather dictates we go elsewhere then so be it. Mother Nature makes up her own mind and we just have to follow her lead, but then that is half the fun of chasing the light as if we saw the auroras every night I am sure we would just tend to take them for granted rather than standing in awe at what we see.

So I have finished tonight with an image captured in February of the auroras and bright moonlight to me this isn't an issue, others may disagree, but as photographers know it is all subjective as to whether you think moonlight spoils the image or not. I know me feelings and that of others, each to their own though.