Oimara

In the mainland area of Tromsø, in a calm beach where you can see the island, there is a boat. A boat with a story, a story with history.

The boat is not a boat anymore, but a shipweck: its name is "Oimara", a boat built in the early 1900's in Hull (England) as a coal transporting boat from Svalbard for a Russian shipping company. Towards the end of the first World War, the ship was used to transport refugees from Murmansk to Tromsø, saving plenty of lifes between 1918 and 1919.

Oimara had travelled in all kind of conditions, but somewhere between 1919 and 1927, it hit ground in Tomasjordnes (Tromsø), and was left there.

And it is still there

Nowadays, about 100 years later, the remains of the Oimara are still there. It has survived a long time, against all kinds of weather, and it has become a landmark in Tromsø. The beach around it has barbecue places and children play by the coast, although having a bath is only for the bravest!

When the tide is low, you can get into the wreck and see how little it is left from this landmark: algae have taken over the wood, sand is piling in the cracks, and cormorants have found a good place to sit and relax.

It is always a good idea to go there with some coal, make some delicious food and enjoy the view! 

This shot was taken from inside the boat during low tide, I hope you like it! The boat was illuminated by the full moon

Let me know your opinion in a comment, e-mail or drop me a line in my facebook page!

ISO 1000, f=2.8, 10 seconds exposure time

Piggsteinen

The post today is about the past, and so is the photo. This photo, from the Balsfjord piggstein (the Name Stone), was taken last year in a tour with a good friend of mine. 

We departed from Tromsø towards Skibotn, where we expected to have a small window with clear skies, but we had to stop on the road: the sky was becoming green! We both had been thinking about this shot, and how to take it, for some time. That night was THE night!

The stone is especial because all the paintings it has: it is a tradition to write your name there: if you get close enough to the stone, you will see several layers of spray painting. Definitely worth a look during daytime!

For the non-techy people, maybe you want to scroll down to see the photo... now it is time to be technical!

Our plan was to shoot the stone from a very close perspective, and from a low point of view, so the stone itself would be the main subject. We stopped the car in a safe place (safety first!), and walked close to the stone. 

Since we were two people trying to get a similar shot, we had to take turns and be nice to each other. Independently of your shooting mood, whether you are a lonely hunter or a pack-hunter, we always have to be respectful to each other: is YOUR magic shot more important than HIS/HER magic shot? 

My opinion is simple: No, your magic shot is as important as any other person's magic shot. During my nights out, I have experienced everything: from random people ruining my shots to totally stealthy photographers that I did not notice at all. And this happens not only with strangers, but with friends: luckily, we can just talk to people and find a way to do things without disturbing each other.

The first and most important rule when you aren't alone: Be careful with your headlamp! 

Second rule: Be careful with your headlamp!

Third rule: Avoid walking into other people's frames

Fourth rule: Talk to each other. This will help to avoid conflicts.

All in all, we both had a challenge in our hands: How to take the photo you want, in the setup you want, before the northern light fades away, and be as quick as possible?

First, you need to have an idea in mind. There are lucky shots that just happen, but it usually takes some thought to get a proper framing, foreground and background. 

Think of your composition:

What is the main subject? The northern light or, in this case, the stone?

What composition rule will you follow? Rule of thirds, leading lines, none at all...

Think of the settings:

Do you want to illuminate the stone (as I did here with the boat), or is there enough light coming from the moon?

How is the northern light? Is it a green cloud, or does it show curtain shapes? Do you want to freeze the shape? 

In this case, my composition was focused mainly on the stone itself, having the northern light as a background element. We had enough moonlight, so I decided to use the natural light to illuminate the stone. Finally, I had a small birch tree on the corner, and I decided to include it to add a third element into the composition.

As for the camera settings, the northern light was a really slow-moving one, so I focused on exposing the stone properly, although I knew that I would not have curtain shapes on the picture. 

Had I wished for curtain shapes, I would have needed to increase the ISO settings in order to reduce the exposure time. 

The northern light faded out very quickly, so we were lucky to have a plan in mind. If not, we would have been shooting and hoping for the best, while competing with each other on the potential spots.

In summary, think twice, shoot once!

Let me know your opinion in a comment, e-mail or drop me a line in my facebook page!

ISO 1600, f=2.8, 25 seconds exposure

Green coast, northern lights from Tromsø island

With the autumn equinox, areas above the Polar Arctic Circle start getting ready for the polar night. Up in northern Norway, there is a really cool tradition, where they make cream-filled buns with a chocolate frosting, called Mørketidsboller (dark period buns).

Mørketid is more than the polar night, you can feel it in the air. People start wearing down jackets already, although we are still above freezing temperatures, the smell of the chimneys fill the streets in the evenings, and we start getting into the race towards the darkness. Some of us spend our summer longing for the polar night, because for us is not the "dark period". Just the opposite, it is the "light period", where we can get our northern lights dose.

There is a family of aurora chasers called Aurora Addicts Anonymous (read their blog and follow their facebook page, they are great!) who, in my opinion, hit the nail with that name. We are just aurora addicts, warm summers and sunny beaches are nothing compared to the northern lights!
And also, we are addicts to the rest of the people: I have found myself asking over the phone:

 "Do you have any green? Should I go to your place?" 

Yes. As bad as it sounds, I have said it several times. I once got very weird looks from people around, as I was in a bus, on a Saturday night, going towards the city center (where I was going to meet other aurora addicts), but it took me some time to realize why was that old lady on the corner looking at me as if I was doing something wrong. 

Of course, the equinox is a good excuse to get out and photograph (any excuse is good, but we have to find a reason to have sleepless nights and then go to our normal jobs...), and last night it payed off. We were heading towards Kvaløya, the island to the west of Tromsø, to escape from the light pollution and have a clear view towards the open sea. Sadly, the bridge was under construction, and after a very (very, very) long wait, we decided to stay into the island and try to find something interesting to photograph.

We knew that light pollution would be there all the time, and we would have to cope with it, but it payed off. The show was great, and got some nice shots. Due to the challenge of the light pollution, I had to play with composition, find interesting foregrounds, and this photo is the result.

I shot a square composition, what do you think about it? Let me know in a comment, e-mail or drop me a line in my facebook page!

ISO 1250, f=2.8, 5 seconds exposure

Green angels

Last night was an amazing night: with a solar storm directed towards the Earth, activity building up in the sky...

But let's take it from the beginning: Yesterday was a cloudy day in Tromsø. Thick, grey clouds, rain showers, strong wind... so it looked far from promising. Meanwhile, every northern light website and facebook groups were building up the expectations towards the night, and I talked to some aurora junkies about their plans for the night.

"Maybe I will stay at home"

That was the main thought: although the activity was looking great, weather was very discouraging. And we are still warming up, not totally crazy yet about every green hint in the sky. 

Suddenly, the skies started clearing up, and we all got rid of our mental rust, got our equipment and headed out to get what looked like the best show ever. The Aurora Ovation showed extremely high energy values, up to 95GW (we could say that 1-10 is low, 10-20 mid, 20-30 mid-high and above 30 is just high. More than 50GW is just very strong).

On the way to a good photo spot, we just saw cars parked in all sort of places: luckily, we all try to respect each other (although we sometimes have worse experiences), and everyone could find a good spot. For about an hour, the show was amazing: non-stop crowns and curtains, in all shapes and colors, and the sky had a constant green haze, telling us not to leave. 

The main show was over by about 23:30, so we went back home to enjoy the second part of the northern light shooting: sorting out the pictures! This shot is just but one of the hundreds I will have to sort... as everyone else that was out last night!

ISO 2500, F=2.8, 3.2 seconds exposure time

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Endelig nordlys!

...or in English: northern lights, finally!

The season has officially started with very good shows already, we hope that this will only be the beginning.

Due to my day job, I have been lucky enough to be in perfect locations for northern light shooting, but unlucky enough to have clouds all around me. However, I managed to get some decent shots in a small window of time where skies cleared up.

This is just the beginning, and I am already working on some video sequences, stay tuned!

This photo was shot in Hestdalen, a small valley up in the tundra in the Varanger Peninsula. This area is blessed with breathtaking sceneries on the coast, an immense national park (Varangerhalvøya nasjonalpark) and incredible salmon fishing rivers.

Not only that, but the wildlife around is just incredible: reindeer (caribou), moose, ptarmigans, buzzards, skuas... all you can imagine!

I have spent the last few summers doing my job as a biologist in this peninsula, and I cannot stress it enough: if you ever go to the north cape, do take a couple of extra days and drive around, get in touch with the locals, and enjoy the unique scenery of this area! Their official tourist website is not very updated, but they show just enough to want to be there: http://www.varanger.com/index.php?lang=eng

Bring binoculars (and a warm jacket!): if you want to be in a remote, solitary place to relax and enjoy yourself and your family, then northern Norway (and especially Varanger) is your perfect destination!

You can also like my facebook page or send me an e-mail if you have any questions!

ISO 1000, 4", f=2.8
Do you also see a dragon here?

The ghost of seasons past

There are some places in the US that are already reporting northern light sightings. For the ones living in Tromsø, we still have to wait for some more time for the shy lady to show up.

But we should start warming up, getting all the gear up and running, and be ready to spend restless nights again!

This photo is an example of a typical issue when shooting long exposure: once you find a nice place, nice landscape, and the selfish lady decides to dance, you think everything is fine. But sadly, there are plenty of problems happening constantly. This is one of the shots that ruined a long time-lapse sequence I was working on: I was totally alone, all my gear ready, and as soon as the northern light started, a couple of rental cars with tourists appeared out of the blue, and walked all the way to my spot.

WHY do tourists gather around someone who is obviously taking photos?

That question bugged me for a while, and since they had already ruined the sequence (more on that in a minute), I decided to ask them why did they come to the spot where I was, since there was plenty of coastline to enjoy exactly the same experience. The answer they gave me was extremely obvious:

We saw a small blinking light from your camera, and we thought that you knew what you were doing

This answer left me speechless. They thought that since I had taken a not-too-obvious place to see the lights, I should be experienced. The reality is that I wanted to be alone, to avoid unexpected people bumping into my photographs. And that is what most of night-shooters want: either being alone, or with fellow photographers who will know how to behave around the cameras.

An unexpected visit. ISO 1600, f=2.8, 15 seconds exposure time

Please note that there is no "magic spot", nor there is any ownership of spots: sometimes you know where you want to go, what foreground you want to have, and what direction you will shoot, and sometimes you just stop in a place that looks good enough.

There are several photographers that feel rights over some places for night photography, but as long as you are respectful to each other, we can all enjoy our experience!

Why was my sequence ruined?

After a short chat with the tourists, I told them that my sequence had been ruined by them, and since they were planning to stay in Tromsø for the next days, I adviced them to be careful when they were scouting for a location.
The main reasons that ruined my shots were:
1- Six people, walking up and down a hill with both headlamps and torches, pointing everywhere, hitting either my foreground or my camera (when they got close enough), so several shots got either overexposed, or got light streaks in the shot.

2- When I told them that I was shooting and to please stand out of the camera, they approached me from the front of the camera (asking to see shots), blocking several shots until they understood that I was still shooting.
              *At the same time, they actually moved my camera to see my shots, while I was shooting.

3- They liked the spot I was standing in, so they spent the next 10 minutes preparing their gear while illuminating everything around, walking back and forth in front of my camera, and, although this is not a photographic issue, being loud and noisy.

Are there guidelines we could establish?

Definitely. We are talking about night photography, so we need to keep the darkness (avoid headlamps pointing towards cameras), stay away from other people  (usually a few meters will be enough), and respect each other.

If we don't follow some common sense rules, more shots will look like this ghost.

A summary of the last season

I have had issues with the blogging platform, so the videos I posted in the end of the season were not shown in this blog.

While I prepare the next post (coming in the next days) that will inaugurate the new season, here you some videos to sit down, relax, boost your volume and have a cup of cocoa!

There is plenty of technical information in the description of each video!

You can also visit my facebook page or send me an e-mail if you have any questions!