The Icelandic Aurora

We had 4 nights of opportunity. They can be summarised as follows:

• Night 1: we’re still in the UK! Flight to Reykjavik cancelled due to the first winter storm of the year battering Iceland.
• Night 2: we’re in Reykjavik, but the storm continues to batter the island and blanket the sky with thick snow clouds.
• Night 3: there are hints of clear sky so we head out. There’s a tiny patch of sky where we can clearly see the stars so we stare, and wait. There’s an icy cold wind, but we persist. Unfortunately to no avail. Tonight was not our night.
• Night 4: not single cloud in the sky, so we head out of the city lights to chase the Aurora… and it went a bit like this…

It was unbelievable. The photos just do not capture it. I really was not prepared for the beauty and amazement of it. As we stepped outside there was this huge, yet subtle band of green which swept above us, stretching from one horizon to the other. Then, as we watched, it intensified into a bright streak of greenish white which started to swirl around itself. Then it felt like it was all around us as it filled the sky in curtains and swirls. We watched for an hour, in awe. We definitely can tick the Northern Lights off our bucket lists.

The "darker" photos were taken with my Nikon D3200, standard lens, manual mode. I played with the exposure and ISO as the lights continuously changed in their speed and intensity. For a first try I was quite happy with the results! The "lighter" photos were taken with my GoPro Hero4 Silver in Night Lapse to capture a timelapse of the lights. I used a 30 second exposure on a continuous interval, white balance at 3000k, ISO limit at 800, sharpness high and Protune on.

The great thing about the GoPro was that I set it up at home and then let it go, meaning I could enjoy the Aurora experience with my mum and Nanna, though my own eyes and not through a lens.

I also created a video in GoPro Studio from the GoPro night lapse photos. You can check it out on my YouTube channel or on my blog!