Fuji X-Pro 1, Tripod, ISO 200, 18-55mm lens, f8.0, 1/40 sec - Processed raw file, converted to dng and worked on in Lightroom 5
Another night passes and still no aurora. The tension is now building amongst the group. You can feel the anxiety each evening as we gather over our evening meal to look at the technical data relating to the auroral activity in the atmosphere. Yesterday in the late afternoon the activity suddenly spiked and we thought we would get our first glimpse. However, by the time we got to Kiruna and had our meal the graphs had all flatlined and the sky had filled with cloud. As group leaders we certainly feel the pressure to perform. Although we have absolutely no control over the clouds or the aurora we know just how much the clients want to see it. Not only do we have clients from the UK with us, but also some from the US and others from Australia. What a big investment they have all made in the trip. So we are prepared to drive as far as it takes and work as many hours as it takes if there is any chance at all to deliver the lights for the group. But, we just need that break in the clouds to coincide with some activity up on the edge of the atmosphere.
Fuji X-Pro 1, Tripod, ISO 200, 55-200mm Lens, f 11, 1/3 sec
By coming to Kiruna here in Sweden we have moved away from the low pressure system which almost certainly would have meant no aurora up in northern Norway. This evening, so far, we have clear skies (and temperatures already plunging back towards the minus 20 degrees centigrade we experienced last night out in the tundra). As I type, at 17:00 local time, all three key graphs are flatlining. It couldn’t be any worse. There is nothing we can do but keep checking the graphs every few minutes, just hoping for them to leap into life. The more the graphs deviate from a flat line, the more spectacular the display. Right now, we would take a green glow on the horizon, anything!
Canon 5D mk3, ISO 200, 24-70mm Lens, f 11, 1.0 sec
That said, the day has not been a dead loss. Not by any means. We headed out into the tundra and forest and spent a brilliant day photographing the most stunning hoar frost. The temperature out there hasn’t risen above freezing for weeks and is mainly staying around minus ten degrees and lower so the hoar frost just builds and builds. As daylight faded the intense cold produced the most stunning blue and pink sky – the perfect foil to the frost.
I have processed up very quickly a few images from the day for you here just to show some of the things we have seen.
Now we are all back in our rooms. Time for a warming shower and a couple of hours sleep. Then a meal… and we all gather around the graph… watching the lines… wishing we had an auroral defibrillator to shock them into life. “Charging, Clear, BANG”.
Come back tomorrow to see if we managed to bring the patient back to life.
Canon 5D mk3, ISO 200, Tripod, 70-200mm lens with 1.4 extender, f 45, 13 seconds
Great pictures Doug. Sorry I have not contacted you before – I have had a fortnight with the Cambridge CC annual exhibition and been up to my neck in things. I am glad to see the Fuji holding its own. Lovely delicate pictures of the frosted birches. Fingers crossed for an aurora