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Year: 2013

Aurora over Hamna

Aurora over Hamna

Last Friday I was invited for very tasty snert at Eelke and Roy’s. It was a clear night, and the aurora forecast was looking good, so I brought my camera and tripod along – just in case 😉 And yes, after dinner the auroras were dancing and we decided to go for a walk near their house. The first photo was taken from a nearby (frozen) lake, the snow was so deep there that we didn’t venture very far! The second photo is taken from a nice lookout over Hamna, a neighbourhood in Tromsø.

Aurora over a frozen lake Aurora over Hamna, Tromsø

I also took this panorama (consisting of 2 images) of the impressive northern lights over Hamna…

A panorama of the northern lights over Hamna, Tromsø

After a while, the activity decreased and we went back for a nice cup of hot chocolate 🙂

Aurora & Bioluminescent Organisms

Aurora & Bioluminescent Organisms

Last Wednesday we had a very clear night in Tromsø, and I was hoping the northern lights would show up. The activity was very low though, so when it got late at night I gave up hope. But just before midnight, they showed up after all. I jumped in the car and drove to a nearby small lighthouse. A very nice foreground for photos, next time I have to bring someone who can climb the ladder and stand on top! I tried with the self-timer, but climbing the icy ladders with my big Arctic boots – and in a hurry – was just a bit too scary.

After a while, I suddenly noticed glimpse of blue lights in the water. Bioluminescent organisms! My knowledge of biology is very poor, so I have no idea whether this is plankton or something else, but it’s so pretty. I have seen it once before in Tromsø, but I didn’t manage to get a picture of it then.

A glimpse of the sunset through the snow showers A very colourful sky - this is one of the first image of the time lapse

It was magical to have the northern lights dancing above, and little blue lights below 🙂

A glimpse of the sunset through the snow showers A very colourful sky - this is one of the first image of the time lapse

The aurora wasn’t very spectacular, but every now and then it flared up a bit…

A glimpse of the sunset through the snow showers A very colourful sky - this is one of the first image of the time lapse

After an hour at the beach, the lights got weaker and I got colder, and it was time to go home 🙂

Snow showers

Snow showers

After the beautiful weather on Sunday, we are now back to snow showers. Lots of them! But both yesterday and today, they left enough space for the sun to peek between them, and colouring the clouds in spectacular colours. I have 2 days off now (because I’m working in the weekend), so I was able to go out and take photos…

A glimpse of the sunset through the snow showers A very colourful sky - this is one of the first image of the time lapse

I also took a time-lapse of the snow showers passing south of Tromsø island. This gives a good idea of how quickly the weather changes here, and you can see from the sea surface that the wind picks up just before a snow shower hits. I took 3 photos per minute, for over an hour, to make this video…

Later that day I was looking out the window when I saw a bright flash – I was worried it was an explosion, and waited for what would happen next…. THUNDER! 😀 It’s not uncommon to have thunder in strong snow showers, but up here we get very little lightning activity so I wasn’t expecting it.

Today the sun was peeking between the showers again, and inspired by Espen Bergersen I set out to find pancake ice. Luckily, my first guess was right, there was a large patch of ice near Stakken, an area with lots of old boat houses. When I arrived, the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains, but the colours of the sky were very pretty…

Calm and clear water reflecting the sunset Pancake ice!

And of course the pancake ice was fun. It was in constant movement, and pieces keep breaking up and drifting around – I should try a time-lapse here one day!

Lots of ice, in constant movement - perhaps I should do a time-lapse here some time Snow showers passing in the distance

Several snow showers were passing in the distance, but this time I wasn’t hit by one 🙂

An accidental panorama, I found out that 2 images I took could be stitched :) A big snow shower to the right

We got lots of fresh snow in the past days, which is nice – except for having to clear the snow from the car and the doorstep several times a day 😉