Rotterdam (or Anywhere)

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

The days are very very short now, and when you have to work during the day, night photography is the way to go 😉 Last Thursday I went out with my photography workshop group, hoping for northern lights and the Geminid meteor shower. The evening started very promising, with northern lights dancing above Vengsøya…

We saw a few shooting stars, and decided to move to a different place to get a better view. But then the clouds rolled in… At first you could still see the stars through the thin clouds, but soon there was nothing left. Only to the west, some aurora was visible underneath the clouds… Oh well!

Last night, it was very clear and the aurora was active. We went to Skulsfjord, where we found some very dark skies and LOTS of stars. Even the Milky Way was visible 🙂 I didn’t see any meteors, though Paul did see one. I did hear whales though, breathing out nearby. Magic!

We caught the end of the show, as it soon calmed down and all that was left was a green band that didn’t move very much.

It was windy and cold, so after a while we gave up and drove home to warm up 🙂