Northern Lights 17. March

Yesterday evening and last night there was an amazingly powerful Northern Lights display, and luckily the evening started with clear skies in Trondheim. I had wanted to test my newly acquired HD DA15/4 lens for aurora photography, because I wanted to see if it was as useless for this task as most people have reported. The DA15 needs to be stopped down to f5.6 to avoid koma, and that is partly the reason why many write it off for aurora photography. With the K5 a slowish lens like the DA15 can be used quite successfully for Northern Lights IMHO. The DA12-24, on the other hand, is superb for Northern Lights already at 12mm and f4. Somehow the aurora images from the DA15 have some qualities that appeal very much to me, and I also enjoy this tiny lens very much for daytime photography. What do you think about the DA15 aurora images vs DA12-24?

1. DA 15 f5.6 ISO 3200 4.0 sek



2. DA 15 f5.6 ISO1600 4.0 sek



3. DA 15 f5.6 ISO1600 4.0 sek



4. DA 12-24 f4 ISO 3200 4.0 sek



5. DA 12-24 f4 ISO 1600 10 sek

Very cool, thanks for sharing

Beautiful as ever Bjørn. The middle three are my favourites.

My son's girlfriend managed a couple of shots up in Friesland last night, and frustratingly they were also visible as far south as where I live, but I had no car available to get out from the lights and the built-up area to see them. Here they were seen as red curtains, which makes a change .

This was taken near where I live link

Are you ready for the eclipse on Friday?

thanks for showing these pics there wonderful

Fantastic - Amazing that you can see the stars through it - such intense light from something so tenuous.

Thanks for sharing Bjørn - pretty amazing. No 2 is my fav followed by no 4 and 5. The size/ spread across the landscape/ sea I shown off so well in that last one

Thanks, Bjørn. Great shots. Where I'm sitting right now, the sky is resolutely grey...

Amazing views, wonderful colour and I like the fact you've given these pictures context by including some ground level features.
David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

Thank you all! Most appreciated.

Good photo in your link from the Netherlands! It is quite unique that the Northern Lights can be seen this far south.

I am ready for the eclipse, except that I have no proper filter (Baader filter i.e.) to put on my camera lens. I would have loved to capture the eclipse with my Pentax.

Number 2 is my favourite in this set as well. I am quite impressed with how the DA15 brings out detail in the aurora.

The main challenge (for me) with photographing the Northern Lights is to find good settings that can help in making interesting compositions. Trees are obviously good subjects to include, but also water and buildings can make interesting contrast or complement the aurora. Photographing the aurora as such is not really that difficult, as long as you know how to set up your camera and own a tripod