Thursday (07-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 10: Southbound Hurtigruten Coastal Voyage.

On the second day of the southbound Hurtigruten voyage, the MS Nordkapp stops in eight ports: Mehamn (01:00-01:15); Kjøllefjord (03:15-03:30); Honningsvåg (06:00-06:15); Havøsund (08:15-08:30); Hammerfest (11:15-12:45); Øksfjord (15:30-15:45); Skjervøy (19:00-19:45); and Tromsø (23:45-01:30).

After going in and warming up, I went out again early AM (just after midnight). One band of the green lights went all the way from horizon to horizon over the top of the ship. I switched to a fisheye lens and went to deck 7 where I could get this image. I had all of my cold weather gear on, and it was still cold, especially since the ship was moving at 15 knots. At this point you could tell who the hard-core photographers were, as we were the only ones still out on deck.

Early Morning (00:24 AM) Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MV Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 6400, 16 mm, f/2.8, 4 sec). (David J Mathre)
Early Morning (00:24 AM) Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MV Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 6400, 16 mm, f/2.8, 4 sec). (David J Mathre)

At the end of the day, I disembarked from the MS Nordkapp in Tromsø. I met up with some photographer friends from France, and will spend the next week in and around Tromsø “Chasing the Northern Lights”.