Transportation - David Mathre Photography

Friday (26-April-2013) — Spain

Gone to See Europe and North Africa. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 0: Barcelona, Spain.

After a long day of travel – Overnight on British Air from Tampa to Gatwick, then Gatwick to Barcelona we made it to the Semester at Sea MV Explorer. The ship was not docked at the location that the SAS folks indicated, but we saw it in the taxi when we got near the port. Once on board we found our cabins and had dinner. We spent the morning visiting Barcelona. The weather was great with blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. There were many, many tourists visiting the unfinished Cathedral. My parents had online tickets to visit the inside of the Cathedral. If you plan to visit, get the online tickets – it will save you a line that was blocks long. I went to find Xavi, a friend and fellow student from 30 years ago when I went to Graduate School at Caltech. We had a great lunch of Tapas at Cerveceria Catalina. Xavi also recently retired and is spending his time traveling and doing photography: Xavi’s Blog. Then back to the ship for our mandatory safety drill before sailing off to Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/80 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Tourists Viewing the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Tourists Viewing the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Detail in the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10-100 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 100 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec). Converted to B&W with Capture One Pro 7. (David J Mathre)

Motorcycle Passing the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/15 sec). In camera B&W. (David J Mathre)

Xavi on His Bicycle in Front of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Xavi on His Bicycle in Front of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/400 sec).. (David J Mathre) — Xavi on His Bicycle in Front of Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V1 and 6.7-13 mm VR lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (19-February-2013) — Trans-Atlantic Flight

Gone to See Norway 2013 Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 22: Bergen – Copenhagen – Newark Flight Home.

While on the Copenhagen to Newark leg of the flight home we crossed Greenland. Someday I want to visit Greenland.

Southern Greenland from 36000 feet. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens and Olympus FCON-T01 fisheye adapter (ISO 200, 7.5 mm, f/11, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)

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)

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”.

Wednesday (06-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 9: North then Southbound Hurtigruten Coastal Voyage.

On the seventh and final day of the northbound Hurtigruten coastal voyage, the MS Nordkapp stops in four ports: Båtsfjord (00:30-01:00); Vardø (04:00-04:15); Vadsø (07:30-08:00); and Kirkenes (09:45-12:45). After spending 3 hours in Kirkenes, the ship turns around and begins the southbound voyage stopping at three ports: Vardø (16:00-17:00); Båtsfjord (20:00-20:30); and Berlevåg (22:15-22:30).

Just before midnight there were some faint northern lights. I had to increase the ISO to 6400 to get this image. You can clearly see some red in addition to the green color.

Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MV Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 6400, 24 mm, f/2.8, 4 sec). (David J Mathre) — Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 6400, 24 mm, f/2.8, 4 sec). (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (05-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 8: Northbound Hurtigruten Coastal Voyage.

On the sixth day of the northbound Hurtigruten coastal voyage, the MS Nordkapp stops in seven ports: Øksfjord (02:00-02:15); Hammerfest (05:15-06:45); Havøsund (09:30-09:45); Honningsvåg (11:45-15:15); Kjøllefjord (17:30-17:45); Mehamn (19:30-20:00); and Berlevåg (22:30-22:45).

Last night the ship went to the narrow entrance of Trollfjord, and shined some lights to show the narrow passage and high walls. In the summer the Hurtigruten ships go into Trollfjord as part of the northbound voyage. In the winter they only go to the entrance due to avalanche danger. After the ship turned the lights off, I thought that I got an image with a glimmer of green from some low northern lights. The ship staff told me that it was just a reflection on a cloud from one of the fish farms. I went out again early in the morning and got an image that does show some faint northern light activity. Later in the evening, I got some more images showing some northern light activity. Several passengers asked why my camera was able to see the northern lights as bright green where they could barely see anything with their eyes, let alone with point and shoot cameras. The tour director on the ship was not yet making a ship wide announcement that northern lights were visible since he didn’t want folks to go away and say “is that all there is?”. Before beginning this trip I debated not taking a DSLR. Now I am glad that I did. These images were taken at ISO 1600, f/1.4, and 4 seconds. I didn’t have the tripod out with me so I held the camera body against my chest. You can see some camera motion in the stars, but it is not as bad as I thought it would be. For white balance, I used 3500 °K as a starting point since that is what I use when photographing star trails.

Early Morning (04:22 AM) Glimmer of Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/1.4, 4 sec). (David J Mathre) — Early Morning (04:22 AM) Glimmer of Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/1.4, 4 sec). (David J Mathre)

Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/1.4, 4 sec). (David J Mathre) — Northern Lights While Sailing North on the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 24 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/1.4, 4 sec). (David J Mathre)