Seven-Years Ago (31-August-2009) — Alaska

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 10: Alaska Marine Highway on the MV Columbia. Haines, Alaska.

After arriving at Haines, Alaska we disembarked from the MV Columbia. I could have slept in the RV, but decided to splurge and spend the night at the Halsingland Hotel (B&B). They even put benchmarks in the ground to mark the location of hotels in Haines — 118 feet above mean sea level. I set a camera up looking out my window to capture night sky star trails. I also managed to capture Northern Lights which I was not expecting.

Hotel Halsingland Bench Mark -- 118 Feet Above Mean Sea Level. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-300 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (David J Mathre)
Hotel Halsingland Bench Mark — 118 Feet Above Mean Sea Level. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-300 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (David J Mathre)


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Two-Years Ago (14-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013 Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 17: Tromsø.

Northern Lights in Norway. The entire sky just exploded just after midnight on Valentines day. My fisheye lens was not wide enough to capture it all!!!. If you watch closely you can see the Big Dipper. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 3200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 2 sec). The sequence of 18 images was automatically converted into an animated video by G+.

Sunday (09-March-2014) — Iceland

Gone to See Iceland in the Winter Photography Tour. Day 1: Reykjavik & Northern Lights.

When we went out it didn’t look too promising – cold, cloudy, windy, and some snow. Helga, from Tours by Locals found a spot about 10 km south of Keflavik International Airport where when the clouds cleared long enough to see this sequence. Eighty images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/1.4, 1 sec) One image taken every 5 sec. The 8 second video is shown at 10 fps. It was cold and the display didn’t last that long. I can see that the weather changes quickly in Iceland, and hope for more chances over the next week. The Icelandic Met Office is a good resource for both the weather and northern lights forecasts in Iceland.

Reykjavik Northern Lights. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/1.4, 1 sec). (David J Mathre)
Reykjavik Northern Lights. Image taken with a Nikon Df camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 1600, 24 mm, f/1.4, 1 sec). (David J Mathre)

One-Year Ago (14-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013 Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 17: Tromsø.

Northern Lights in Norway. The entire sky just exploded just after midnight on Valentines day. My fisheye lens was not wide enough to capture it all!!!. Images taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 3200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 2 sec).

One-Year Ago (12-February-2013) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2013. Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 15: Tromsø.

One Ship Makes it Through the Green Cloud Above Kvaløya (Whale) Island in Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec).

Northern Lights and Meteor Trail on Kvaløya (Whale) Island in Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec).. (David J Mathre)
Northern Lights and Meteor Trail on Kvaløya (Whale) Island in Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 800, 16 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec).. (David J Mathre)