Northern Lights, Iceland

Posted by Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 22 October 2012 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights photographed in Iceland a few days ago. I was surprised at how fast they move in the sky. You can also see that the 30 second exposure has caught the trails across the sky left by a couple of shooting stars.

The bright green of the Aurora against the darkness of the sky in the original photo made this a very easy conversion to black and white.

Like what you see here and are interested in photographic composition?.....the blog section of my website now has a complete set of 5 articles covering my personal approach to the subject: Ian Bramham Photography - Blog

For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to my website Ian Bramham - Fine Art Photography where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.

Comments (52)

Gérard Beullac from Paris, France

Splendid !

22 Oct 2012 6:10am

JacklineG from Béarn, France

L'instant et le phénomène sont magiques !

22 Oct 2012 6:30am

Aubélia from Kortrijk, Belgium

A beauty! Have a nice day.

22 Oct 2012 6:37am

Soheil from Tehran, Iran

very creative. nicely done
have a nice day ;)

22 Oct 2012 6:41am

Hans ter Horst from Ruislip, United Kingdom

Fabulous, fabulous, love the shooting stars too.

22 Oct 2012 7:04am

Curly from South Shields, United Kingdom

Really beautiful in black and white, easy to love this.

22 Oct 2012 7:12am

Andrew Atkinson from Hartlepool, United Kingdom

Ian, Wow, the clarity is fantastic especially shot at 3200. I don't normally like shots with starts in but you have managed to capture one I really like.

22 Oct 2012 8:15am

Daryl Johnson from Worcester Park, United Kingdom

Magical... one of the things I dream of seeing...

22 Oct 2012 8:33am

Anna.C from LA ROCHELLE, France

An exceptional show ! Fabulous and rare in black and white !

22 Oct 2012 8:41am

Ian Smith from London, United Kingdom

Magical scene Ian!

22 Oct 2012 8:45am

Stefan from Thiersee, Austria

fantastic!!!!!

22 Oct 2012 9:19am

digitalCG from Manchester, United Kingdom

Can't fault the composition (as expected) but the magic of this spectacle is, for me at least, primarily due to seeing colours where they usually aren't - much the same as with rainbows really. This is a lovely b&w work that provides an additional abstract layer, but if there's a colour version kicking around I'd love to compare (and potentially eat my own words) :)

22 Oct 2012 12:15pm

Adrian from Wakefield, United Kingdom

drop dead gorgeous

22 Oct 2012 12:20pm

Ralph Jones from Detroit, United States

Beautiful, maybe one day I will see this with my own eyes.

22 Oct 2012 12:55pm

hugo poon from hong kong, Hong Kong

How mysterious and charming! What a magical sight through your masterful work! Bravo Ian!

22 Oct 2012 3:44pm

Eric C. from Ivry sur Seine, France

Great great mood & lights Ian !

22 Oct 2012 4:17pm

Georges Lambrou from Athens, Greece

Simply beautiful..

22 Oct 2012 6:56pm

Lluís from Canet de Mar, Spain

really nice shot

22 Oct 2012 9:22pm

DarkElf from Perth, Australia

this looks amazing in b&w as well! the veil of the Aurora over the starry sky is brilliant and your exposure is spot on!

23 Oct 2012 2:16am

Babzy from Besançon, France

just wonder ! :)

23 Oct 2012 8:54am

John Leech from Grange-over-Sands, United Kingdom

Its come out well - at first I thought the meteor was a plane, as one went across that part of the sky on a couple of my shots, but I'm pretty sure it is a meteor. I don't think black and white has added anything other than consistency if displayed with all the other black and whites, though I don't think its taken anything away... hmm, the colour was rather nice! Funny how we spoke about how good the colour was while out there yet we're both doing black and whites :~) Even my colour ones are monochrome.

23 Oct 2012 10:20am

Wolfgang from Germany

Wonderful shot, especially in b/w. Like it :)

23 Oct 2012 11:37am

Baldwin from Venezuela

Outstanding monochrome shot ...
Congratulations on this well deserved Spotlight !!!

23 Oct 2012 4:19pm

@Baldwin: Hi Baldwin, thanks for letting me know it's in the AM3 Spotlight!

k@ from Paris, France

Like magic powder, it sure is, photographically - glorious feeling & mono, Ian. And thanks for the answer on the previous post, just double stunning...

23 Oct 2012 4:42pm

k@ from Paris, France

Oh and bravo for the Spotlight i'm just discovering !

23 Oct 2012 4:48pm

☺ ► ƸɼiϾ ◄ ☼ from Narbonne, France

wow, magic picture :-)))

23 Oct 2012 5:38pm

Gérard Beullac from Paris, France

Ian, Bravo !

23 Oct 2012 5:52pm

Olivier from Manage, Belgium

Outstanding process for an outstanting sky! congratulations!

23 Oct 2012 6:45pm

Mireille T. from Ribérac, France

Congratulations on this so well deserved spotlight ! A magical picture!

23 Oct 2012 7:23pm

Ruthiebear from Titusville, NJ, United States

Congratulations on your SPOTLIGHT

23 Oct 2012 7:45pm

Eric C. from Ivry sur Seine, France

Congrats Ian !

23 Oct 2012 7:55pm

Denise from granby, québec, Canada

Congratulations on the Spotlight!

23 Oct 2012 8:33pm

Alun from cheshire, United Kingdom

Amazing, your so lucky to see them, one day

23 Oct 2012 9:08pm

Melocoton from Salamanca, Spain

Congratulations

23 Oct 2012 9:11pm

Ana Lúcia from Leiria, Portugal

Excellent.
An art piece!

23 Oct 2012 10:10pm

john4jack from Corvallis, Oregon, United States

congratulations. well done

24 Oct 2012 1:21am

Morris Taub from Montpellier, France

spectacular light show...sweet photo...

24 Oct 2012 5:26am

Aubélia from Kortrijk, Belgium

Congratulations on the spotlight

24 Oct 2012 7:03am

Martine from bousval, Belgium

Superbe image....Félicitation pour ton spotlight!

24 Oct 2012 8:03am

VisuElle Photography from Entre Bretagne et montagnes, France

Like in a dream. Congrats on the spotlight

24 Oct 2012 9:10am

Mhelene from Villiers-sur-Marne, France

A wonderful atmosphere !! Congratulations on the spotlight !

24 Oct 2012 9:53am

Heinz from Hamm, Germany

Glückwunsch zum Spotlight. Super Aufnahme.

24 Oct 2012 2:57pm

Jerry from Aberdeen, United States

I can feel your excitement when taking this photo. Congratulations !

24 Oct 2012 9:25pm

Pavan Kaul from Mumbai, India

Ethereal & other worldly...beautifully crafted! Congratulations Ian:)

25 Oct 2012 12:32pm

Spark from L, France

Otherworldly. Bravo Ian.

25 Oct 2012 4:32pm

H.O from BC, Canada

very beautiful.

26 Oct 2012 5:48am

mehdi ab from tehran, Iran

Excellent

26 Oct 2012 9:49pm

Ryan Hammond from Tucson, United States

Fantastic, Ian! Congrats on the Spotlight!

26 Oct 2012 9:57pm

Marie from FRESNES, France

magnifique !

4 Nov 2012 7:57pm

omid from mashhad, Iran

very nice & wonderful!!!

6 Nov 2012 4:15pm

Kevin from Caen, France

Wow, great idea and great realization ! Amazing shot !

8 Nov 2012 8:51pm

Richard Geven from Montferland, Netherlands

My wishlist...

17 Dec 2012 4:52pm

Remix (3)

This image has been featured in 3 Remix collections.

My Fav by Florence

Black & White by rick

Paisagens by Arco-Íris

next day →

Nikon D800
30 seconds
F/4.0
ISO 3200
16 mm (35mm equiv.)