Technique
NORTHERN LIGHTS
Göran Strand
Göran Strand is a freelance photographer based out of Östersund, Sweden, who specialises in astrophotography. Many of his photos have been published by NASA’s Astronomy Picture Of the Day, SpaceWeather.com, National Geographic and more. In 2013 he received an astrophotographer of the year award in Sweden. See astrofotografen.se
Northern
exposure Northern lights specialist Göran Strand talks us through this low-light challenge and his forthcoming Zoom Photo Tours workshop
‘Handölsforsen in Jamtland – an eightphoto panorama made using PTGui’
Nikon Z 6II, 14-24mm lens, 10 secs at f/2.8, ISO 800
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‘Me and two of my friends enjoying the northern lights’
Nikon D850, 8-15mm fisheye, 4 secs at f/3.5, ISO 5000
hen it comes to low light and night photography, few subjects are more compelling – and popular – than the northern lights. As the Royal Meteorological Society explains, this hugely photogenic phenomenon is caused by activity on the surface of the sun. Solar storms spew out huge clouds of electrically charged particles, which can travel millions of miles. Some of these particles are captured in the Earth’s magnetic field, accelerating down towards the north and south poles into the atmosphere. This is why aurora activity is concentrated at the Earth’s poles. So what we are actually seeing are atoms and molecules in our atmosphere colliding
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