Aurora Borealis

Hi on the priority list of photographers who visit Iceland is the opportunity to see the aurora borealis -- the Northern Lights. Many people don't get to see them because the night sky may be overcast or the 'solar wind' (the stream of neutrons and protons from the sun that interacts with oxygen and nitrogen here on Earth that causes the glow in the sky) is minimal. Tonight and last night my photo tour group and I had phenomenal displays of the aurora, and here are two examples. The intensity and brilliance of the color isn't seen with the naked eye. It is the long exposure and the accumulation of light on the digital sensor that enables the pictures to be so impressive. My settings based on experiments I've done were 15 seconds, f/2.8, and 1600 ISO. Because it's impossible to accurately focus on the stars, I focused on a flashlight placed beyond 'optical infinity' of the 16-35mm lens I used. The white balance used for these two images was tungsten.