Hamron

Magnificent! Well done Hamron.

I witnessed most of that 40 seconds as weel, almost on the stroke of 11pm? Looked up in the middle of changing a lens and WOW! I've never seen so much happen in the sky so quickly.

 

It hasn't been a great winter for Auroras but your image captures the very best of it.

Yep, definitely the same one, and I'm happy to hear I wasn't the only one that witnessed it (my mum and girlfriend narrowly missed it after heading back inside). I too was shocked to see it so bright and fast moving, I've only ever seen a dull and slow moving glow before.

@Hamiltonian, absolutely. Higher-res version can be found here:

http://i.imgur.com/EBXdgHL.jpg

And here's a panorama from the same spot, which I think shows PanStarrs comet and Andromeda:

http://i.imgur.com/dJr8izC.jpg

I have another shot of the first half of the display which I will post later.

This was taken from Unst, Fri 29th March. Lasted 40 seconds before returning to a dull glow. Definitely the best I've ever seen

http://i.imgur.com/Zq0Ac2S.jpg[/img]

My parents visited Unst in June, and I wanted to share a few of my dad's photos, particularly this shot of the Simmer Dim, taken around midnight on midsummer.

http://keanebeamish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Unst_June_2012_06_header.jpg

Full set can be found at my website here:

http://keanebeamish.com/blog/unst-shetland-july-2012/

I'm due to visit in late August and am getting very excited indeed

My biggest problem was that my standard lens would only open up to F4.5.

I have just bought a 50mm lens that opens to F1.8 so that should help.

Yes, I'll be varying the ISO as I shoot.

That's one of the things I like about digital - you can mess around as much as you like with the settings and you're not wasting money on film.

 

Now all we need are clear skies and plenty of CMEs

The nifty fifty is a fantastic lens, if a little long for landscape shots.

This timelapse was shot at ISO4000, 5 second exposures if I remember correctly, F4. Depending on your camera you might just get away with extreme high ISO at F4.5. Fortunately the subject responds relatively well to aggressive noise reduction!

Have fun with your new lens and I look forward to more updates to this thread!

Thank you for that.

Gives me a rough guide to work with

I would suggest also trying some shorter exposures at higher ISO.

Most shoot at 30seconds and this tends to blur the movement and loses definition in the lights. Using a shorter exposure of around 5 seconds will retain more definition and you will see much better movement if shooting for timelapse video.

Good luck!

I find it very odd that you suggest SOAD but don't condone the 'vomit-over-the-mike-and-scream-and-whine-like-a-dental-drill' brigade!

Nobody mentioned DIO

An essential for any aspiring Metal fan!

Yes, that was taken on the Westing looking out towards Brough Holm. This one is facing North:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/5718901025_31be2f2612_z.jpg

I didn't get many other shots as I was keen to setup the timelapse and before I knew it the sun was starting to rise, ruining any long exposures.

I've heard good things about aimp:

http://www.aimp2.us/

I haven't tried it myself - still using Winamp although I'm becoming less and less fond of it these days.

Northlink closing the upper deck at night is one of the many reasons I miss the old days of the St Clair.

Still, if you find a friendly crew member they might just say it's ok to go up if you close the barriers after yourself...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3197/5719152948_d70957ef8a_z.jpg

Try winamp:

http://www.winamp.com/

Really nice interface and a boatload of free skins/visualisations.

[***Mod edit - moved post to relevant thread***]

Just droping by to share a few things I thought some of you might appreciate...

I was up in Unst over Easter and was treated to a week of the most beautiful weather I've ever experienced, then on the last night this appeared:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/5718900883_17b5b439a8_z.jpg

A short timelapse video can be found here:

Hoping to return next Easter for another week of solid blue skies! What a magical place![/img]