A meteor, the Milky Way, and the Northern Lights all caught in the act
Jonathan Woods writes:
…Capturing just one of these natural beauties in a photo is a feat many photographers would be proud of. Amateur photographer Tommy Eliassen struck photo gold in this beautifully composed image he shot in Ifjord, Finnmark, Norway.
Eliassen made the photo on Sept. 25 using a Nikon D700 with a wide angle lens and long exposures between 25-30 seconds. In an interview with Caters News, The 33-year-old, who capitalized on a narrow window of clear skies, talked about the experience.
“I quickly went and took some pictures in a regular spot of mine, and thought to myself that I had got some good aurora shots and also some separate good milky way shots. But just as the clouds started to come in over the mountains I noticed this faint aurora lining up perfectly beside the milky way. Normally the lights from the aurora is much, much stronger than the lights from the stars, so getting the right exposure on both is difficult. But it was ideal conditions – almost once in a lifetime.’
He was able to snap seven images of the scene before clouds moved back in.
“I was so focused on getting it right that I didn’t think about it at the time. But afterwards I realized that this was something special and that it might be years before I get an opportunity like it again,” he said.
And thanks to NBC’s Brian Williams for bringing it to a larger audience.
