Author Topic: "Aurora Borealis" - 22.000 photos 'time-lapsed'. (Read 2933 times)

rogerml · « **on:** March 24, 2011, 10:22:21 PM »

First: I do hope this is posted in it's appropriate board. If not, moderators, I apologize, and please then put it where it belong.

This video, - or rater, a 'time-lapse', of the Aurora Borealis, is shot close to the border Norway shares with Russia (N 70°, E 30°). The author, Terje Sørgjerd, a young Norwegian landscape photographer, shot 22.000 photos during a few days in the middle of this month, after being alerted by his contacts of a high solar activity forecast (sun storm) for the given period. Equipped with more than 40 kilos of photofraphic equipment, - camerahouse(s), lenses, (EOS 5DMk2, EF24/1.4 + EF16-35/2.8 Mk2, Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6), tripods, extra batteries (a 12 V/9800 mAh CCTV 'mother charger'), DIY dolly, etc.). Mr. Sorgjerd flew north to Vadsø, 1000 miles from Oslo, and commenced rigging up and shooting frames, day&night, from pre sunset to well after sunrise (the 'nite' lasts a hefty 20 hours this time of the year in that location), - in temperatures varying around -15°F. He explains that he had no frost problems with the camera houses or lenses, due to the extreme dry, cold air. But he had to watch his breath, otherwise the lenses would just be permanently dimmed. Batteries were kept at 'healthy' temperatures by use of a thermo canisters.

All photos shot i RAW and later during the work-flow converted to 16bit TIFF & graded in LR3. Rendering TIFF files in AE to 4k resolution. 95% JPG, edited the 4k video in FinalCut and exported to 1080p/H.264 using Compressor, uploaded to Vimeo. (TS tells the 4k version looks better,

).

Her's a link to his contacts for solar activity forecasts (for Alaska, as well as other polar regions): www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Default.asp?Date=20110326 (for to-day, Sat.26th, I believe. As you may notice the current solar activity is on 4 on a scale from 0-9 for this day).

Also some info on aurora photo shooting here: www.adidap.com/2008/04/09/a-guide-to-aurora--photography/comment-page-1/#comment-102808.

I don't know what you think, but I like it a lot. I would have enjoyed participating in a project like that. Sleeping in high-end bag, eating noodles & army field rations for a few days and watching the multi-colored rays 'dancing' on the open scene above! Btw, music as from "Gladiator". Enjoy.


The Aurora

lisandra · « **Reply #1 on:** March 24, 2011, 10:51:05 PM »

That is beautiful, breathtaking, I cried (Im serious)

rogerml · « **Reply #2 on:** March 24, 2011, 11:22:04 PM »

I did as well, lisandra, - a little, at least. Maybe, for a different reason than you, though? Yes, I think it's beautifully and very well done. It sure tells that it takes more than a little effort to make a couple of minuts of time-laps video. Music is well chosen, - I can think of a couple of sami musical artist/singers that could have worked nice, as well.

device · « **Reply #3 on:** May 24, 2011, 08:03:24 PM »

Singer sounds like Lisa Gerrard originally from Dead Can Dance but is on her own now.

Pete · « **Reply #4 on:** May 24, 2011, 08:35:12 PM »

Absolutely fantastic footage... I had to mute the sound (My son fell asleep on the sofa

),
The colors are just WOW....

cosinaphile · « **Reply #5 on:** May 28, 2011, 08:54:32 AM »

incredibley moving ......agreed

voyager · « **Reply #6 on:** May 30, 2011, 02:35:48 AM »

Not sure the music works with it, but that was pretty awesome.

rogerml · « **Reply #7 on:** June 07, 2011, 08:35:59 AM »

@voyager: I, for one, rather like the music (from the Hollywood success "The Gladiator"), I believe it really adds atmosphere to the time lapse video.

And then, some more promotion of Norway as a great place for photo shooting!

(Mind you, "The Mountain" is shot at Gran Canary Isl., though).

From www. huffingtonpost dot com:

Terje Sørgjerd has done it again -- you'll never see light quite like this.

Just weeks after producing two incredible viral hits, "The Aurora" and "The Mountain" (the latter of which attracted over 26 million views), the 32-year-old Oslo, Norway native has created this clip, a fantastic time-lapse shot shortly before "midnight sun" near the Arctic Circle. It's the result of a grueling 12 day journey (it was shot between April 29 and May 10) that could have easily claimed the life of the filmmaker. He managed to fall in freezing Arctic water twice, and was even hospitalized after falling from a rock during the trip.

Incredibly, the footage is virtually unadultered. "The only post-production here is all done in raw adjustments, there is absolutely no HDR, composite or photoshop involved," Sørgjerd said in an interview with The Huffington Post.

The video was shot using two different cameras in addition to a host of other equipment (you can see the full list of equipment he used below), and the data-set for the film itself totaled over 9TB. It took 2-3 week just to compile all the data, and according to Sørgjerd the resolution of the final product was 8 times that of 1080P Full HD.

The entire film was shot in Lofoten, Norway, an area that consists of 7 islands and no more than 24,000 inhabitants, and lies at about the same latitude as Greenland and Alaska. During the day, the temperature (in the spring) hits about 60 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but drops 20 to 40 degrees once the sun sets.

Sørgjerd has been a nature photographer since 2006, though his past three, highly successful projects have been little more than experiments. "The three last movies 'The Aurora,' 'The Mountain,' and 'The Arctic Light' have been experiments for me, seeing if it can provoke emotions and inspire people - a new way of thinking photography for me. The feedback has been phenomenal, in fact in less than a month I have received over 42,000 e-mails, many of which have a very personal character, and have touched me deeply," he said. "Unfortunately I have not been able to respond to all of them, but I appreciate them a lot. It also inspire me to keep at it and share more of these small nature pieces. As long as the main focus is on the natural phenomenas, and help raise some awareness - I am very happy."

The equipment used for this video:

Two Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 16-35mm/2.8 II
Canon 17mm TS/E
Canon 85mm 1.2
Sigma 120-400mm
The Stage-One dolly from www.dynamicperception.com
Lee Graduated Neutral Density filters and a polarizer
4 Manfrotto tripods
The soundtrack for the clip was provided by Marika Takeuchi, a Boston composer and pianist.

"The Arctic Light"


The Arctic Light

"The Mountain" - time lapse video shot at El Teide (highest mountain in Spain, located at Gran Canary Island. [at 3.718 m/12.198 feet hight].


The Mountain

lisandra · « **Reply #8 on:** June 17, 2011, 12:52:57 AM »

I just died

voyager · « **Reply #9 on:** June 17, 2011, 08:47:50 AM »

I have no words.

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"Aurora Borealis" - 22.000 photos 'time-lapsed'.