[Crane]

Hello everyone,

I am taking my fiance to Iceland in December as a birthday gift. I will be taking landscape pictures during the day, and my ultimate goal is to have a picture of her with the northern lights behind her at night.
After some research I decided on the K-S2 with 18-50mm f/4.0-5.6 DC WR RE lens, which arrived yesterday.

I have read through some similar threads and wish to gather some more general info.
I plan to get a good case (weatherproof if possible), spare batteries, memory cards, a good tripod and another lens for the night time shoot.
I would appreciate any input on the items listed above.

[sojournaut]

I visited last month. Here are some things to keep in mind.

- You can check cloud cover and aurora intensity at Aurora forecast for Iceland | Aurora forecasts | Icelandic Meteorological office ... but also have your stuff ready to go at a moment's notice

- Keep your spare batteries warm by putting them in an inside pocket of your jacket / fleece / sweatshirt.

- Be mindful of condensation when bringing your camera into a warm car or hotel room. I put mine into a neoprene case and wrapped it in my shell jacket before taking it back inside (would have zipped it into my backpack, but I rushed outside for the aurora and didn't bring it).

- I used a Rokinon 16mm f2.0 at night. Sample


I had a fantastic trip. You and your fiancé are going to have a great time!

[Crane]

Beautiful. I would be very happy to capture something like that.
From what I read, it is best to photograph before total darkness, it looks like that is what you did ?
Did you use that lense exclusively for low light ?

[sojournaut]

Thanks! It would have been totally dark, except I had a good amount of moonlight due to a rising half moon. Just before total dark sounds like okay advice though - if the aurora is bright and active, you may want to use a shorter shutter speed, which could cause the rest of the sky and foreground to look too dark. But with a lens that performs well in low light, you should be okay in most conditions.

I used the Rokinon (which is not WR and is manual focus only) primarily for night shots. It's a good landscape lens too, if you're able to take your time during the day and use your tripod (and it's not super windy) - I had a Pentax 20-40mm for regular use - smaller, WR, with autofocus.

[Crane]

I picked up the same lens (Rokinon 16mm f2.0) and have been practicing. I also picked up 2 spare batteries, another tripod and a backpack.
If I get a picture as good as yours, I will be overjoyed.
I leave Saturday and will post my pics.

[sojournaut]

I picked up the same lens (Rokinon 16mm f2.0) and have been practicing. I also picked up 2 spare batteries, another tripod and a backpack.
If I get a picture as good as yours, I will be overjoyed.
I leave Saturday and will post my pics.

Good luck and have fun!

[clackers]

Hello everyone,

I am taking my fiance to Iceland in December as a birthday gift. I will be taking landscape pictures during the day, and my ultimate goal is to have a picture of her with the northern lights behind her at night.

Sounds like fun, Crane ... so you've got a flash as well that you'll use to illuminate her in your dream shot?

[Crane]

uhhh, built in flash not good enough ?

[sojournaut]

A flashlight or headlamp could work too, to help momentarily paint the foreground & fiance with light

[clackers]

uhhh, built in flash not good enough ?

I try to use the built-in flash as fill, not as the key light ... unless you wanted her to have the 'deer in headlights' look.