One of the reasons my wife Liz and I chose to holiday on the atlantic coast of northwest Scotland in October was our desire to actually see the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, in the night sky.
And obviously, the further north we could get, the better our chances - right?
Our AirBnB cottage was ideally situated right on the coast at Aultgrishan, with a view to the north along the rugged coastline.
For us to catch a display of the beautiful northern lights required a number of factors to come together, some of which were under our control and some of which weren't.
First off we needed a good view of the northern horizon, which we had.
Secondly we needed to be in a remote place, away from the light pollution of populated areas, which we were.
Thirdly we needed the moon at minimum brightness, which unfortunately it wasn't, being either side of full during our stay.
Fourthly we needed clear skies to the north, which was always a gamble in Scotland in October, but we did have some nights with at least broken cloud through which the heavens could be glimpsed.
And finally we needed strong solar activity interacting the with earth's upper atmosphere to provide the actual aurora.
So it was with a cautious optimism that Liz and I decamped from our nice, warm cottage and headed down the track to the beach at the bottom of our cliff on the nights when it wasn't raining or completely clouded over, in the hope of capturing that elusive aurora on camera.
After a few attempts all we had to show for our efforts was a very faint and short lived green glow, low on the northern horizon.
Hardly the spectacular show we were hoping for!
But never mind, as I did manage to capture this rather entrancing time lapse sequence of the stars wheeling by overhead, visible through breaks in the moonlit clouds blowing in from the atlantic ocean.
It's an ill wind as they say, and we'll just have to keep on trying to catch that elusive aurora from our home a bit further south in north Wales.
Filename - aultgrishan_night_timelapse_03
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 24mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 10 secs @ f/4, ISO3200
Exposure (end of sequence) - 10 secs @ f/4, ISO3200
Filters - None.
Shooting interval - 10 secs
Music - Bach Cello Suite No. 1, G Major, Prelude - Cooper Cannell
Location - Aultgrishan, northwest scotland
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and 1080p HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 24 seconds
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