I'm off!

[Octane]

Hi all,

In just over 24 hours I embark on a journey to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing the aurora borealis as well as photographing the surreal and alien landscape of Iceland.

I'll be gone for just over two weeks, so, will hopefully update this thread with any aurora sightings. :)

H

[astroron]

Have a great Trip Humayun. :)
Stay safe,look forward to some glorious aurora photographs :D
Cheers:thumbsup:

[FlashDrive]

Lucky You.....looking forward to some nice pic's.

Col....

[AstralTraveller]

Have a great time!! :thumbsup:

And remember: if there are no photos, it didn't happen! :P

[Larryp]

Have a great trip-look forward to seeing your photos :thumbsup:

[rcheshire]

Safe travels H. Looking forward to the artwork.

[tlgerdes]

Now you have told the world you are out of the country for 2 weeks, i hope you have someone babysitting your home.

[gregbradley]

Looking forward to some awesome aurora photos. May the aurora gods shine favourably on you!

Greg.

[Octane]

Thanks, all for the well wishes. :)

Trevor, no one here knows where I live. And, even if they did, there is nothing here to take as I am in the process of moving to Queensland. So, if anyone wants a bed and some kitchen appliances, be my guest.

H

[FlashDrive]

aaaah .... Queensland.... the ' The Promised Land '

Flash....:D

[multiweb]

Have a great time there. QLD? Really? I thought you wanted to move down to NZ.

[wavelandscott]

Enjoy Iceland...I got the chance to go there several years ago during the summer solstice. It was a great experience.

[RickS]

Good luck with the weather, H! It's a fascinating place and I'm sure you'll love it.

[leon]

You lucky Bugger, are you sure you don't want me to help carry your camera gear, have a great trip mate.

Leon

[alan meehan]

Have a good trip H I hope to see some good photos
AL

[Astro_Bot]

You lucky, lucky b*st*rd. :thumbsup:

[DavidTrap]

All the best H - looking forward to your updates. My trip leaves in just over 3 weeks!

DT

[Ric]

What an awesome holiday.

Have a great time H.

Cheers

[Octane]

Thanks, again, all!

Marc, my life circumstances have changed (for the better!); New Zealand or Tasmania are still the end goal.

How long are you going for, David? I'm gone for just over two weeks.

Hoping for aurora!

H

[Camelopardalis]

Good luck with your trip hope you get to enjoy the darkness :D

Out of curiosity, how are you routed from here to KEF?

[SimmoW]

Enjoy your trip, I've always wanted to go there. And the gals are pretty special there too, IMHO.

I"m off myself on Friday, to learn to ski. In Colorado. As everyone does :-)

2 weeks there, then 10 days in NYC, where I'll probably still have to ski!

[acropolite]

Enjoy H, looking forward to seeing your images. If you want some inspiration have a look at Dylan Toh's Flickr pages on Iceland. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmtoh/

[DavidTrap]

H - I'm away for 2 weeks. 10days in Iceland.

For me, the route is BNE-SYD-HK-LHR-KEF. About 40 hrs of travel, including layovers... Fingers crossed for no delays or I'll miss connections! It's about equidistant to go either way, but much dearer via the USA. You can also get there from Frankfurt. A friend on the same trip is going via Dubai and Frankfurt, then straight to Rekyjavik.

DT

DT

[Octane]

Cheers, guys!

Phil, I'm familiar with Dylan's work from years on deviantART and on Facebook. :)

I'm spending the night here in Sydney with my folks (incidentally, my father has beaten cancer, he was given the all clear last week) and flying QANTAS to Singapore, then Air France to Paris, then Icelandair to Reykjavik.

The return leg is routed through Amsterdam via KLM airlines.

I'm also in the almost 40-hour travel category, too. I'll let you know how I fare when I arrive. :)

H

[gary]

Hi H,

Have a great time!

Last weekend I was looking at some images off the back of the camera an
extended family member took there a few weeks ago. We were saying with
the sun at the low angle it was, every hour of daylight was "magic hour" as far
as the lighting for photography. As she said to me, "there is no rush". :)

Hope you find it as forgiving.

[N1]

There are direct flights from Brisbane to Dunedin, one of the best Southern hemisphere spots (besides Tassie) to see the Aurora.

Enjoy Iceland though, it's in a different league.

[Camelopardalis]

Wow chaps, best of luck, take a good book or two and hope you're getting some good FF points :lol:

Look forward to hearing your report :D

[Regulus]

I'm envious. That is the one country that would get me out of Oz.
It has everything: A small friendly population, Geo-Thermal Pools, Glaciers, A Weird Language, Amazing Auroras, and Bjork.
:lol:
If the coffee is excellent I wouldn't come back.
Have a great holiday.

Trevor

[N1]

There are direct flights from Brisbane to Dunedin, one of the best Southern hemisphere spots (besides Tassie) to see the Aurora.

Enjoy Iceland though, it's in a different league.

[multiweb]

Gee that's great news. Good for him. :thumbsup:

[Liz]

How exciting H, you will be in your element, and gobsmacked by the aurora, and there will be lots of it!!! Have a brilliant time and as others have said, cant wait for the piccies!!! Very jealous indeed xx

[allan gould]

Have a great trip, H. Im envious especially of Iceland
Allan

[Octane]

Thanks, all!

I'm just at the Blu Emu carpark waiting for a bus to domestic and then will probably catch a cab to the international. :)

H

[strongmanmike]

Have a great time H

Along with the pretty girls...they do grow'em big'n strong in Iceland too 6ft 9" 200kg (http://workoutsquad.nl/2013/09/hafthor-bjornsson-workout/) ;)

Mike

[Octane]

Have made it to Singapore. :)

H

[Astro_Bot]

Good to hear! Only two more legs where the aircraft could suffer a crippling failure that sends it plummeting to the ocean or ground in a sickening, uncontrolled spiral, smashing into hundreds of thousands of bits ...... Hey, not to worry, though, as it's only a collection of 600,000+ parts made by the lowest bidder. Shhh! What was that bump? :P


Enjoy yourself. Have a blast! :thumbsup:


PS: Great news about your Dad!

[Octane]

lol, AB. :D

If that happens, good luck to the person who grabs my camera bag. :P

Yeah, it's so good to see my father doing well. He almost died due to his kidneys going offline. It was touch and go for a while. On his 7th round of chemotherapy, he weighed just 50 kg -- nothing but skin and bones.

He has since put weight back on; is eating and drinking; is driving again and pottering about in the backyard looking after the garden that was neglected while he was unwell. Never seen him so happy. :)

H

[Astro_Bot]

I'm familiar with the experience. My Dad had a similar cancer and chemo - and a good long period of complete remission. He lived for quite a few more years and it wasn't even the cancer that took him in the end.

[h0ughy]

STORM WARNING: NOAA forecasters estimate a 75% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Feb. 15th in response to three incoming CMEs. The first two, which left the sun on Feb. 11th, have probably merged in transit to form a single "cannibal CME" more potent than either of its constituents. The third CME, launched on Feb. 12th, is following close on their heels. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras.

he would want to hope he is there now:P

[Octane]

Oh, my God.

Aurora directly overhead!

Holy crap! I think I'm about to cry.

H

[Octane]

On the road now, racing out of town to a beautiful location I scouted yesterday.

H

[Octane]

Directly overhead!!!

H

[barx1963]

To quote Life of Brian "You lucky lucky bas***d" :D:D

Malcolm

[CJ]

That must be quite an experience!

[Octane]

This is what I witnessed tonight.

My mind has been blown.

H

[leon]

Awesome stuff H, enjoy, I am very jealous. LOL

Leon

[el_draco]

... Stinking hot and humid one day, same thing the next :D

[DavidTrap]

Leave some for me PLEASE!!!!!!

DT

[SkyViking]

Looking great H, I can imagine what beautiful images you'll return with!

[Octane]

Thanks, guys.

It was truly a remarkable experience.

I'm hoping for more tonight. :)

H

[Peter Ward]

Clear skies ??!!! Enjoy :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Octane]

Not a single cloud in the sky. :)

H

[h0ughy]

STORM WARNING, CANCELED: A brief geomagnetic storm on Feb. 15th sparked by a CME impact has petered out, and the chances for auroras this weekend are subsiding. The CME appears to have been a merger of three minor clouds that, even together, could not cause a sustained disturbance in Earth's magnetic field. The hoped-for Valentine's display of auroras never materialized.

from spaceweather

[astronobob]

Awesome H, what a great oppertunity for you, so prevelidged etc, So envious and wish all the best to ya for some more displays your way.
Looking forward to your images, whooo :thumbsup:

[Octane]

7:30 PM. The sun set 1.5 hours ago and I can see aurora clearly even though twilight doesn't end for another hour.

This place is magic.

H

[multiweb]

Pretty cool. You're gonna bag some pretty amazing pics there. :thumbsup:Try some time lapses if you can.

[alistairsam]

Sounds awesome H. Its a trip I have on my bucket list as well.
what is the temperature there and is it a resort you're at? Did you have to go through a tour company?

Look forward to more pics, even with an iphone.

Cheers
Alistair

[dutch2]

Looks amazing, H.
Good luck with your images.

[Liz]

fabulous H, wishing your clear skies, clear skies,clear skies,clear skies :thumbsup:

[frenchbluehour]

Now, that is just AWESOME, Humayun!!!!


Smiling, smiling, smiling for you ......... x

[Octane]

Marc, Alistair, Ingrid, Liz and Nicole,

Thanks, all! :)

Alistair, it is freezing cold here at the moment. I'm wearing three layers of clothing on my legs and torso, two pairs of gloves and socks, and it is still crazy cold.

I'm travelling the west, south and mid-east portions of the country. Another trip, I'll try and get to the northern parts.

It is a truly spectacular place, in a very rugged sort of way.

H

[Octane]

This is from an hour ago.

Image straight out of camera.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
30s f/4.0 at 17.0mm iso5000

H

[gary]

Fabulous H! :thumbsup:

Go careful on those roads. The car coming the other way is likely to be a tourist
struggling in unfamiliar conditions.

[Suzy]

You lucky thing H. Thanks for the updates, I'm enjoying this journey with you. That aurora shot reflecting on water is quite an amazing sight!

[DavidTrap]

Photos look great H!

I've got thermals, fleece's and heavy ski gear, along with goose down mittens - do I need to pack more??

What temps are you seeing?? Wind chill?? I was ok at -21 in Canada with this gear last Xmas, but there was no wind.

DT

[Larryp]

Getting some great shots, Humayun!:thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Fantastic H ! I'm guessing....the beach at Vik ?? During our time there it was horizontal rain :( ..... have to go back !