Nikon D750 | Nikon 24mm 1.8 | f4 | 6 seconds | ISO 3200
OWN PRESET
We haven’t had too many winners that involve the legendary Northern Lights, I think it has been just one. When Neil Thomas Douglas recently travelled to Iceland and shot this elopement, he did have in the back of his mind that he would love to achieve a shot with the night sky if there was a Northern Lights display. However the orchestartion was not very staright forward – he had to get the couple out of bed to get them out there and make sure he was all set up and ready to go with the very minimal amount of kit he had with him. Not only that but they all had to deal with the gruelling physical affects that the extreme cold has on bodies.
The resulting image is outstanding and no doubt the couple are very glad that they trusted Neil’s vision for this.
Read Neil’s take on this shot below …
What Neil says ...
‘Lauren & Cole got married outside in Iceland in the morning and we spent the afternoon boosting about the glaciers in a super jeep. We finished at sunset which was 4pm. I was staying at the same hotel as the couple (Hotel Ranga which is a stunning venue in the middle of nowhere) so suggested that we go and do our thing and if they fancied then I could try get a shot of them under the northern lights later, they jumped at the chance! I kept my eye on the sky and noticed some activity forming so at 1am I woke the couple up, they popped on they wedding attire and came outside. I’d never photographed a couple under the northern lights before and was travelling light so never had any off camera flash or video light and was armed with the world’s smallest tripod. Luckily my wife Jen was travelling with me so I was able to do some test shots on her as it was -5C and I didn’t want the couple out in the cold for longer than needed. I knew I just needed a small kiss of ambient light, just enough to balance the couple with the northern lights so I used a distant hotel room light. I had to get the distance from the couple from the hotel light bang on for the perfect exposure.’