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Viking Ocean - Chasing the Northern Lights - Feb 2022


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1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

John...you were on my sailing, right? The 3/23/19 debacle? I seem to recall your username, though may be wrong. So much has transpired since that trip. That's a great picture. Seem to recall you posting that back when the various Viking issues was being discussed. I guess there were indeed two sightings while onboard...I specifically remember one. 

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Just now, johneb2 said:
1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

John...you were on my sailing, right? The 3/23/19 debacle? I seem to recall your username, though may be wrong. So much has transpired since that trip. That's a great picture. Seem to recall you posting that back when the various Viking issues was being discussed. I guess there were indeed two sightings while onboard...I specifically remember one. 

Yes we were onboard that infamous trip. There were actually 3 sightings of the lights onboard.  The last one was very minimal.   Thanks for the kind words.   Johneb2 

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I only recall one sighting...or at least only have pictures from the one. I'm sure you're correct though. As I said recently, that trip seems like a lifetime ago in some ways. Wonder what Hagen is going to do with the chairman's cruise? He seemed to indicate it'd be this year. 

Edited by OnTheJourney
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One of the sightings onboard was about 3am, and only lasted about 15 minutes.  Another observation we had was on an excursion (offered by Viking).  It was a 5 hour excursion until about 1 am where they took us out to a peninsula to escape the clouds.  I am attaching a picture of it, as it was my favorite one.  Like you, my wife and I are awaiting to see what happens with the Chairman's cruise.   Stay safe, JohnEB

narvik aurora web.jpg

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7 hours ago, johneb2 said:

One of the sightings onboard was about 3am, and only lasted about 15 minutes.  Another observation we had was on an excursion (offered by Viking).  It was a 5 hour excursion until about 1 am where they took us out to a peninsula to escape the clouds.  I am attaching a picture of it, as it was my favorite one.  Like you, my wife and I are awaiting to see what happens with the Chairman's cruise.   Stay safe, JohnEB

narvik aurora web.jpg

Beautiful photo.  What camera did you use?

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It was the Canon 7d2.  I used all manual settings.   Interesting after attending all the seminars on board for what camera settings to use, I could not get the picture s that I hoped for.  Don’t let this picture fool you as I had many many failures. The secret is to take a lot and adjust when necessary.  Johneb 

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Wow...that is a really cool picture.  All I use is a compact, point-and-shoot, which did nothing for the lights. I used my wife's cell phone with the app that the one lecturer suggested. Our ship excursion was ok at best but my pictures from that evening are pretty crappy. Not a real good sighting either. Like I mentioned, best part was the food and hot drinks in the lodge. If they announced a sighting onboard around 3 a.m....I was in bed and never knew about it! I know they said to keep the tv on in the rooms. We tried that by keeping a sheet over it so as to block the light, but don't recall ever receiving any announcements. Oh well...I got what I got. Sounds like I missed some sightings. Actually, I think some of the other types of excursions we did were as good or better than getting to see the lights. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip - I have little interest in going again. 

Edited by OnTheJourney
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On 2/2/2021 at 8:22 PM, cruisinchrissy said:

but less fortunate in other ways 😂

Yeah....the way that cruise ended in some ways sort of put a damper on the rest of it, i.e. all the good parts. Other, less dramatic cruises I've done in terms of scenery and activities, I almost look back on more fondly overall since there were no such significant mishaps along the way. I don't think I'll ever get to a point where, when I think of that Viking cruise, that my mind doesn't automatically go to the events of 3/23. I suspect too that those who were evacuated have a different take on it than those who weren't. Neither one was a pleasant experience. It was the most scared I've ever been in my life.  It took a few months to 'settle down' from it. At random times during the weeks that followed I'd sometimes be brought to tears or else very agitated - especially the sound of a helicopter going overhead or strong winds / grey clouds, etc. It took quite awhile to overcome the emotional impact. I'd often wake up at night and be right back on the top deck waiting to be pulled off. 

Edited by OnTheJourney
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12 hours ago, johneb2 said:

Like you, my wife and I are awaiting to see what happens with the Chairman's cruise.

If it's for this year, we may or may not go. Vaccine distribution is slow thus far. I don't think I feel too comfortable about extensive travel until probably close to the end of the year or else into '22. I have no desire to travel anywhere that could involve any sort of quarantining either leaving or returning back to the US.

Edited by OnTheJourney
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14 hours ago, johneb2 said:

It was the Canon 7d2.  I used all manual settings.   Interesting after attending all the seminars on board for what camera settings to use, I could not get the picture s that I hoped for.  Don’t let this picture fool you as I had many many failures. The secret is to take a lot and adjust when necessary.  Johneb 

Thanks

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10 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Yeah....the way that cruise ended in some ways sort of put a damper on the rest of it, i.e. all the good parts. Other, less dramatic cruises I've done in terms of scenery and activities, I almost look back on more fondly overall since there were no such significant mishaps along the way. I don't think I'll ever get to a point where, when I think of that Viking cruise, that my mind doesn't automatically go to the events of 3/23. I suspect too that those who were evacuated have a different take on it than those who weren't. Neither one was a pleasant experience. It was the most scared I've ever been in my life.  It took a few months to 'settle down' from it. At random times during the weeks that followed I'd sometimes be brought to tears or else very agitated - especially the sound of a helicopter going overhead or strong winds / grey clouds, etc. It took quite awhile to overcome the emotional impact. I'd often wake up at night and be right back on the top deck waiting to be pulled off. 

I agree with you on gravitating to that event of 3/23.  To this day, I still see my wife's face of fear and shock as she sat is the helicopter getting sick.  Between the motion sickness, and her fear of height, I was worried she would have to be hospitalized when we landed in Molde.  Fortunately, after a little while after landing , she started returning to somewhat normalcy.  As you said, many times, memories come back of the event, but we give thanks that in the end it worked out safely for most of us, while unfortunately overshadowing what was a great trip up till then.   JohnEB

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John...so you guys went to Molde. We went to Kristiansund. Sorry to hear your wife felt so sick - referring to getting sick on the chopper I presume? To this day, I am astounded that I did not get sick through the entire ordeal - being prone to motion sickness. I guess perhaps the adrenaline rush, etc. pushed any thoughts of how I was feeling (motion-wise) right out of my mind. I didn't even feel sick while getting some video in the Explorer's lounge (well, until it seemed high time to get out of there once things started to get pretty crazy).  My biggest recollection of the helicopter ride was how brutally COLD it was in there. For that matter, it was very cold and windy out on deck 8 waiting to be hoisted off. Until we had everyone loaded in the chopper, the doors were obviously open and I was in a seat right across from them. We had no coats on, having gone right to muster stations from the theatre when the general alarm sounded. And LOUD from the rotors with the door open. One of the airmen gave me a pair of ear plugs. I'll never forget the site of some guy being pulled up into the chopper and he was only wearing a bathrobe and slippers!!! My gosh....such a time it was. Getting to the hotel and then having dinner later that night was like manna from heaven. I think we must have been among some of the first to get off the ship - and were amazed to see people still arriving the next morning while we were having breakfast. 

 

You're right though...I thought after I posted that I really was a bit overly dispiriting in some of my comments. The trip truly WAS outstanding up until the 23rd. Looking back at my pictures...wow....the scenery, excursions, crossing the circle, etc. were all fantastic. I DO want to go back to Norway again sometime - but in warmer weather to see some of the fjords. That Sky trip was the only time we've ever been to Norway. 

Edited by OnTheJourney
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24 minutes ago, The Other Tom said:

Yeah, I hadn't thought about that.  So I'll probably just use my phone and not take the "big camera" + tripod.

I used a tripod, A....n basics one very cheap but did the job, I used on line videos to sort out the settings on my camera in advance so that when we got the first sighting from the ship everything was set up and ready to go.

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31 minutes ago, The Other Tom said:

 So I'll probably just use my phone

That's all I did. I'm not enough of a photography buff to want to start investing in more expensive equipment. When we went down to Antarctica I swear some pax must have had a separate suitcase just for all their photo gear!  I do, however, enhance all my photos with either the software that came in my macbook ("Photos") or else a really old program called "Nikon Picture Project" which I still have on an iMac. Unquestionably a tripod is the way to go, but I'm just not into it. Amazing seeing all the camera gear that was set up the time we were at Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon NP...people all ready to go before the sun came up. It was awesome being that it snowed the day before. For the aurora, had I not downloaded the northern lights app for the iphone (did that while onboard), I wouldn't have anything - which would be unfortunate. Had high hopes for my video camera but that didn't do anything. 

Edited by OnTheJourney
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6 hours ago, The Other Tom said:

So I'll probably just use my phone and not take the "big camera" + tripod.

I would strongly recommend using a tripod.  As Haworth mentioned, even if it is a basic one.  Travel tripods today have come a long way.   They are light, compact and collapsible.  Even if you plan to use a camera phone, you will find the results much better when on a tripod.  Also, when focusing, do not try to focus on the auroras itself.  Focus on a distant object, since the auroras are usually moving around and will make it difficult to focus.  Good Luck, JohnEB

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14 hours ago, johneb2 said:

Travel tripods today have come a long way.   They are light, compact and collapsible.

 

I'm sure. Certainly the best possible advice, especially given the longer exposure times needed to capture auroras. I might also advise the usefulness of having a phone app that shows the KP index - especially if one is truly interested in chasing after the lights in various parts of the world. Even it not, they are really cool apps to look at!  

 

I probably shouldn't have jumped in too much on this photography aspect of the discussion being that I'm one who - much to some degree of chagrin I suppose - has never been inclined to fiddle with changing settings on a camera. Even on my 'point and shoot' compact, I generally just take everything on auto setting. I've never owned any sort of camera that has detachable lenses and so forth. 

Edited by OnTheJourney
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14 hours ago, johneb2 said:

I would strongly recommend using a tripod.  As Haworth mentioned, even if it is a basic one.  Travel tripods today have come a long way.   They are light, compact and collapsible.  Even if you plan to use a camera phone, you will find the results much better when on a tripod.  Also, when focusing, do not try to focus on the auroras itself.  Focus on a distant object, since the auroras are usually moving around and will make it difficult to focus.  Good Luck, JohnEB

 

I also highly recommend a tripod for evening/night shots with long exposures. For our 1st WC, I purchased one of the collapsible carbon fibre tripods, as it can be carried on the outside of the camera bag.

 

Departing Sydney, we had the VIVID lightshow. With the tripod extended I got some camera shake from the ship's vibration that I hadn't seen on my older and heavier tripod. Mind you my camera is heavy, being a 5D MkIII with power-drive battery grip.

 

Another point with tripods - when using Image Stabalisation lenses, ensure the IS is turned off.

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Another point with tripods - when using Image Stabalisation lenses, ensure the IS is turned off

 

This is true.  It is also called VR (Vibration Reduction) on some cameras.  Also, make sure you have an extra battery or two.  In cold weather, the battery drains much faster than it does at normal temperature.   JohnEB

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On 2/4/2021 at 12:33 PM, OnTheJourney said:

Here's a shot that I would have never expected to get on this or any other cruise, followed by one of my favorites of the Sky during that trip. 

 

 

IMG_1003_original.JPG

IMG_0944_original.JPG

Nice picture, I love the perspective angle & view.

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Thanks John. Did you get up there (to Fjelheisen) by any chance while we were in Tromsø? View from on top was pretty amazing. We walked across the bridge and visited the cathedral. I'm most disappointed that we never made it to Bodø being that we had booked the evening organ concert excursion. Was looking forward to Stavanger also. We had an excursion planned to Pulpit Rock. 

 

Oh well..surely we were ALL looking forward to the rest of the itinerary!  I never once made it to the spa on the ship- planned to go that Saturday afternoon while my wife went to a movie. I did get to the spa, but of course it was closed due to the weather conditions. Sort of funny in retrospect that the staff told me it'll "reopen just as soon as the captain decides conditions have improved". 🤔

 

 We would have gotten home yesterday from London at the conclusion of the Iberian cruise (which, as you know, immediately followed the Chairman's). Maybe in some parallel universe - one where there is no such thing as covid - I was there and had a great time. Nice thought anyway...

Edited by OnTheJourney
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On 2/5/2021 at 11:04 AM, johneb2 said:

In cold weather, the battery drains much faster than it does at normal temperature.

 

I've found that iphones often don't even work in cold weather. Since I was using that to try and get aurora pictures, I kept it in my coat pocket as often as possible. 

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