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Congratulations! This is the Image of the Week selection for the Landscapes Gallery, week ending 30th November, 2012! Hi all,

From my office in Yunnan looking across at our 5500m mountain out back, Iceland suddenly feels a long time ago. I travelled on my own, occasionally meeting up with others, but mostly relishing time by myself to reflect, learn, experiment and generally have a good old time. I slept in the back of the 4x4 for 5 weeks, allowing me to "be" where I wanted to "be" in the dead of night - my favorite time for making images.

I was very fortunate with plenty of aurora while I was there, and this was another shot I had visualized even before I had left China.

I decided on Black and White as I find myself getting a little tired of classic color shots of the northern lights. Rarely do the images accurately capture the colors of emotions of the event. Also, this is a busy composition, and by stripping the garish palette away, I feel I have been able to present a more elegant and coherent composition.

I have also added a free 13 page Sample of my eBook - Seeing the Unseen - How to Photograph Landscapes at Night.

D800E 14-24/2.8

A very surreal scene! I love the B&W treatment! A dreamy shot! I would love to see the color version, as well.

SFJ

I think that this may be the first B&W aurora image I have seen!
By pushing the boundaries to find new ways to present, you have produced a magical scene here Alister.
I love how the water is balanced by the aurora....love it!

This is simply amazing. Well, actually I guess not so simple. Great idea to put in BW. Gives it an otherworldly feel. Stunning shot!

Um, I absolutely love this photo! Terrific comp, balance of elements and tones as well as a great use of B&W for a different kind of aurora-scape. I've played around with B&W aurora treatments but have had no real success. I'm very impressed and very inspired.

Cheers!

You have here another master class image, love it the B&W processed. Un abrazo amigo

Just an absolutely stunning image Alister! The B/W treatment works so incredibly well and is a very nice change. There are so many great elements in the composition that come together in harmony, well done!

Absolutely magical. I feel in love with this the moment I saw the thumbnail on Flickr.

I like the darkness of this. It adds some mystery and totally works with this image. The brighter areas are balanced well throughout the composition and help this flow and prevent it from being too dark. Well done Alister!

A stunning image! With all the recent images from Iceland, I'd say it's now at the top of my list.

Mark

Brilliant, and nice conversion. I too, would like to see the color version ( I like eye candy as much as the next guy). Just a thought, you might consider a selective coloring of the auroa, it would emphasize that they're not just clouds. I like how there is detail seen throughout.

This is so cool. It's the foreground - or the land based part of this image that makes it great.

A whole new take on Aurora Borealis - very otherworldly. Foreboding actually.

A bold concept that works very well - completely out of the box.

Glenn

exceptional image, alister! sweet comp and light! i've seen hundreds of images of kirkjufell and the waterfall (all of which basically looking the same - mine too ), but this is one of a few including the aurora borealis. you chose to take it even one step further and went the b&w route - a very good choice!!

cheers,
joerg

joergbonner wrote:exceptional image, alister! sweet comp and light! i've seen hundreds of images of kirkjufell and the waterfall (all of which basically looking the same - mine too ), but this is one of a few including the aurora borealis. you chose to take it even one step further and went the b&w route - a very good choice!!

cheers,
joerg

Thanks mate, means a lot coming from you. best wishes.

Space age. I've seen heaps from here some with very good aurora too. Kudos for doing the not so obvious and dispensing with what would seem to be the most appealing factor - colour.

Really outstanding. This image draws me in!
Jon

Really surreal feel in this pic! Excellent composition!

An absolutely wonderful image alister!, as someone who has not even witnessed the aurora before, I would love to see the colour version too......but you've probably heard that boring stuff somewhere before?
Your composition and just shear amount of interesting and balanced things going on here are superb, same for your ideal punchy B/W conversion........WOW!

Congratulations Alister, this image is very very good. Un abrazo