The Arctic Autumn is back again on Senja island in Northern Norway. And it shows! Each year, September marks the beginning of the Arctic Fall. For many locals, this season is like a new beginning. Not that the summer wasn’t full of life and colors either, but the autumn is largely considered as a favorite time to go outdoors. It might seem odd, but as life progressively goes into its wintery sleep, the landscapes come back to life!
First off, the midnight sun disappears and nighttime comes back. Each day, we lose about 10 minutes of sunlight. With these ever shortening days, the night sky becomes darker for longer. All those dim objects like the milky way that were not visible in the bright summer nights become visible again. More importantly for many chasers, the aurora borealis can finally be contemplated again too! Locals are always so happy to see the first aurorae of the season. Nonetheless the Arctic Fall is so particular because of the palette of colors it has to offer. Already starting from the second week of September, the blueberry and Skrubbær shrubs are turning red on the forest floor. At the very same time, Birch and Aspen trees can take on very flashy yellows or oranges, contrasting with the ever-green pine trees. It’s also a time where the highest mountaintops get sprinkled by the first snowflakes. The contrast between the white summits and the colored slopes are extraordinary, almost straight out of a fairy tale. The precipitations usually happen in showers, so in between we get blue sky. The blue and turquoise can also be found in the shallow fjords. Add a rainbow in there and you get the widest range of colors you have ever seen in a landscape!
Fall is also the perfect time to watch the aurora and not freeze your rear off. The mild temperatures of September provide the best aurora reflections in still fresh water lakes, whereas the freezing cold of October brings in lost of opportunities for frost and ice art.
The littery odors, the vivid colors, the bright aurora, the changing contrasts and light make the Arctic Fall the favorite season for many people. That’s what I wanted to depict in this 5 minute long timelapse compilation taken in my ‘spare time’.
All was shot with the Sony a7s, a7rII and the Canon 6D astromodified and a variety of bright lenses ranging from 14mm to 500mm. For motion control I used the Syrp 3-axis Genie I system and also the Vixen Polarie. All post production was made in Lr with the special timelapse plus plugin, Sequence for mac, TLDF, and final production was made in FCPX. I hope you like the movie as much as I liked shooting and processing it and I thank everyone of you for your support. All content is of course copyrighted AMP&F (except sountrack licensed through Epidemic Music), and no footage can be used in any way without the author’s permission. Please contact me for media and purchase inquiry. Please share and comment if you liked the video and follow me for more videos like this one! More at nightlightsfilms.com
