Matteo Strassera | Italy

1st prize «Landscape» €250 cash 

@matteo_s.photo
www.matteostrassera.com

Celestial Dance

“Being able to capture the dance of the Northern Lights in the darkness of the Canadian skies was one of the most exciting moments of my trip to Banff and Jasper National Parks.
The goal of the night was to just take pictures of the Milky Way. Being August it was an incredible surprise when the sky turned green. What was supposed to be an hour dedicated to star gazing turned into five hours of shooting the Northern Lights.
This shot definitely challenged my photographic skills at the time. It was my first time seeing the Northern Lights and I wasn’t prepared. Also, the incredible strength of the Aurora made it difficult to choose a spot to focus on, as the entire sky glowed green and purple.
I consider this shot to be one of the most successful of the evening because of the wavy shape of the aurora towering over the Canadian peaks and forests.
The photo was taken using a Manfrotto BeFree Advanced tripod, a Canon 6D Mark II and a Samyang 14mm f/2.8 manual focus lens.
Because of the variability in the movement and strength of the Aurora, the evening’s photos had different exposure times, ranging from 4 to 30 seconds. This photo was taken with 30-second exposure, f/4 (not registered due to manual lens) and ISO 200.”