Jun 13
by Alex Conu in Astrophotography, Northern Lights 2 comments tags: astrophotography, aurora borealis, contest, lofoten, northern lights, twan, winner

Winner of The 2016 International Earth & Sky Photo Contest

I am so very stoked to be chosen as the winner of The 2016 International Earth & Sky Photo Contest. My image of the Northern Lights shot last October from the top of Mount Reinebringen, in Lofoten, was selected as the winner in the Against the Lights category and overall contest winner. The image was shot on October the 7th 2015, during one of the most beautiful Aurora displays I have ever witnessed. A big thank you goes to my wife Anca, who joined me for this camping trip up the mountain and who understands all my nocturnal escapades for shooting the night sky. That day, I looked at some satellite data and decided we should go up as something was going to happen. Being an astrophysicist helps a lot when shooting the Northern Lights as it gives you a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and lets you better plan your photo sessions. Went up around 7PM and, as soon as the Sun set, the sky went on fire. Green, purple, pink fire. What an amazing night we had. I started astrophotography a long time ago, when I was 13 years old. Now, I am 32. I’m not doing it for the […]
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Jun 09
by Alex Conu in Astrophotography, Review 0 comments tags: 28, astrophotography, galaxy, magellanic cloud, new zealand, otus, review, zeiss

Shooting the Southern Skies with a Zeiss Otus 28/1.4

I took my first astrophoto around twenty years ago. With a Smena 5 camera and a 40mm f/5.6 lens – a camera not very well suited for astrophotography. Then, things got better. I had a Zenit and a Praktica, but I settled for an Olympus OM-1, probably the best 35mm film camera for astrophotography. My parents bought me a 50mm f/1.4 lens; I was hoping for an f/1.2, but it was too expensive for their budget. I used the OM-1 for many years and I fell in love with it and its range of lenses. Some more years passed, and film cameras were surpassed in performance by digital technology. As, outside my astrophotography, I was shooting with a Canon SLR. it made sense for me to choose Canon DSLR as my main camera. Being a professional photographer, I used almost all top lenses out there, no matter the manufacturer. Of course, I was using the same lenses for my astrophotography. And then, I had a problem. My expensive lenses, which allowed enough detail to print wall sized advertising photos, were not exceptional for astrophotography. What was wrong? When I was shooting wide open (and you need that in astrophotography from […]
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Jun 06
by Alex Conu in sports, trail running 1 comments tags: arctic triple, lofoten ultra trail, running, trail running

The Arctic Triple: Lofoten Ultra-Trail 2016

For the first time in history, a 1oo miles trail-running race took place in Norway. In Lofoten. Enter The Arctic Triple: Lofoten Ultra-Trail 2016. And I was part of the photo team that followed the athletes throughout the competition. This meant 37 hours of hiking, trail-running, driving, on site editing and tons and tons of fun. The race started in the hamlet of Kirkefjorden on the island of Moskenesøya and ended in Svolvær, the capital city of Lofoten. Besides the 100 miles race there were two other races: a 50 miles one with the start in Borg at Lofotr, the Viking Museum and a 24 km race which started at the Barstrand fishery on the island of Gimsøya. The first stop for me was above the beach at Kvalvika, an iconic spot of the Lofoten. After a few runners passed me, I literarily started running downhill, towards Fredvang to be able to get some frames with the view towards Yttresand in the background. Then I continued running until I got to my car. I quickly drove to the famous arched bridges at Fredvang and got there just in time to get some shots of the runners being cheered at by […]
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