The Scotsman Bulletin Friday October 11 2024 #AuroraBorealis
Scotsman deputy editor Dale Miller is joined by photographer Phil Wilkinson to talk about photographing the Aurora Borealis in Scotland
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00:00Hello and welcome to a special edition of the Scotsman's Daily Video Bulletin for this Friday.
00:06My name's Dale Miller, I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman, and I'm joined by our special guest, photographer Phil Wilkinson.
00:13Phil, welcome. I know it's your first time on here, but look, I was out myself, literally next to my house in Fife, seeing the Northern Lights last night.
00:23It was incredible, got pictures, I saw social media awash with pictures of people.
00:29Across the Central Belt, seeing the Northern Lights in all their glory.
00:34Can you just talk to us about, you do this for a living, what was it like for you going out and shooting some of these things last night?
00:43Yeah, well, as part of the Northern Lights thing that I do, it's just me going out taking pretty pictures, pretty much.
00:54I do it for a job, but it's not my main sort of income, a job, it's just something that I do more as a hobby, and if I make some money off selling some pictures, I do.
01:05Part of it is I have, which many people probably have, is the alert on your phone, which flashes red when there's a chance there's going to be some Northern Light activity.
01:16Usually it lasts probably half an hour, so by the time you've got your kit together, got out of the house, decided where you're going to go, it's probably dropped, and it may come back, but a lot of the time it's just like a one-off chance.
01:30Last night, it started probably about six o'clock as the sun was going down, and it just stayed, and I think it probably stayed all night, the red alert just kept on going.
01:44So I think come about half past seven, I thought, right, okay, let's go and let's have a think, and it's always that point where you try and think, well, where am I going to go?
01:54What can I do that's near enough, and then interesting enough as well, because I feel you've got, you know, you see a lot of pictures that people take on social media, and it's just the sky, which is great, and it's lovely, and it's great to capture,
02:09but you've got to have some sort of context in it, you've got to have a building, or people, or just something that makes it like a normal landscape picture, and the Northern Lights just happened to be there.
02:20So, yeah, I got in the car, and I dragged a pal with me, because I sort of thought I might need a model to be in the picture, and we were driving and deciding where to go, so went down to Jedburgh Abbey, because I wasn't sure if it was going to be too light in the town,
02:36but we went down, found a spot, and did a few pictures, but the street light actually helped, because it lit the abbey up, but it sort of stopped the two colours coming through in the background.
02:49So, back in the car, and deciding where to go again, so we went to Smalham Tower, which is one of my favourite, sorry, am I supposed to be telling you all this? I'm rambling, I'm rambling, but yeah, I forgot what the question was, I'm sorry.
03:08That's alright, you were talking us through your experience. I actually, I think we've got some photos of yours that have been taken across the past week or so, and some of these are extraordinary, just talk us through where you are, where you're, when you're taking them.
03:22So yeah, going back, this was the first place I stopped last night, Jedburgh Abbey. I've never sort of tried to do a Northern Lights picture in a town before, it's always been in the middle of nowhere, where there's no light, no light pollution, if you can help it, so that you're really just trying to get as much of that colour and the stars in.
03:42But I thought I'd give it a go, and I was quite pleased, you know, you can see the colours in the background, and the streetlights have lit the Abbey up nicely, and it's like a 30-second exposure, probably maximum, but between 10 to 30 seconds, depending on where you are and what you are, and that starts bringing out the colours.
04:02So I really just did two or three shots of this, and then again, yeah, we drove on down to Smalham Tower, and it's become quite a popular spot. You get there when there's this red alert, and you see a few cars started about, you see little lights flicking about where people are taking pictures, people with head torches walking about, it's sort of one of those places where people head to, because it is interesting, and it's in the middle of nowhere.
04:28So yeah, again, I just tried to find a spot where I could get a good angle, tried to decide where the light was coming from. This probably wasn't when it was at its best. It was probably about, I think about eight o'clock, half past eight, and it seemed to dim a bit, and we thought that was it.
04:48But yeah, there's still something in there, and if you can tell, there's a wee guy just stood on a rock, and that's my friend who I put there, just because I wanted to just have a bit, something in it, just somebody in it with a wee head torch on, just so it makes it a little bit more interesting than just a building.
05:06So yeah, and then this was really, I'd left Smalem Tower, and then to my annoyance, I had another photographer friend who was there ringing me up going, oh, it's going crazy, it's going crazy, there's streaks everywhere, and I was gutted. I was like, oh damn, I wish I'd stayed, but I knew there was this tree just near where I lived at Blainsley, and I thought, you know, I'll just give it a go, you know, we'll go and have a look.
05:31And yeah, this one is sort of one that I'm really happy with, and again, it was just a sort of 15, 20 second exposure, and that just brings in those colours, and I saw the red, the red was so vivid, I've never seen it like that before.
05:47Even when there was a really strong aurora in May, which was the last sort of time I got some nice pictures, I didn't see the colours like I saw it last night, and that red was really coming through to the naked eye, and then you looked up, and there was streaks of light, and they hit the air, and there's little, you know, little ripples, almost like sort of, I think they're called cirrus clouds in the sky, it looks like, these sort of little ripples of colour.
06:16And yeah, again, you just, you sort of just take a few shots, and the beauty of digital is you can see what you've got straight away, it's not like the days of film when you'd have to worry and think about it, but yeah, I was pleased, I was pleased, and it was nice to see it.
06:35And this one I actually took on Tuesday night at Bowden Lock, which is just, it sort of sits above Melrose in the Borders, and again, the alert was on, and it was about 10 o'clock, and I was sort of probably getting ready to go to bed, and I saw the alert, and I thought, oh, come on, let's go have a look.
06:57So I just drove, and I had this spot in the mind, because it was a really calm night, and I thought there's going to be a reflection, and if it works, it could be really nice.
07:08And I found this little jetty, and you know, you can imagine there's only me there on my own with a camera and a tripod, and again, you've got to put some interest in that, I feel sometimes.
07:20Having the jetty and having the landscape would have been fine, but to have somebody on the jetty just makes it more interesting.
07:27So there was me sitting in the dark for probably about five minutes, taking three or four pictures, trying not to get my feet wet, sort of, and hopefully, and you know, I probably got two that I was happy with, and this was one, well, it appeared in the press on Wednesday, so I was really pleased as front page of a paper.
07:47Yeah, it's good when you see things used in that, but it's just nice. It's just a nice experience a lot of the time, just to be out there.
07:53And when you get out, and you're in a spot where people are, I did this in May, and it was really nice, because I went to Scots View, didn't really expect to see it, but there was probably 30 people there, and it was almost like a little mini, like a little light festival.
08:11People were there, they were excited, they had their phones out, they were taking pictures, and they couldn't believe that they could see the Northern Lights, and it was quite a nice thing to be at and just be part of.
08:19So, it's a growing, I think it's a growing community, and I think that comes with the phones, the phones really sort of get people involved and get people to the point where they can capture pictures themselves easily, pretty much.
08:33So, yeah, yeah, it's a continuing challenge, shall we say, yeah.
08:40Phil, there was some incredible photos there from you.
08:42For mugs like me, we get out the phone, as you say, and I think most people know now you can get better pictures and see better things through the phone.
08:50But just quickly, because I know you've got another job to go to, if you were to give any tips for people trying to get the best photo without giving away all your trade secrets, what would you say to them?
09:03Well, if you've basically got a phone, you know, any phone that's probably been made in the last, I don't know, four or five years will be able to do a pretty good job.
09:17The key thing is to get yourself a little tripod for the phone and a little mount that your tripod could clip into, because, you know, they're getting better and better all the time, and handheld you can get the pictures.
09:32But if you really wanted to get a nice print off your picture, you'll probably struggle sometimes with the phone quality.
09:39But if you've got a tripod, it's keeping everything steady, everything still, and it's capturing as much light as it can without any movement.
09:49So the more the pixels on the chip of your phone are going to collect as much light and get as much detail.
09:57And that's a key thing. And again, if you can on your phone, there is the night mode, I think, on a lot of phones now. Use that.
10:07And then also, if it's possible, and if you can figure it out, use the self-timer as well on the phone.
10:14So you position the picture, you frame it up, you look at what you want to photograph, have it on night mode, and then press the self-timer and then step away and just let the camera do its thing for 30 seconds, perhaps.
10:27And I think you'll find that if you do that, you'll notice less of these sort of vibrant, really vibrant colors, but just more roundness to the image.
10:39I don't really know how the cameras do it on the phone. I don't really understand how they get these lights, but it's amazing that they do.
10:48But if you treat it more like a camera and do a long exposure with a self-timer on a tripod, you should find you'll get some pretty good results.
10:56And that's all I'm doing. It's all I do, just with cameras that are doing the same thing.
11:03It's just everybody's got a camera in their pocket now, so you're able to do it.
11:08It's just having those little extra bits of equipment and taking the time that can make the difference.
11:14Is that okay?
11:17That's brilliant, Phil.
11:18You can see more of Phil's work on his Instagram page.
11:22Please go away and have a look.
11:24And also some pictures from around the country of the aurora at Scotsman.com from overnight.
11:30There is some incredible work captured by just some very ordinary people out there taking some marvelous photos.
11:38And the Northern Lights may return over coming days based on coming forecasts.
11:43So please get out there.
11:45Take the tips from Phil.
11:46Give it a go yourself.
11:47Thanks very much for joining us.