Elliot Simpson (@ElliotJSimpson) is a photographer who predominantly focuses on outdoor adventure and lifestyle. He loves to explore what nature has to offer and inspire people to get there for themselves. We recently came across Simpson’s Instagram account and were immediately inspired by his stunning imagery. We chatted with Simpson to learn the story behind this eye-catching image he made with his Sony Alpha 7 III and Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master.
See how this photographer got the image that mattered most after the aurora faded behind an incoming fog bank.
Photo by Elliot Simpson. Sony Alpha 7 III. Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master. 15-secs., f/2.8, ISO 6400
The Scene
Simpson and his colleagues were in Iceland photographing a client shot on a beautiful beach. They were there to photograph the aurora and stars and had arrived at the location at 4:30 in the morning. After finishing up the client project, the fog rolled in. Simpson couldn’t resist staying a bit longer and making some images for himself.
Recently, Simpson has been enjoying photographing backlit subjects and he knew that was his vision for this shot. He had the picture he wanted to make in his mind’s eye of a backlit subject under the atmospheric fog rolling in with glimpses of the stars. He told us, “we were very lucky that there was indeed some sea fog that morning.”
The Gear
"The gear I used for this was my Sony Alpha 7 III with the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master. The wide angle and fast aperture helped me capture the surrounding landscape without being too far away from my subject. The relatively fast aperture allowed me to shoot in the darkness without inviting too much noise from high ISOs in the image."
Getting The Shot: Testing The Light
"For this shot I used a tripod for the camera and a tripod with a small LED panel to light up my subject. I tried various levels of intensity with the LED panel to make an even exposure. My settings were 16mm at f/2.8, 15 seconds exposure, ISO 6400 and this image was shot in a single frame."
The Edit
"To edit this photo I used Lightroom initially and then cleaned up some pieces afterwards using Photoshop."
See more of Simpson’s work on Instagram @ElliotJSimpson.
