Northern Lights!!

[Blue_In_AK]

I was all ready for bed last night and took one last step out onto our deck to check the weather before turning in. I was amazed to see the northern lights out so bright, they almost made the street lights look dim. There are too many trees, wires, other houses, etc., to get good shots here, so I got dressed real quick, got my gear and headed out to Point Woronzof about a mile from here (along with half of Anchorage, apparently) to get some shots. I had a little problem with ambient light as people kept coming and going in the parking lot with their headlights on (grr), but I'm still pretty pleased with these.

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Note the airplane taking off from the airport which is really close to this spot.
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I could have wished that people's headlights didn't keep lighting up this tree during my long exposures, but I actually kind of like this one.
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[Lisa0825]

1. Beautiful!!! I like the tree being lit up too :-) nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Damn, I am jealous!

Great shots, as always.

You are so lucky!

[Blue_In_AK]

3. The northern lights have been spectacular

over the past year or so after several years of almost nothing. There's a Japanese photographer who comes up here every winter and camps out on one of the glaciers on Mt. McKinley so he can get good aurora shots. A few years ago, he was up there for 2-1/2 months and didn't get a single aurora shot. Of course, they came out bright the day he left the mountain. I'm not quite that die-hard about it (or even remotely), but when they're out right here in the city, I can't pass up the chance to take their picture.

[NV Whino]

4. Wow! Those are terrific, Blue

[Mira]

5. I can't imagine such a spectacle being natural.

I'm glad we are the lucky ones who get to see your presentation of it.

[Celebration]

6. how wonderful!

I'm so glad you checked. These are beautiful.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. The light show last night is definitely the talk of the town today.

I had checked the aurora forecast earlier in the day (as I always do when the weather is clear) but they were predicting "1" or quiet, so everyone was completely taken by surprise when we got one of the best displays so far this season. The last time it was this good was sept. 4, the night of our big wind storm here. I don't think anyone was out taking pictures that night -- too busy dodging falling trees. .

[aquart]

8. Wow.

Happen a lot?

[Blue_In_AK]

9. More and more.

We're at the beginning of an 11-year solar active period, so we've been seeing them much more often than in the past several years. It's highly unusual to see them this bright here in the middle of the city, with all the ambient light, but it was almost as bright as day last night around midnight. It was nice not to have to drive out into the countryside to get some halfway decent shots.

Today it's snowing, so we probably won't see the aurora again for a while.

[a kennedy]

10. These are just awe inspiring......

I have only seen northern lights for real once in my life, in Green Bay Wisconsin, but the "lights" were white not green.

[alfredo]

13. I saw them in Detroit. They were a big red blob. I seem to remember seeing them in Kentucky.

Not sure of the memory, but they can go that far south.

[dotymed]

21. I saw them on the TN/KY border

about 20 years ago. The lights changed from red to blue/green, it was the most spectacular sight that I have witnessed. I have since returned to this area and I hope to see them again although that was a rare happening. lol..I called a local radio station that night and told them I thought I was witnessing a UFO. They informed me of the Northern Lights visible that night...it was tremendous.

[alfredo]

31. Or you had a "contact high" from being downwind from Nashville.

[Delphinus]

11. Beautiful!

Thank you for taking these and sharing!

[alfredo]

12. Beautiful. Please share the settings/equipment used.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Canon 1 Ds Mark III, Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L lens

Manual focus set at infinity, iso 200, 30 second exposure, -0.3 exposure bias (trying to eliminate some of the other light pollution), f/2.8. I think that about covers it. Oh, 25 mm.

Minor tweaking with PaintShop. I try to keep my aurora shots as close to natural as possible, but some people really play around with them and get some pretty spectacular effects. I really like them, but it's just not my style.

The aurora shots I took last march were taken with the 17-40 lens which isn't quite as fast, but it did a great job. I just was in too much of a hurry to get out this particular night to change lenses on the camera.

[alfredo]

15. Thanks. I figured that it wasn't something that took a real long exposure.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. I've seen some nice shots with higher ISO and shorter exposure,

16 seconds or so. I hope we get a lot of displays this year so I can try different combos.

[alfredo]

19. Unless you have a camera good in low light, high ISO

Gets noisy.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. Good to know.

I don't think I'd go much above 400 in any event.

[alfredo]

24. Same here. My Old EPL-1 is notorious for low light noise. I compensate by going

black and white. There's still the noise, but it loses those red and blue artifacts and can be mistaken by casual viewers, for grain.

This was shot at ISO 1250. The artifacts were visible to me and to those dastardly pixel peepers, so I converted and it cleaned up nice (except for the blown focus). Of course you want color in the Aurora, so you can't get away with doing what I did. Your shots were lovely, and the light pollution did not detract at all. In fact the lights gave a sense of scale and became part of the composition.


On edit: The lit tree was a nice touch. Thank the drivers and their headlights for helping you.

[Blue_In_AK]

27. I've done that black and white trick

on some of my night time Iditarod shots. It seems like I always have issues getting clean shots in those low-light motion situations.

[alfredo]

32. Sensors seem to have a hard time making sense of dark.

My next camera will be one that handles low light better.

I'd be happy with the Sony RX1.

[BlueMTexpat]

17. Thanks so much for sharing these.

They are wonderful to see.

[jamesatemple]

18. Oh, my! How I'd love to make just one more trip to see the Northern Lights for myself.

I made the trip a long time ago. Spent a bit of time in Fairbanks and accumulated memories that I still treasure. But, my health won't let me make the trip again. Such a desire make me think of something my grandfather often mentioned: As a young man, he and friends journeyed from Texas across the Rocky Mountains to round up wild mustang horses. After returning home, he never failed to make known his desire to "cross the Great Divide" just once more. Well, he crossed another "great divide" at the end of his life without ever crossing mountains again. But...he had his memories.

Heart-felt thanks to you, Blue_In_AK, for making my trip voyeuristically possible through your splendid efforts.

[LittleGirl]

20. I was on a flight to Europe

and saw the northern lights from my seat. Thanks for the photos and sharing!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

23. Beautiful.

[Callalily]

25. These are simply spectacular Blue!

I have had the honor of seeing the Northern Lights in my neck of the woods, and it is a humbling and awesome event to experience.

[MuseRider]

26. Wonderful photos

Thank you for sharing them. We ocassionally get a tiny glimpse of them here but I have never seen them. We have considered a trip to Cheno (?) Springs sometime just to see them.

[Blue_In_AK]

28. Chena Hot Springs?

Wonderful place. The owner of the lodge up there has done some remarkable green energy projects.

[Arctic Dave]

29. Great pics Blue!

It has been clouded over up here. I come home tonight so hopefully they are still out.

[irisblue]

30. last picture is amazing!

Do you know the name of the bright star/planet in the 3rd picture in the center? I saw the northern lights as a kid, and can still remember the thrill. thanks for sharing these

[Tigress DEM]

33. 3rd one looks like a face. You should submit to Cloud Appreciation Society.

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/



I started going there to find sunrise/sunset pictures and I keep going back.







Your pics are particularly awesome because of the stars in the background.

[dixiegrrrrl]

34. Bless you for going the extra mile, so to speak

so we could see the fabled Northern Lights.
I really like that last shot specially.