Aurora!

[IPT]

Well, finally! After an eternity (okay, really about two years) we had a pretty good Auroral display. (bling), yes, that is the brightness from the smile on my face. Though activity has been on the rise for over a year we have either have had bad luck regarding the timing (during daylight hours) or have been clouded in during the outbursts (I've seen some amazing images from Norway though).

It is hard to explain the feelings and awe of seeing a good display. Though this was not a top 10 viewing for me it was still the first time I have seen the Aurora top the mtns here in probably over two years. That's a long time to wait! Sadly I was ill prepared, my headlamp MIA. We arrived just as the substorm was starting to peak and there I was on a moonless night floundering in the darkness trying to swap out a lens and manually focus as the sky was rippling with piano like keys of green and magenta. Ah, well, so it goes. I still managed a few decent images and all in all it was pretty exciting. Just as exciting was that when I got home I could still it, from my bedroom window .

 

[Recty]

Very nice. I just got back into Alaska myself, landed at 6:45am. Maybe one of those specks you think are stars are actually my plane coming over

So you speak of manual focusing... I've never actually tried to photograph aurora. It seems to me like pretty much focusing on infinity would be good enough? Or do you have to step back just a little bit? If you focus on a star and get it crisp, will that make the aurora crisp or is that focused too far back?

 

[t5Nitro]

That's incredible. I've only witnessed that once and it was minuscule in comparison to yours.

Great pics.

 

[IPT]

T5 - yeah, this was a decent display. The first time I saw them it was "just" an arc and that rocked my world. I've seen them lots now, spent many a cold night sleeping in the back of my truck waiting for them and it is nice when it rocks like this.

Recty - where are the pics man? Hawaii baby, HaWaiI!! Yeah, infinity. Really depends on your lens. I've had some that were soft when I just went the infinty route. If I have the moon or something I'll focus that way sometimes. Usually I'm shooting wide angle so the stars are mere specs and even the 1Ds can't grab them to focus.

 

[Recty]

I just landed this morning from Hawaii and then went to work 45 minutes later for 8 hours, so I havent even gotten to look at my pictures yet.

I actually didnt take that many, but I think I got some decent ones.

 

[xtm]

Amazing, Louis. I'm jealous that you get to see that right in your backyard.

 

[DEEC77]

Beautiful!!!!!:eek2:

~Dee~

 

[IPT]

Dee - thanks.

Xtm- thanks, yes, very lucky. The view from my yard is not as spectacular but it is cool none the less. Plus I am not far from the mtns so if I see activity it's only a hop and skip away! When iw as lookign at houses I turned one down because there was a street light nearby. The sellers realtor thought I was nuts, but my realtor knew I was into photography and understood it. Light polution is the worst, and I grew up in NY so I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my dark stary nights up here!

Recty - well, lets get some of those images processed and posted! Funny though that when I went I didn't take all that many images either. Did you do the road to Hana? What did you think?

 

[Recty]

No road to Hana, unfortunately. It just didnt work out, we were too busy laying on the beach

 

[IPT]

you know what, you didn't miss that much. We wish we had spent more time laying on the beach and less going all over the place!

 

[Flems]

Great shots. We were supposed to be able to see them down here in Ontario this year, RIGHT when I was on my camping trip too. I had the nice scenery and everything all lined up and ready for the shots. Didnt see a darned thing the whole night. Check my phone the next day and they saw them in Toronto but I got nothing, 6 hrs north?! I was a little ticked, but we're approaching a peak so Im sure I'll see them again soon!

 

[IPT]

yeah, there have been TONS of nights here where the activity here was lame if non existent when only a few hours before it was cranking elsewhere! It kills me when that happens. Then again when you do see it you forget all that and just get swept away in awe....your day will come, activity is on the rise .

 

[snorvich]

I have never seen that in real life, and your pictures of it are awesome. Thanks ever so much for sharing. I cannot imagine what it is like to actually be there!!

 

[samdaman]

Very Beautiful!

 

[IPT]

Snor and Sam, thanks.

Red - Those images and this one were taken with a 1Ds and either a 15mm Sigma lens or a Canon 24mm lens. This one was taken with 15mm for sure. I know that because I took it last night . Ugh, sometimes I wonder about myself. Spent over 2 hours outside last night waiting for what was a lack luster show. Activity was decent actually (as seen below) but only for like 3 or 4 mins! It waxed and waned a few times but never really got ripping. As much as forecasting has improved it still, like the weather has a pretty high error rate. This is mother nature we're talking about . It was cold too, around zero, and that was before windchill . Oh, and did I mention it was windy as Hell?!?! Burr....

 

[Brett9917]

About how long is the average exposure time for any of these shots?
Are we talking like <30 sec, 30sec - 1min, or longer?

 

[BlueCorn]

It's supposed to be good for the next few nights due to a huge flare that happened last night.

 

[BlueCorn]

About how long is the average exposure time for any of these shots?
Are we talking like <30 sec, 30sec - 1min, or longer?

He's pretty wide and the stars are still pretty sharp. It's no longer than 30 seconds.

 

[Rob.P]

wow, just one more huge reason i wanna go to alaska sooooo bad! gorgeous shots

 

[IPT]

Alaska Rocks! YEah, in-coming. I'll tell you that Norway has been getting all the action. By the time that impact rolls in to our atmosphere I fear we will be shrouded in clouds. That's the forecast at least . Seems to be the way it goes lately. Either that or our magnetic field tips the wrong way and buffers it once darkness falls here. I might have to take a drive wayyy North to escape the cloud cover though. Nothing like getting only 3 hours of sleep after being in the freezing cold for hours. When I first moved up here I was much more ambitious about chasing the Aurora. Maybe in the next year or two once we get back to some decent activity I'll get out more.

Yeah, that was my slow lens at F2.8 and ISO 800. I think I was around 20 seconds give or take. I prefer my F 1.4 lens really but for static arcs like this it really doesn't matter. I have lots of shots with my 50mm that show some small star trails if you look for them.