Have any of you had an luck photographing the northern lights? I would imagine the same principles apply as when shooting star trails, etc at night.
- Derek
Posted by Chuck Peacock on December 14, 2006 at 3:46 PM
Blinkin' clouds - missed the meteor shower last night!
Very likely won't see any Northern lights either.
I'v never seen (or noticed) them in CO but I guess it's possible sometimes.
Posted by Brian Jackson on December 14, 2006 at 4:19 PM
Was going to go up to the high country to watch the meteor show last night too, but saw the clouds roll in along with the high winds and didn't go. I've never seen the Northern lights here and would be intrested if any has.
Brian
Posted by Les Barstow on December 14, 2006 at 4:52 PM
I was so, so disappointed last night knowing I'd miss both the Geminid peak and possibly a Northern Lights display from an X3 storm. Lousy clouds!
Posted by Derek Sedillo on December 14, 2006 at 5:24 PM
I just checked the forecast for tonight which said party cloudy and windy. Hopefully the wind will blow away the majority of the clouds.
For the people who are really into it http://spaceweatherphone.com/ offers space weather phone alerts. So all you have to do is wait for a phone call and hope for clear skies
Of course being in a picturesque location does wonders for composition. I love the shots with trees, lakes, mountains, etc... in the background from here: http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery.html
The lights can sometimes be seen from Colorado depending on the space weather event which occured. Here is one nice picture I found from Colorado. I am sure there are more: http://www.pbase.com/corpuschristi/image/22846603
- Derek
Posted by Momo Vuyisich on December 14, 2006 at 6:11 PM
WOW, that Colorado aurora image is amazing! I am jealous, as I am sure there will be no aurora in New Mexico.
Posted by Stan Rose on December 14, 2006 at 7:22 PM
Looks like there will be at least some break in the clouds tonight--good luck to y'all, ill be working, unfortunately.
Posted by Derek Sedillo on December 15, 2006 at 9:40 AM
Posted by Brent Murphy on December 15, 2006 at 1:32 PM
Holy cow, the stuff on page 2 is nice, from the link above, but you need to make sure you check out page 1 of the Spaceweather aurora shots. Beautiful shots from Iceland.
Posted by Brian Jackson on December 15, 2006 at 2:06 PM
Well, I thought it wouldn't be possible to see the Northern lights this far south, but I was wrong. From Derek's posts on page three there is a image from Goodland, KS about 2 1/2 hours east of here. I would guess that you would have to get several miles outside of any city lights to see them. Good news is that from spaceweather site says there was another release and could hit here tomorrow Dec 16th. Bad news is it might be cloudy. I might have to give it a try.
Brian
Posted by Brent Murphy on December 15, 2006 at 3:54 PM
I've seen them from Moab in the past. So they do get this far south, but it's pretty rare. I wasn't prepared for them while I was out there, so I had no idea how to shoot them. Most of my results were a disaster. But one looked ok. The problem was, I was out there to shoot star trails, not auroras, so most of my shots weren't exposed to capture auroras. But my star trails shot looks like a normal star trail photo, with a red filter over the lens. Very unusual.
Posted by Derek Sedillo on December 15, 2006 at 10:15 PM
Good point about the star trails Brent. Most of the shots on spaceweather.com show images taken at higher ISOs and shorter exposures (< 30 seconds). The best ones seem to have little to no star trails like this one: http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2006/08dec06/Sarkela1.jpg
It seems like a wider bright prime would be very helpfull as well.
Brian is right about northern lights being visible this far south. I talked with a weather scientist today who works in our space weather group. He said that the Front Range has way too much light polution to see Auroral events. But if one drives either into the high country or to less populated regions out east the skies become much much better for viewing these types of things.
This means I'll have to do a field trip next time the Auroral Alerts are high.
As a side note I also found out that the Northern Lights are most prominent during the fall and spring seasons.
Posted by Stan Rose on December 15, 2006 at 11:25 PM
Derek, never say never. The only decent Aurora ive seen was from downtown Seattle, despite all the light pollution. It was spectacular. Just depends on how strong the event is.
I got a heads up from Goodland last night, and took a couple photos of what may have been the aurora last night, but it was pretty dim and obscured by Springs light pollution--if anything turns out ill post it.
Posted by Derek Sedillo on December 16, 2006 at 9:34 AM
Wow,
That is an awesome shot Darren
The photographer, Joe McCabe joked about being crazy enough to drive around Alaska in the middle of no where at night. But it looks like his efforts really paid off!
I took note of his settings: 30s f/2.8 at 20.0mm iso400 on a FF 5D. At these settings star trails are minimized while the sky is nicely lit.
There are some really killer shots form Nebraska on these pages as well. This may be worth a field trip next time we get siginificant actvity.
I am already visualizing several compositions.
1. A frozen lake and mountain backdrop in the Rockies.
2. A windmill on a farm in the middle of no where (i.e. - Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, you name it).
3. A distinctive tree.
So how about it??? Is anybody up for a possible field trip with the next significant solar events. These things can be pretty preditable thru just checking spaceweather.com. If so shoot me an email or just let me know here. I know a lot depends on work schedules, family, etc... But for the chance to catch some killer Northern Light shots I am willing to miss a little sleep and possibly half day off work.
Discussion
14 repliesI have never tried shooting Northern Lights. But they make a great subject. Check out the details here:
http://www.spaceweather.com
Awesome photos here:
http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01dec06.htm
Have any of you had an luck photographing the northern lights? I would imagine the same principles apply as when shooting star trails, etc at night.
- Derek
Very likely won't see any Northern lights either.
I'v never seen (or noticed) them in CO but I guess it's possible sometimes.
Brian
For the people who are really into it http://spaceweatherphone.com/ offers space weather phone alerts. So all you have to do is wait for a phone call and hope for clear skies
Of course being in a picturesque location does wonders for composition. I love the shots with trees, lakes, mountains, etc... in the background from here: http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery.html
The lights can sometimes be seen from Colorado depending on the space weather event which occured. Here is one nice picture I found from Colorado. I am sure there are more:
http://www.pbase.com/corpuschristi/image/22846603
- Derek
I couldn't see anything from The Springs last night. But there are great photos from from many other parts of the the states. Check these photos out:
http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01dec06_page2.htm
I guess proximity does really help. While there were reports of sightings as far south as Arizona, I really like the shots from Wisconsin.
Here is another thread from dpreview with some nice photos from last night:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1031&message=21184287&q=aurora&qf=m
Brian
http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2006/08dec06/Sarkela1.jpg
It seems like a wider bright prime would be very helpfull as well.
Brian is right about northern lights being visible this far south. I talked with a weather scientist today who works in our space weather group. He said that the Front Range has way too much light polution to see Auroral events. But if one drives either into the high country or to less populated regions out east the skies become much much better for viewing these types of things.
This means I'll have to do a field trip next time the Auroral Alerts are high.
As a side note I also found out that the Northern Lights are most prominent during the fall and spring seasons.
I got a heads up from Goodland last night, and took a couple photos of what may have been the aurora last night, but it was pretty dim and obscured by Springs light pollution--if anything turns out ill post it.
That is an awesome shot Darren
The photographer, Joe McCabe joked about being crazy enough to drive around Alaska in the middle of no where at night. But it looks like his efforts really paid off!
I took note of his settings: 30s f/2.8 at 20.0mm iso400 on a FF 5D. At these settings star trails are minimized while the sky is nicely lit.
Since I don't currently have a wide prime I was happy to find this nice image at: 1dsm2, 17-40 at 17, f/4, about 20 sec, iso 400
http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=86786&highlight=aurora
The Proof is in!!!
Here are photos of Boulder under Northern Lights shot this Thursday night 12.14.2006:
http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01dec06_page5.htm
There are some really killer shots form Nebraska on these pages as well. This may be worth a field trip next time we get siginificant actvity.
I am already visualizing several compositions.
1. A frozen lake and mountain backdrop in the Rockies.
2. A windmill on a farm in the middle of no where (i.e. - Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, you name it).
3. A distinctive tree.
This Nebraska lake shot is especially effective:
http://spaceweather.com/aurora/images2006/14dec06c/Hollingshead2.jpg
Also this simple tree adds to an awesome sky:
http://spaceweather.com/aurora/images2006/14dec06/Ojeda1.jpg
So how about it??? Is anybody up for a possible field trip with the next significant solar events. These things can be pretty preditable thru just checking spaceweather.com. If so shoot me an email or just let me know here. I know a lot depends on work schedules, family, etc... But for the chance to catch some killer Northern Light shots I am willing to miss a little sleep and possibly half day off work.