It was an amazing evening here in Alaska. I was outside, setting up another star shot, and taking some test shots (making sure the horizon was straight, the focus was good, etc.) at a high ISO. I noticed a green glow in the test shots, and as I watched the horizon, an aurora blossomed! We’re also in the midst of the Quadrantid meteor shower, so small meteors were flashing all over the sky. It was amazing! I managed to get a few pictures, of course, so here they are.

These first couple are all at ISO 800 for about 15 seconds.

Then, I switched to ISO 200, and locked the shutter open for 10 minutes.

And then again for 20 minutes. I like!

By the time the 20 minute exposure was finished, the aurora had pretty much dissipated, though there is a good chance there will be more tonight. I think I’m going to go to bed, though, since it’s after 2am here, and we have to work tomorrow.

Photography Astrophotography, Aurora

I had just fallen asleep tonight, when my cell phone rang. It also acts as my alarm clock, and my first thought was “Nooooo, it can’t be 6:30 yet! I just closed my eyyyyyyyes!”

Instead, it was Libby telling me to look out the north window. Without my contacts in or glasses on my face, everything is blurry. But what I saw was a bright green sort of blurry. Skippy and I suited up (it’s 13° right now, at 10:50pm), and went outside.

I’ve never seen the northern lights before, so this was an amazing, first-time experience for me.

I managed to capture some of it, as you can see, but a lot is still missing. It was moving very fast, with the fastest bits turning red before disappearing.

About 1/4 of the visible sky was green, though most of it was just hazy. All the action was happening just above the trees.

I had just woken up, was wearing glasses (makes it hard to look through the viewfinder), it was 13°, and I found that the best shutter speed for capturing the action was around 45-55 seconds. My camera’s slowest built-in shutter speed is 30 seconds. I had also left my remote shutter release back in the house. So I got to stand there, holding the shutter button with my exposed hand, counting seconds out loud, while trying not to shake the camera. I think I’m going to have to prep my equipment before going to bed, so I’ll be better prepared next time. But, I think I got some decent shots despite the sub-optimal circumstances. :-)

Home, Photography, The Great Outdoors Alaska, Aurora, Photography