The Lights

Edited to add:  Everyone thought the last snowfall would melt and fall would return...But winter is here to stay apparently.  The snow didn't melt, temps haven't gone above 2 C in over a week and we got another 4-6 inches this weekend (snow is still falling as I type) with a bigger system predicted late this week.  I scrambled to winterize everything on one nice day last week...my neighbor helping since this caught us all by surprise...and arranged for him to take over feeding earlier than planned so I can take off mid-week hopefully in a weather break (all signs point to one but you never know up here).  So hopefully the next time I post, will be from home.  I know my weather issues are minor compared to what is going on elsewhere...so I hope that everyone reading this is safe...

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I promised to share my progress with shooting northern lights.  I think I've made a ton of progress in 2 areas:

1)  The technique and how to adjust settings to get enough light into the camera but not get star trails (and my photos are now crisper since I figured out one needs to focus during the daylight in preparation!)

2)  Understanding how to adjust based on the lights behavior.  And accepting that there will be times when either I don't have the knowledge to photograph them or they simply aren't behaving in a way that can be easily photographed.  This one...this learning...is pretty fun to do!

The first few shots (the top 4) are from a night when I went out to go to the bathroom at about 2 and saw an amazing display (even with no contacts on!).  While the entire sky (literally) was lit up in lights, they were vague, not very bright, and moving incredibly fast.  I lowered my shutter speed and hiked up my ISO just enough to get some colors but the photos are dark, quite blurry, and really grainy.  Still...I like them. And though I took quite a few shots that night, mostly I just stood and watched...for almost an hour...until they faded away (I paid for that the next day but it was worth it!)

The next set of shots, the lights came out at about 9 and you can see, they were much more distinct and much more brilliant.  Generally they were moving far slower.  That long horizontal band started at the horizon and slowly shifted upwards over about a 20 minute period.  And then it all disappeared and I waited but nothing else happened.  I went inside and just because, I kept looking out to to see if they had come back and the last set of images, all that activity occurred within about a 5 minute period and then they were done.

One of the things that I like about the lights is that normally, when I'm so focused on getting a picture, I tend to forget to just enjoy the moment.  But with the lights, I set the camera up on a tripod, take a few shots to gauge what settings seem to be working the best and then I step back, remote clicker in hand and shoot away.  I look at the shot occasionally to adjust settings as necessary and I'll shift the tripod around depending on where the lights are...but otherwise, I just step back, watch in amazement, and click.  (and freeze my butt off but that comes with the territory).

I haven't even looked through all the shots I took...just grabbed 8-10 that looked pretty good in the thumbnail.  Soon I'll go through and see if there are any more that stand out.  In the meantime, enjoy!

To all my Canadian friends, I hope you are having a great Thanksgiving weekend!  I get 2 thanksgivings this year since I was invited to my neighbors dinner tomorrow assuming I can make it out (temps will drop to single digits the next few nights freezing up the road and so I should be good but never know).

To all my other friends, I hope your weekend was beautiful and relaxing!

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Now playing:  Miles From Nowhere by Cat Stevens


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