pontiac1940
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Posts: 6,357
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 23, 2022 18:14:44 GMT
Because of a CME two days ago, aurora have been somewhat active. There was a lot of chatter on the Alberta Aurora Chasers Facebook page last evening, so I stayed up until 2 AM. It helps to be a bit crazy. 🤓😆 Anyway, the aurora was barely visible at 12:15AM, and at 12:30 AM they were good but only for a few minutes. By 12:45 or so they had faded and by the time I went to bed they never returned...other than very faint. These two photos we shot looking north (a good place to see northern lights 🙃) from the parkway at our summer lot. They are sized to 4K and sharp when enlarged. The camera can "see" more than our eyes but it was very visible and not a lot different than these photos. This might happen again tonight. Or not.   |
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Post by whippet on Jul 23, 2022 19:45:56 GMT
Awesome, Clive.
What a humbling experience to witness.
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pontiac1940
CE Members
Posts: 6,357
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 23, 2022 19:49:06 GMT
Thank you Margaret.
I will never see enough northern lights. They are fascinating.
Clive
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jim0004
Junior Forum Member
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Post by jim0004 on Jul 23, 2022 20:19:32 GMT
The English language has no words that adequately describe the beauty that you captured.
Thank you, Clive, for sharing with us.
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Aurora
Jul 23, 2022 23:52:20 GMT
Post by hmca on Jul 23, 2022 23:52:20 GMT
Agree with Jim and Margaret.....can't imagine seeing this....wonderful that you know what you need to do as far as camera settings/processing to be able to capture and share these as well.
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Post by blackmutt on Jul 24, 2022 0:17:45 GMT
Wow!
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Post by cats4jan on Jul 24, 2022 2:10:17 GMT
Another WOW
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pontiac1940
CE Members
Posts: 6,357
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 24, 2022 5:29:57 GMT
Thank you all. I love seeing the lights and we are far enough south that we do not see them often. So it is a treat when we do see them. wonderful that you know what you need to do as far as camera settings/processing to be able to capture and share these as well. Helen, thanks, but gosh, they are easy to photograph reasonably well. When I attach my night-sky lens I know how to set the camera so it will likely work well...and settings can be tweaked anyway. My night lens is a prime 24-mm, f1.4. It is sharp to the edges at f1.4 so I often shoot wide open. I start at 3 or 4 seconds and ISO 400 to 1,000...I usually start at 800. The rest is standard stuff: tripod and a 2 or 5-second time delay. Oh and I use "warm fluorescent" WB .. it works out to 3,000 or 4,000°K and almost perfectly emulates reality. (Many shoot AWB and it is horrible to my eye...and I have done that. They are an ugly yellowy color.) BTW, I noticed that these photo both had slight star blur that was not star movement but camera shake. Operator error. Oh well. Processing usually involves lightening as I tend to underexpose as I dread burning the bright aurora regions. Then I usually increase contrast. I do not touch saturation or vibrance. No need. Thanks again, Clive |
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Post by hmca on Jul 24, 2022 18:31:58 GMT
Thanks for the explanation, Clive.
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Post by jackscrap on Jul 26, 2022 2:26:25 GMT
Awesome Clive and thanks for staying up to crazy hour to capture these amazing photos.
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