Today's Feature Article - Aurora

[Mark D Segal]

Mark -

Congratulations. Spectacular photos; you've really captured this beautifully. The sky goes without saying but I especially appreciated the detail and tonality retained "on earth" and the balance/contrast between the two.

For those who may not appreciate the weather factor, it does take a certain amount of "hardiness" to be out and about in that climate during the night and you were most fortunate with the weather. Apart from the problem of cold batteries, I think keeping ones fingers from freezing while still managing the gear is also challenging and no less important!

[Daianto]

I think keeping ones fingers from freezing while still managing the gear is also challenging and no less important!

As Mark notes, it has been surprisingly warm here this winter with temperatures ranging 10C to 20C above normal. At -45C the trick is to have all your gear assembled prior to shooting. Trying to plug in  a remote switch with with heavy mitts on is next to impossible.  

[dtrayers]

A nice read with lots of tips and great photos.

I would add that you should remove any filters you may have for lens protection.  I shot some auroras once with a UV filter and there were easily seen Newton rings on the image.  I assume this is due to the mostly monochromatic nature of the light from auroras.

[wolfnowl]

I think keeping ones fingers from freezing while still managing the gear is also challenging and no less important!

I find the best way is to have some thin silk or (not as good) cotton gloves worn inside of mitts.  That way if I need to I can remove a mitt for a short period of time without exposing skin to the cold.  If you have 'hot hands' and they tend to sweat, then bring two pairs of gloves.  Keep one set warm while wearing the others and change them every hour or so.  Leave the damp ones outside for a bit and the water will freeze, then whack the glove over your arm and the ice crystals will fly off.  Put the gloves in your pocket.  The same goes for socks.

If you're going to be out in the cold for a long time by yourself, bring a small pocket mirror.  You can't check your own face for evidence of frostbite without it.

Mike.

Great article, BTW!

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Great article and stunning photos!

Eric

[feppe]

Some of the more impressive aurora photos I've seen in the article - almost making even me want to brave the frigid temperatures.

The thing that was a confusing was the mention of audible noise. The main thing I remember about seeing aurora borealis was the distinct silence, facing such a massive phenomenon without any sound whatsoever is an incongruous sensory experience. Does the aurora in Alaska produce sound?

[Daianto]

Some of the more impressive aurora photos I've seen in the article - almost making even me want to brave the frigid temperatures.

You don't need cold to see the Aurora, you need dark. At the latitudes of the Aurora it is too light at night to see them in the summer. Many people come to view them late September early October. April is also quite good, particularly this year as it is so warm. Usually best seen between about 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Where the cold is of help is, as Mark stated, keeping the skies clear. One of the local Yellowknife pros, Dave Brosha, was running Aurora shooting sessions if anybody wanted to learn more about it. http://davebrosha.com/

[feppe]

You don't need cold to see the Aurora, you need dark. At the latitudes of the Aurora it is too light at night to see them in the summer. Many people come to view them late September early October. April is also quite good, particularly this year as it is so warm. Usually best seen between about 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

I'm aware of this, but we get 24 hours of sunlight during the summer so cold is a necessity to see aurora - no causal relationship implied

edit: I'm from Finland.

[Robert Roaldi]

One thing that struck me about the article was when he set photography aside to simply enjoy the spectacle. It was too beautiful not to enjoy it. That's quite a testimonial considering the time and effort required to be there at all.

[BerndMargotte]

Great aurora shots! I travel to northern Europe every winter for two weeks to hope for aurora displays and I know how hard it is to see them. The solar activity is still relatively low but the coming years should be better as the solar activity cycle is increasing again. Mark was also lucky seeing multiple coullours, as most auroras are green, with some rare red and seldom other colours. And yes, temperatures are always a problem; I use external power supplies such as larger external batteries or a AC adapter. For thos who are intertested,  there are some articles on aurora photography found on my page:
http://www.berndmargotte.com/technical_en.html

One issue I would like to add is colour saturation. The light from the aurora is monochromatic and very saturated. It is hard to control the colours and some aurora will get too saturated when adding just some saturation in image processing. If the saturation iss too high, the aurora will not fade into the dark sky anymore but rather have hard corners. Because of the long exposure and the fast moving auroras the picture will also be different in shape from what you see.

[Thomas Achermann]

great article and beautiful pictures!

Since October '09 I live in Finnish Lapland, one of the good locations to experience the aurora.
Besides the two mentioned ingredients, location and timing, a good portion of luck is always good to have
Even though this past aurora season had several very good displays, especially in March and April, we were quite unlucky with the weather here as most of the time when very nice displays were observed in Norway and Sweden, we had cloudy skies  

The toughest parts in photographing the aurora are, in my experience, focusing (it's almost impossible to focus in total darkness...so there's just trial and error), batteries (carry several of them near your body so they will stay warm) and the photographer supporting the cold! Keep that in mind...your equipment can freeze, mostly without being damaged, but make sure you protect yourself from the extreme temperature. One can easily forget about that when enjoying those beautiful displays...

To experience an intense Aurora is nothing short of phenomenal

YES! That is absolutely true!

[feppe]

The toughest parts in photographing the aurora are, in my experience, focusing (it's almost impossible to focus in total darkness...so there's just trial and error)

I don't shoot in total darkness, but shoot quite a bit in low light. Two tips:

• Live View is better at focusing in darkness, either zooming in on the screen and focusing manually, or using contrast detection if there's enough of it
• If that fails, crank up the ISO to max, take a quick shot, check focus on the screen, repeat until you achieve focus. Go back to your preferred ISO and you're good to go