Northern Light's ( Aurora Borealis )

[plumie]

I haven't managed to catch them on a cruise, but I did see them on 9/3 and 9/4 while staying on Cleary Summit in Fairbanks.

 

On 9/3:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 9/4:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1153rsmith]

Plumie,

 

Those are great pictures. Do you remember what sort of setup you had on your camera?

[plumie]

1153rsmith:

 

I got lucky getting the photos because I am NOT a photographer. I bought a DSLR ages and ages ago and almost never used it, but brought it along on our trip. I bought the Canon Rebel Xsi on sale probably about 5 years ago and used it a couple times (in auto) taking pics of the dog. So I don't have a fancy camera and don't have any fancy lenses. That said, I had the Canon Rebel, I brought along a tripod (OLD, old tripod), a remote for the shutter and I used the stock 18-55mm lens that came with the camera. I went online and did a bunch of research that just confused me, but I ended up setting the ISO at 800, I set the shutter speed between 20-30 seconds (the first night I only set it at 20, the second night I tried anything between 20-30) and the aperture was set at f/4.5 because that's what the lens allowed.

 

I DID try with my point and shoot as well. I have a Canon powershot sx500 that has semi-manual settings. I set the ISO at 800 again, the focus to infinity and set the shutter speed to 15 seconds. It came out, but the picture is much grainier than the dslr pictures.

 

taken with point and shoot:

 

 

[mapleleaves]

Can someone post some pics? We saw them last week in Talkeetna. They weren't real intense and only the greens, but we saw them! One of the things that made our trip.

 

If you're into photography AND alaska AND the aurora, you'll enjoy Susan Stevenson's blog. She's a blogger and photographer who lives in North Pole, just outside Fairbanks.

 

There are recent photos of the aurora in her blog, some from her own yard! Also you can look thru her Prints for sale to see other photos of locations, activities, scenic drives, wildlife, Denali, etc. Also, look thru her calendar for March each year when she goes to the Ice Sculpting Championships. I think the ice sculpting combined with aurora activity is the only way I could be lured to Alaska in the winter. Enjoy!

http://susanstevenson.com/blog/2014/09/autumn-natures-grand-finale/#more-1146

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

plumie ~ lovely pictures, thanks for sharing! I especially like the one with the Big Dipper to the left of the picture & the light in the house. Can I please use it as my screensaver?

 

mapleleaves ~ thanks for the link. Going to take a look at it now.

 

I did buy some cards & a picture of the lights on my trip to Alaska.

 

~ Jo ~:)

[plumie]

Hi Jo, feel free to use it as your screensaver. Let me know if you would like the original jpeg for a better quality screensaver.

[donaldsc]

. I think the ice sculpting combined with aurora activity is the only way I could be lured to Alaska in the winter. Enjoy!

http://susanstevenson.com/blog/2014/09/autumn-natures-grand-finale/#more-1146

 

I did exactly that. It was a wonderful week with 4 days of moonless nights and great aurora.

 

DON

[Glaciers]

I don't ever remember having the fantastic displays of the lights so early in the season as we have this fall. Even in Anchorage where we compete with the light pollution they've been wonderful.