POLAR LIGHTS

Not much else to look at landscape-wise, but some impressive southern lights down here!

The last one is technically a terrible photo, I never realised it was out of focus until I got back, but still love the colours so kept it.

Been to Troms in Norway on numerous occasions (Tromsoe and Alta) but never seen the lights up there annoyingly!
 

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This was taken Mothers Day morning, 2016, I went out to shoot the milky way but the Aurora made an unscheduled appearance so I never shot the milky way that night.
This is off of Muskegon, Mich. Lake Michigan. Funny thing is, I almost went back to bed as the sky was almost overcast with low clouds but they blew out by 3:30 am. Great night!
 

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My first hint the Aurora were there.
My view walking down to the beach, those are the lights of Milwaukee glowing off of the low clouds and Jupiter casting a glow on 2 foot waves on Lake Michigan. I took a series and kept noticing a green glow to the north which I thought was the lights of Whitehall on the low clouds, nope, Northern Lights! And they put on a show.
Ended up being quite a special night, rarely do we get the dark of the moon, clear sky's and on a weekend.
 

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Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
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PatchedUp said:
Not much else to look at landscape-wise, but some impressive southern lights down here!

The last one is technically a terrible photo, I never realised it was out of focus until I got back, but still love the colours so kept it.

Been to Troms in Norway on numerous occasions (Tromsoe and Alta) but never seen the lights up there annoyingly!
Great pictures, but really love the last one.....
 
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Jul 29, 2012
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d4mike said:
My first hint the Aurora were there.
My view walking down to the beach, those are the lights of Milwaukee glowing off of the low clouds and Jupiter casting a glow on 2 foot waves on Lake Michigan. I took a series and kept noticing a green glow to the north which I thought was the lights of Whitehall on the low clouds, nope, Northern Lights! And they put on a show.
Ended up being quite a special night, rarely do we get the dark of the moon, clear sky's and on a weekend.

Awesome. Well done, d4mike.
 
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Jul 29, 2012
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Don Haines said:
We have been very cloudy here lately so the lights have been very hard to spot..... this was about the only half-decent shot I got of them this winter, and it pales compared to the other shots in this thread.....

A road trip to Iceland is needed :)


I really like your picture, Don. Very nicely done. :)
 
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Dec 25, 2015
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Thank you for posting your pictures d4mike and Don! I have missed the polar light-night on Mothers day unfortunately - now I know, how beautiful the lights have been that night!

And Don, when you find the road leading to Iceland just let me know. I would love to get there by road! ;) ;) (without getting wet feet because having drowned the car in the North Sea).
Just kidding! ;D
 
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Don Haines said:
PatchedUp said:
Not much else to look at landscape-wise, but some impressive southern lights down here!

The last one is technically a terrible photo, I never realised it was out of focus until I got back, but still love the colours so kept it.

Been to Troms in Norway on numerous occasions (Tromsoe and Alta) but never seen the lights up there annoyingly!
Great pictures, but really love the last one.....

Thanks Don, much appreciated!
Yours is pretty special too, certainly up there with the best of this thread - but agreed a trip to Iceland should never not be an excuse!
 
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In regard of what is visible to the eye and visible to the camera is depending on the camera+lens choice.
If shot wide open with 24mm 1.4 you get red/yellow northern lights while what you see with your eyes you only see green northern lights. Most of the time. It depends on the intensity of the solar winds :)

Anyway heres an picture from 2013.
 

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Hi !

I got bitten by the bug and got the virus around 2012, when I first saw one mid-september in Iceland, driving back from Jokulsarlon (That's what I call a good day :) ).
I'll spare you the shots taken that night, with the camera (400D + 18-55, crappy first version...) propped up on a "Guide du Routard" on the roof of the 4x4 in the middle of nowhere. They're special to me, but honestly... a bit of an embarrassment. :)

Since then, though, I went back to Iceland once (twice this november) and went to Norway twice and to Svalbard for the total eclipse once (A good day too, total eclipse in the morning, night hike under an aurora and back to the hotel in time to get the aurora when it really got started. :) ).

Anyway, a few less embarrassing shots below. :)

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In the Lofoten Island, near Henningsvaer. My first really bright aurora. This one was really green.

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Just after sunset, you can still see the afterglow in the lower right. Saw the lights when getting out of the restaurant, ran to the car, went looking for something a bit scenic to put in the foreground.... A real scramble.
Good thing that getting something a bit scenic in Iceland is reeeaaal easy. :)

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Same spot, half an hour later. The aurora went a bit berserk and did a 180°. Looks a bit like the Phenix, no ? :)

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Last one. This one was taken from the westen side of Longyearbyen, Svalbard. This was the night after the total eclipse. :)

2 more months and I'll maybe have a few more to contribute. :D I'm getting a bit restless.

Djaaf.
 
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