My first Aurora

CaveDweller

CaveDweller

Messages
1,946
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
I've been a bit hesitant about putting these up given the amount of better night shots on here from people with more know how, but oh well, here's mine lol. I caught these completely by chance. I was originally wanting a shot of the mist after a few hours shooting star trails in the opposite direction, then when I went back to the camera there were all these colours...doh!

Pretty pleased for my first try at the aurora and when I realised what was happening I got all giddy like a school girl at a Justin Bieber concert :rolleyes: Wish I had shot at a lower ISO though because I had my 550D cranked to 3200 for star trails and I got distracted by the aurora going on. I tried to do a bit of noise reduction in LR, but my skills are lacking in processing department and it was making the whole lot look really soft. You can see my earlier edits of the same images in my Flickr somewhere.

I also tried a pano of the milky way and the aurora, but by that time they started to fade (bottom picture). It was 6 shots then stitched together in PS CS6.

Exif is all on the picture of you click on it onto my flickr. All shot with 550D and kit 18-55 lens.

Any tips or advice for my next opportunity would be much appreciated (y) I wanted a bit more foreground interest but I had to shoot literally outside my front door, and with my house being on a big bank and no moonlight I found it quite hard.

IMG_4632 by Peanut651, on Flickr

IMG_4638 by Peanut651, on Flickr

Untitled_Panorama1 by Peanut651, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Very nicely done, very good reason for you to feel please with those, they are quite excellent!
 
Thanks both, much appreciated.

Sorry Welshnoob, I live around the Cairngorms in Scotland, just outside Aviemore.
 
I'm impressed by the 550D at 3200iso with kit lens! I usually don't go that high with my 70D... maybe I should.

You have some pretty good results there. I like the first one, the tree silhouette framing the view is adding interest to the view and even the light pollution seems to highlight the mountain range! Pretty cool, I'm jealous, I was too tired to go out last night and decided to stay home. It sounded like the aurora have been on till 4 in the morning! And the moonless sky is a must have to enhance the visibility of the northern light.

CaveDweller said:
Wish I had shot at a lower ISO though because I had my 550D cranked to 3200 for star trails and I got distracted by the aurora going on.
Click to expand...

Just a remark but I'm not sure that I follow your reasoning here. In my opinion when shooting northern light, you are looking to use high iso to make sure that the stars are static and keeping the shutter speed fast enough. If you shoot start trail you can bring your iso down and use a longer exposure because add the end even if you are stacking a pile of frame you are looking for stars moving so the fast shutter speed isn't a worry.
 
Nice work - because of your superb location can I suggest that you pre-locate some interesting dark sites in advance for when an aurora kicks off next time. Your images will be stronger if you have a great foreground to set it off against.
A ruined castle, a snow coverd mountain, a super looking dead tree etc. If you have time, look at some of my aurora work on here :-
https://500px.com/imagesinspiredbynature
Best wishes
James
 
I am far from being an expert at night shots but I must say I think you have done really well here. Cracking colours and well composed.
 
Lemaildetom said:
I'm impressed by the 550D at 3200iso with kit lens! I usually don't go that high with my 70D... maybe I should.

You have some pretty good results there. I like the first one, the tree silhouette framing the view is adding interest to the view and even the light pollution seems to highlight the mountain range! Pretty cool, I'm jealous, I was too tired to go out last night and decided to stay home. It sounded like the aurora have been on till 4 in the morning! And the moonless sky is a must have to enhance the visibility of the northern light.



Just a remark but I'm not sure that I follow your reasoning here. In my opinion when shooting northern light, you are looking to use high iso to make sure that the stars are static and keeping the shutter speed fast enough. If you shoot start trail you can bring your iso down and use a longer exposure because add the end even if you are stacking a pile of frame you are looking for stars moving so the fast shutter speed isn't a worry.
Click to expand...

Cheers. The 18-55 kit lens is the only one I haven't replaced yet. Looking to upgrade soon though.

I would have shot around ISO 800 or 1600 for a little less noise. I was already shooting at 25 seconds with 3200 but I took other shots at ISO 800 with 25 seconds and they were still well exposed. Sadly though by the time I adjusted my settings the Aurora had nearly completely gone.

Normally when I shoot at night I don;t worry about exposure times, I concentrate on ISO depending how many stars I want to pick up. I was shooting star trails just before the Aurora at ISO3200 and 25seconds. With stacking images it reduces the noise so I didn;t mind shooting star trails at a high ISO, but when it comes to single exposures the I like to stick fairly low. I just forgot to adjust it all because I was too excited about the aurora lol

Sorry if that doesn't make sense, finding it hard to explain my reasoning.
 
jbw said:
Nice work - because of your superb location can I suggest that you pre-locate some interesting dark sites in advance for when an aurora kicks off next time. Your images will be stronger if you have a great foreground to set it off against.
A ruined castle, a snow coverd mountain, a super looking dead tree etc. If you have time, look at some of my aurora work on here :-
https://500px.com/imagesinspiredbynature
Best wishes
James
Click to expand...
Cheers, I've seen your work before and amazed by it lol. Won't stop me having a peak now though(y)

I would have gone else where. There's a lot of ruins, lochs (lakes) mountains and very nice trees around where I live, but I had two poorly kids asleep on the sofa so I had to literally just stand on my front door and shoot away so I could watch them at the same time:D
 
Ok - we all have problems like those - and family must come first before photography. If you have a clear night & your kids are well then try getting some shote of Comet Lovejoy.
James
 
CaveDweller said:
With stacking images it reduces the noise so I didn;t mind shooting star trails at a high ISO, but when it comes to single exposures the I like to stick fairly low.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean. I got a remote for Christmas so i'll try this fairly soon I would expect!
 
I've been waiting for an available clear night since reading about Love Joy. Really want to capture it but not looking too clear tonight.
 
Already told you how much I like these on facebook but it doesn't hurt to say it here not, cannot wait to get my first shot at the AB not that I know when that will be just yet, but really pleased for you to be able to get this
 
MWHCVT said:
Already told you how much I like these on facebook but it doesn't hurt to say it here not, cannot wait to get my first shot at the AB not that I know when that will be just yet, but really pleased for you to be able to get this
Click to expand...
Cheers Matt, you know first hand how giddy I got that night lol. there's aurora flights that take people to about 61 degrees north to see the aurora, but still nothing like seeing it from the ground and not sure where they fly from. Can imagine it would cost a fair amount too.
 
Check out aurora hunters of the book of face. Some handy info there and people in the know how.
 
CaveDweller said:
Cheers Matt, you know first hand how giddy I got that night lol. there's aurora flights that take people to about 61 degrees north to see the aurora, but still nothing like seeing it from the ground and not sure where they fly from. Can imagine it would cost a fair amount too.
Click to expand...

That I do buddy, not that I can blame you, I was tracking one of the aurora flights there other night, On the radar app I use, I did have link to the website, but from memory they fly from all over the UK the one I tracked was a BA charter out of Glasgow

CaveDweller said:
Check out aurora hunters of the book of face. Some handy info there and people in the know how.
Click to expand...

I seem to remember requesting to join that group but don't remember truth be told will have another look
 
Would be interesting to see from the air, but not seen many amazing shots taken from a plane because of the movement and restricted space. Would imagine it's quite hard.
 
People obsess with chasing the aurora and you got it by accident :)

They look pretty good to me. Much better than my planned aurora shots.
 
Look at those colours! #1 is my choice due to the framing with the trees either side. I'm going to Orkney late May early June which I believe is a good place to view aurora but probably not at that time of year.
 
Cheers all (y) much appreciated. I've gotten a few more shots since, but nothing like Christmas night and hardly noticeable even on camera.

Julie1979 said:
People obsess with chasing the aurora and you got it by accident :)

They look pretty good to me. Much better than my planned aurora shots.
Click to expand...

I must admit after catching it by accident I've caught the aurora bug as well. It must be visible around my area more than I realize because I didn't see it by the naked eye that night, so it could be happening more times than I notice. We don;t get the best of detail like when you're up in Iceland and right underneath the aurora, but it's still a lovely site.

I'm keeping a close eye on all sorts of aurora forecasts/FB pages in case I have to rush out again one night. I have a few nice locations planned, just have to wait for the right time and weather. Up the Cairngorms is one of the locations on my list because of the scenery from the car park. On a clear day you can see right across to Inverness and Chanonry Point where the dolphins are. That's a good 40miles away so if the aurora is putting on a good show then that location will be a cracker and it's only a short drive from my house.

Dave in Pendle said:
Look at those colours! #1 is my choice due to the framing with the trees either side. I'm going to Orkney late May early June which I believe is a good place to view aurora but probably not at that time of year.
Click to expand...

You might get a chance to see it. Last year there was a great display late February/early March and it was even visible from some parts of England. Orkney is a great location for it and the next best (as part of the UK) is Shetland. After that and you have to go abroad. Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway,etc...basically country higher up north lol. Wishing you luck!
 
Excellent set of images I would be more than chuffed with those.:)
 
Cheers. Not had any sightings since, and when there has been some action going on I've had cloud cover. Typical, but that's the way it goes lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top