Skipjack Joe
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Northern Lights
Can't add much to Diane's wonderful report on Alaska except that we saw the Northern Lights for the first time in our lives. They are truly
magnificent.
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Skipjack Joe
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The Northern Lights correspond to Baja's sunsets in my mind. A baja sunset one does not easily forget. The same in Alaska above the Arctic Circle.
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Skipjack Joe
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Often they move very fast across the sky, requiring a fairly fast shutter speed.
[Edited on 9-8-2016 by Skipjack Joe]
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Skipjack Joe
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Mostly I shot using the trees as a frame of reference. But in this case I just pointed the camera straight up. I liked the design on this one.
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Skipjack Joe
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These shots were made with the Canon 6D with the lens wide open at F4.0 and an ISO of about 2000. The shutter speed was sometimes less than a second.
If you shoot long exposures the light moves around and looks like a cloud effect. The Northern Lights themselves actually are pretty distinct.
P.S. Through experimentation i also discovered that the images look more like the real thing if you adjust the white balance much cooler than daylight
temperatures in photoshop.
[Edited on 9-8-2016 by Skipjack Joe]
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StuckSucks
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Love the second shot, with the treeline. What a great experience!
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woody with a view
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Nice work!
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David K
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Awesome photos! Where were they taken? The only time I have seen them was while camping in Baja, during a rare... far-south showing... around 1980-81,
I think?
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Skipjack Joe
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These were taken from the Denali Highway, a dirt to road That extends about 100 miles. I also took some along the Dalton highway just south of Prudhoe
Bay. The locals call it 'the Haul Road'.
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David K
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so, all those places are in Alaska, correct? Never been... thanks!
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DianaT
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Oh WOW. Those are gorgeous. We have not been there at the right time. We talk about flying into Whitehorse in the winter to see the lights. Your
photos make me want to go even more.
Akso, I would LOVE to see more of your photos from this trip!
We are driving toward Wisconsin right now to hopefully see different fall colors, eat some great cheese, and enjoy the little beer bars on every
corner. Who knows, maybe we will drive far enough north to get a glimpse of the lights.
Also, thanks for the shooting info. Love those photos.
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AKgringo
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Chena Hot Springs just east of Fairbanks, is a very popular destination for tourists (mostly from Asia) to view the northern lights while soaking in
hot springs. They also build an ice museum as an added attraction.
Manley hot springs, just west of Fairbanks also caters to tourists and locals, but I have not actually used either of the springs, so can't make a
recommendation.
It is a hit or miss kind of thing whether there are great displays, meager, or non at all...but the springs are still hot all the time!
By chance, I have seen some spectacular lights in South Central AK, but you have to be away from the Anchorage city lights to get the best effect.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Skipjack Joe
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Diane,
As you see these pictures were taken in August so you don't have to wait for winter!
I was told that it would start occurring after 8/21 because it never gets dark enough before that. I paid little attention to this advice thinking
that it's rare and what are my chances. One night I got up at 2 to take care of business and the sky was lit up like a blue/green baja sunset. I
hadn't done night photography in 5 years so I scrambled around in the dark putting it all together and trying to remember the settings. I got off 2
shots before it shut down. They come in waves starting at one horizon, passing overhead to the opposite. Sometimes so fast that it looked like one of
those kaleidoscopes you turn by hand. Then it all stopped an I waited in vain.
Several nights later it started again. Another mad scramble as I put my shoes on backwards. But I got smarter with the camera. I underexposed them and
compensated in Photoshop. Another great night with bands of light starting at My Denali. We were socked by rain during the trip so these two clear
nights were a blessing.
They say there are websites and radio programs in Fairbanks that forecast these events and the time they come off.
Most of my images these days are more on the artsy side. Don't know how interested nomads are in that sort of thing. They're not destination or
travelogue images.
[Edited on 9-9-2016 by Skipjack Joe]
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ehall
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Awesome pictures. I got to see them in montana once but they weren't as vivid as your pictures.
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