Photogaboutit

I've only seen the aurora a few times, but I'm pretty obsessed with it. I get alerts on my phone when activity is high and I check multiple websites to get up-to-date information. Even when the aurora is active and visible as far south as Vermont, there are still many factors that determine if we'll see it. Is it cloudy? Is there a moon or other ambient light? How much moisture is in the air? Do I have an unobstructed view to the north? Will it be dark enough? One of the more traditional photos, this is a long exposure with the sony A99 at ISO 6400! You read that right. I actually pulled back the exposure three stops in post processing to get these amazing colors and detail with almost no noise. Goes to show that exposing correctly (ETTR) works better than underexposing at lower a lower iso and increasing the exposure in post-production. This is probably my favorite capture of the night. The trees provide a story, and the green below the stars provides a different l...

I stay awake at nights thinking about shooting the aurora. I'm sure if I lived in Fairbanks, I wouldn't think much of it, but it's rare that an auroral event occurs when it's dark, cloudless, moonless, and a clear northern view. Apparently, a huge display happened yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was happening until the afternoon. The moon was out and was bright, so I just couldn't see it very well and I also think I missed the main event. A northern view from a short way up the old Ascutney ski area. A crescent, but extremely bright moon was still high in the western sky, dimming the effect of the slightly noticeably red aurora on the right. Although the aurora was bright, the moon can easily overpower the amazing display at these relatively lower latitudes. (Mt. Ascutney, VT, St. Patrick's Day, 2013, Sony a77, iso 800, f/2.8, 30sec) That being said, I always love night photography, and I decided an accessible northern view could be eas...