Aurora at Chena
So we booked a trip to Fairbanks Alaska really for one purpose, the Northern Lights. All the tourist info said if you go for three nights you have a 90% chance of seeing the lights. So we booked 4 days. But there are some things you just cannot control. We got there and the KP was only 2, and the sky was very overcast, in fact, it was snowing good and hard most of the time we were there. We tried not to be sullen, or downtrodden. In fact, I think we did a good job filling the days with other fun things to do. You have seen some of that in my other postings.
One such outing was the Chena Hot Springs. We soaked, we had fun. As we were leaving, the sky's opened up just a little and we could see stars. We could see no green, but I thought, heck, let me get out the camera and see if maybe the sensor could see green. I turned on the rear display and there it was, some green. Oh man. Frenzy. Get the tripods, get our coats, get the gloves (it was 18 degrees). We start to scramble. Very three stooges I must say. We know this will not last.
I am not trying to discount the image, but we had no control over where we were. I had 7 great locations scouted out with killer foregrounds, but when the sky won't play, you can't control where you are. So here we are in the parking lot of the Hot Springs. We tried to make the best of it. We ended up with about 45 minutes of clear sky the whole time we were there. The Aurora was not doing anything fun, no ribbons, no various colors, no dancing of any kind. We did try to control the foreground by driving down the road a bit, after the panic in the parking lot. We did grab a few more frames down the road, but the Aurora was stronger here.
I joked with Hilton Chen one time- we agreed that anytime you put blood, sweat and tears into an image, even if its a bit of a dog you are going to share it. So this image is not one of the great Aurora images on the Web. Maybe next time. But it is one I feel I earned, so here it is. Enjoy it darn you, enjoy it.
Aurora at Chena
So we booked a trip to Fairbanks Alaska really for one purpose, the Northern Lights. All the tourist info said if you go for three nights you have a 90% chance of seeing the lights. So we booked 4 days. But there are some things you just cannot control. We got there and the KP was only 2, and the sky was very overcast, in fact, it was snowing good and hard most of the time we were there. We tried not to be sullen, or downtrodden. In fact, I think we did a good job filling the days with other fun things to do. You have seen some of that in my other postings.
One such outing was the Chena Hot Springs. We soaked, we had fun. As we were leaving, the sky's opened up just a little and we could see stars. We could see no green, but I thought, heck, let me get out the camera and see if maybe the sensor could see green. I turned on the rear display and there it was, some green. Oh man. Frenzy. Get the tripods, get our coats, get the gloves (it was 18 degrees). We start to scramble. Very three stooges I must say. We know this will not last.
I am not trying to discount the image, but we had no control over where we were. I had 7 great locations scouted out with killer foregrounds, but when the sky won't play, you can't control where you are. So here we are in the parking lot of the Hot Springs. We tried to make the best of it. We ended up with about 45 minutes of clear sky the whole time we were there. The Aurora was not doing anything fun, no ribbons, no various colors, no dancing of any kind. We did try to control the foreground by driving down the road a bit, after the panic in the parking lot. We did grab a few more frames down the road, but the Aurora was stronger here.
I joked with Hilton Chen one time- we agreed that anytime you put blood, sweat and tears into an image, even if its a bit of a dog you are going to share it. So this image is not one of the great Aurora images on the Web. Maybe next time. But it is one I feel I earned, so here it is. Enjoy it darn you, enjoy it.