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Archive 2013 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

dswiger
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Shortly after planning my road trip to Fairbanks, AK I realized I was going to arrive at the tail end of the best opportunities for seeing the Northern Lights. So I did a little research and found the suggested locations & venues for viewing, etc. After I picked up the rental care, planned on doing recon on the sights in the daytime, since it was at some distance & remote to where I was staying. Packed the 35/1.4 14/2.8 and figured I would have more than one opportunity since I was staying in the Fairbanks area for 5 days.

Well things change & luck was my best opportunity. The night we arrived at the cabin I was staying at, looked up & saw what looked like a green thin cloud. Then I saw it split...
After unpacking & settling in, turned out the cabin lights & setup at the end of driveway.
Stayed out for about 2 hours, til 1AM. Kept warm but my right had was frozen.
As it turned out, this was it.

The remaining nights were either no-go for atmospheric electrics or no-go for weather.
If I hadn't looked up when we arrived, I would have been skunked for the trip.

My BIL/SIL had come up the week before and went on a photo workshop,
stayed in Chena Hot Springs, etc. The did get skunked except for seeing a single display.

What I have here is a sample of what I captured. As you can see from the perspective/distortion, mostly straight up. This was a necessity with the trees and power lines. In this situation, the 35 was just a little too tight. The 14 was great except for gathering everything... I need to do some noise reduction on the 1st two, but Noise Ninja doesn't work with CS6, any suggestions? In full disclosure, I did clone out some power lines in a couple of these.

I would have preferred a venue with something else in the frame, a pond for reflection. But I'll take this these for the memories.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8117/8619949510_66cf299cb4_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8394/8619949928_71244ffcbf_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8239/8618846341_cfaa0f2bd7_b.jpg

C&C
Thanks
Dan

Apr 04, 2013 at 01:33 PM

helenica
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

I'm aurora green with jealousy! The third is my favourite.

Apr 04, 2013 at 02:03 PM

JimFox
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Hey Dan,

That is so cool that you got some aurora shots! Hard to pick favorites, maybe #3. As for noise reduction software, I stopped using Noise Ninja years ago, to me Noiseware is way way way better. The controls on it for one thing make much more sense than with Noise Ninja, and I think it actually does a better job.

Jim

Apr 04, 2013 at 02:50 PM

AndrewThomas
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Dan you still came home with some great images, and I'm sure it just whets your appetite for a return visit
cheers Andrew

Apr 04, 2013 at 03:50 PM

dswiger
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Thanks all for comments.
Regardless of the images, it was a magical experience seeing it.
My only small regret is not doing a time-lapse as I had the timer/setup to do it.

Dan

Apr 04, 2013 at 11:22 PM

David Patterson
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Dan... nicely done indeed, and something to remember for sure. I've only seen the Northern Lights once, but I'm on the lookout for another opportunity. Love that first one especially.

Apr 05, 2013 at 09:33 AM

Alex Mody
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Gorgeous!

Apr 05, 2013 at 11:37 AM

Jim McCann
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Glad you had some luck!

Apr 09, 2013 at 12:59 PM

dswiger
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Jim, Alex, Dave,
Yes, it was luck this time, but I just wanted everyone to know that I did have a plan

. It just got pre-empted.

Here is an explanation of colors for those that wonder

"The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora."

Thanks
Dan

Apr 09, 2013 at 01:46 PM

saaketham
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

OMG ... STAHP. Every time someone posts photos of the Aurora I go green with envy. And to make matters worse, those are good photos too. Grrrrrr

Apr 09, 2013 at 03:14 PM

Mark Metternich
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Must have been awesome to witness.

Apr 09, 2013 at 07:19 PM

dswiger
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

Mark,
Yes it was. It does give you sense of the "living universe" and I can see how native peoples would attach spiritual significance to these displays.

Dan

Apr 10, 2013 at 01:40 PM

Razor17
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Northern LIghts Triptych, Fairbanks

They are all outstanding as I like the 1st the best. They say the green is the best. Thanks for sharing them...

Lynn

Apr 10, 2013 at 07:17 PM


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