Several years ago when I was just getting into photography I discovered this pond near my place. Though I had saved it on my GPS I never labelled it properly so I forgot what it was. Well a few weeks ago I re-discovered it and since then I have been returning often hoping to capture an epic sunset. Too busy with work Friday night I missed out on one heck of an explosion of colour. I saw the tail end of it from my kitchen window. Grrr!!!! Busy all weekend with bathroom renovations I wasn't expecting to get out at all either. After a long day Saturday I was thinking of calling it a night when I got a notification from a FB page I follow that there is some aurora activity. I checked a few others web sites and then looked north from my deck. I could see some aurora. BAM! When opportunity knocks one must take advantage! I packed up my gear and took off. So glad I did too as I got quite a show of aurora. So worth losing a few hours sleep.
This is a multi-image panorama shot in portrait almost a 180 degree view.
Canon 7D. Samyang 14mm/2.8 @ F3.2, ISO 500, 25sec.
How cool! Good thing something jogged your memory there. That is one cool pond. I really like this shot, though it feels a tad bit unlevel. Even if it is truly level, I think I would tilt it a bit so it feels level...
Unh...... WOW!! Great shot!! I hope one day to be able to witness the aurora myself. This setting is fantastic. I like how sharp the FG is. Does the aurora really light up the sky that much?
Thank you so much everyone! I'd say it was worth the loss of sleep.
JimFox wrote:
Hey Scott,
How cool! Good thing something jogged your memory there. That is one cool pond. I really like this shot, though it feels a tad bit unlevel. Even if it is truly level, I think I would tilt it a bit so it feels level...
Jim
Thank you Jim. It is indeed level. You know me and my pickiness when it comes to level images. What is possibly causing the illusion of being not level is the pond winds out into the distance on the left side. So the far "shore" line is moved "up" in the frame a touch.
JimKied wrote:
Unh...... WOW!! Great shot!! I hope one day to be able to witness the aurora myself. This setting is fantastic. I like how sharp the FG is. Does the aurora really light up the sky that much?
Thank you Jim! Using that lens at F3.2 seemed to help a bit with sharpness. It this case this image is very accurate to what I saw. It doesn't get this good for aurora that often. I was definitely lucky this time.
dgdg wrote:
who needs an a7r?!?!?!?!?
I just need to hang with Scott and my old rebel!
David
I do I DO!!!!!! Seriously, I really do want better gear. There is some stuff I just can't do with what I have and the IQ is just not there where I want it to me. I am very fussy!
Aw man, damn you! I woke up on the 8th to find a half dozen aurora notifications in my email after the latest activity spike. Looks like you have a later bedtime then me
Just wondering if you tried boosting the iso slightly to get the exposure time down a bit? I would like to see a bit more fine details in the sky and I've read that anything past 10 seconds is pushing it to freeze the aurora action. If not, maybe some midtones contrast would help define the sky a bit better? Maybe not though.
