We are lucky here in Alberta, because some nights are full of light show. We had a couple of gorgeous Aurora showing last fall and I have managed to capture some shots without leaving the city.
Chasing Aurora
There are a lot of spectacular photographs of northern lights on internet. Beautiful lights dancing on the night sky are quite amazing to behold. However, it is not as easy as you would think to get a good shot of them. It, often, requires hours of waiting for the sky to turn dark enough in summer or freezing your bottom on location in winter.
Aurora in the City
We all love watching northern lights. Even when they are week, we will strain our eyes and stare at the night sky to see them. The best viewing is, of course, outside the city, where there is no light pollution and the sky is dark. Cities are, generally, not the best places to watch them. However, there are nights, when the lights are very bright and quite easily viewable even inside Edmonton.
A Night at Elk Island
Flirting With Aurora - Part 2
When we go out at night we never know if we come back with something usable. Our weather here in Alberta, changes very quickly and even if we leave the city with clear skies above, by the time we reach a specific location it all might change (mind you, we need to travel quite a distance away from the city in many cases - sometimes more than 100km, which can make quite a difference as well). Landscape photography does require certain amount of sacrifice and hard work..
Flirting With Aurora - Part 1
She can be very elusive. She can show up where you don't expect her to be and don't show up, when you count on her. Sometimes, it's only a pale green hue of the night sky, sometimes - a line across. Some nights, you can only spot her out in the country, where city lights don't obscure the views, but some nights, you can clearly see her from my own back yard, covering most of the sky and showing off for everybody to see.
Fuji and Aurora Borealis or Marriage Advice
It is a dangerous territory I wade in. As my wonderful wife, Kasia, blogs here, and reads my posts. She's also a photographer. This arrangement has a lot of pluses, like being able to bounce ideas off each other, or being able to just go shoot northern lights, at the spur of the moment at 2 am in the morning.
A Night Of Amazing Aurora - Alberta Landscape Photography
Aurora, Fuji, Sony and Fish-Eye - Alberta Photography
Photographing the Aurora, is relatively easy. Tripod, wide angle lens, possibly a remote shutter cord, and patience.
Aurora Painted Sky
Sometime ago, in my post Waiting for Aurora, I have shared some of my photos of northern lights, taken at the end of September at Elk Island National Park. Today, I would like to show you some more of the images from that night when magic was happening in the sky. Such amazing views!! We are so lucky being able to witness and record this amazing phenomenon. So here they are , the pretty colors of the night sky that always fascinated me. Enjoy! :) Kasia
Waiting for Aurora
It was Sunday night when we got a red alert about northern lights... Regardless of a working week ahead of us we've decided to take a trip to Elk Island National Park and see if we'll be lucky enough to witness this spectacular event. Because of the almost full moon blasting it's light on the sky, there was a chance we won't see much, but we were lucky yet again. Though the beginning was slow and we were waiting for a while before we would see any activity on the sky, we were awarded at the end with a wonderful display! The way I see it, we are very lucky to be able to experience these fairly often. Such wonders!! Enjoy! Kasia
Aurora
I received another red alert tonight, but by the time I made my decision and grabbed my gear, the light show in the skies was almost over. I did manage to grab a few shots, and then I asked my kids to show me their moves with their light saber toys.
Lights in the Sky
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University of Alberta has a website that monitors geomagnetic activity in the Edmonton area, called Aurora Watch. There you can sign up for free email alerts, when aurora borealis or northern lights have a chance of occurring. I received a red alert a few weeks ago, and decided to take my oldest son with me to Elk Island Park for a "capture the lights in the sky" mission. Unfortunately at the site, Konrad realized that his little point and shoot camera did not have the settings necessary to record the northern lights. I setup both of my cameras, one with fish eye lens, the other with wide angle, on the beach of Astotin Lake. Since Konrad wasn't able to take any photos, I let him operate one of the cameras. It was a great time, just being there, chatting, counting down exposure time, and watching the amazing light show in the skies above us. Great great time. Enjoy!