St Patty's Day Aurora

We lost our dear Grandma St. Patty's Day evening. Within minutes the Aurora were shining bright - something to remember for all of us. I Brought my son out to watch them, and told him he could miss the next morning of school. Hopefully he will remember as well

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so beautiful!

Sorry to hear about the loss of your Grandma , my condolences to all your family

first 3 are great pity about the laser ( whatever) light in 4th pic

and the title of the thread and in the thread, I think you really meant St Paddy's day
Paddy is a nickname for Patrick


Dave

EDIT P.S. .... I just noticed I cannot spell either ... in my thread title I said nove instead of nova

Sorry to hear of your loss . Prayers be with you . First two shots are nice . I agree the last shot was ruined with the lazer shot . Auroras are always best with clear horizons . They make the best especially if you have a chance to sell some .

Thanks everyone for the kind words.


Dave - so embarrassed, you'd think with the Irish name I'd been given (Liam) I'd have spelled St Paddy's day right

Good call on the flashlight beam, I agree it looks silly - wanted to see how it would turn out and it definitely takes much away from the natural beauty.

I'm lucky enough to see the aurora several times a year, but I'd really like to get a good lens for capturing them better. Right now I'm using the EFS 10-22 on a 7D. Any suggestions?

Also I need to find something interesting for a foreground shot.....that's the next mission.

LDunn wrote in post #17483757
I'm lucky enough to see the aurora several times a year, but I'd really like to get a good lens for capturing them better. Right now I'm using the EFS 10-22 on a 7D. Any suggestions?

Also I need to find something interesting for a foreground shot.....that's the next mission.

Can't really help on the lens , you would think that 10-22 would be just fine . But others here take great auroras shots so just check other post and see what they are using .

As far as FG shots , the best I have seen are usually snow covered grounds if you are lucky to have them . Any kind of lake FG shot makes for good ones especially if you can get the reflection to show up nicely . Mainly you don't want your FG to be brighter than the aurora itself . Many ruin a good shot by having the FG so bright you can hardly see the auroras . Not good . Also try to level your tripod when imaging so the horizon like yours is level . Where your shooting from since it's so flat you might find something tall like a tree or windmill or a hilly area if you have one for a FG . Just remember what's good in your eyes is what makes a good image . The other half is how you edit it .

LDunn wrote in post #17483757
Thanks everyone for the kind words.


Dave - so embarrassed, you'd think with the Irish name I'd been given (Liam) I'd have spelled St Paddy's day right

no probs Liam .... happens to the best of us

we live and learn

I moved from Dunedin, southern NZ 46 deg S), where I have seen and photo'ed countless dozens of aurora between 1970 and 1999
to Sydney (~ 32 S) where I have never seen one Wife and I did head a bit further south in the nite of the 17th
but couldn't get out of the cloud

10 - 22 is as good as any, nice wide angle but remember that's going to be around 17 - 35 on your 7D crop sensor
still good ! you didn't say what its f stop range is ?
I'm looking at getting one of these for my 5D3 .... http://www.digitalcame​rawarehouse.com.au/pro​d9852.htm
Samyang 14mm f/2.8 Lens ... they are getting great reports

keep in mind your exposure times aperture and ISO .... Auroral displays can have a lot of movement in them
longer exposures will just blur the auroral curtain details into a mass of colour which may be good for a couple of pics
but you really want to bring out the details of the curtain, rays etc as well, so shorter exposures, less than 30 sec
5 - 20 sec, widest aperture and don't be afraid to experiment with ISO's up to 2500 on your 7D when using shorter exposure times

yup ... its no different to doing daytime or other general nitetime landscapes
so keep in mind things like lakes / ocean for nice reflection the black silhouette of a bare ( few branches, winter time no leaves etc) tree off to one side. Or silhouette of a person looking up at the sky. Nice star field in the background of the aurora eg Milkyway bracketing the aurora between hillsides of a valley
Of course all these things and the ability to do them depends on where you life and the landscapes you have in your region

Above all, have fun experimenting

cheers
Dave

Thanks again Dave - great tips!
Sorry you couldn't get out of the cloud cover - I'd say that blocks probably 50% of the storms for me here - during the winter it can be weeks without a clear day - we definitely lucked out St. Paddy's Day
I will definitely have to look into that Samyang Lens a bit more - looks very much like something I am looking for.
The 10-22 is F 3.5-4.5 (the above were shot at 10mm f3.5 with 13 second exposures at 1600 ISO - that seemed to produce the best results).
The lights were dancing and all over the sky - but not as vivid as they have been.

Ironically the FG would probably have looked nicer over the last few days as we've had snow again for 3 days. There is a nice old Barn I think I will drive out to next time.


Cheers!

Liam.