Last night was epic, but nothing much had been forecast with respect to a dance by Lady Aurora, but she is fickle! Shortly after sunset it became obvious that the Northern Lights might make an appearance. The skies were clear, and the moon had set by 9 pm when the Lady decided to dance … and oh my how she danced. The entire sky was filled with her performance. One could even look south and watch pulsating rays of color.
Here is a video I took about 9:20 pm. This is NOT a time lapse compilation of images. It is the real time dance of Lady Aurora taken on a somewhat common camera (Sony A6300 at 3200 ISO) Make certain you watch the short video through to its ending. The lights just keep getting better and better! (video link for email subscribers)
While it is true that the best Northern Lights displays may be seen in Alaska or Norway, their proximity to the Arctic Circle (above or below) means that in the summer months the Land of the Midnight Sun means Aurora watching is just not possible. Down here in northern Minnesota as the days stretch towards the end of summer, we actually have some darkness. After the moon set last night at 11 pm there was a fantastic Northern Lights display.
Earlier last night I had driven up from my home at the northern edge of Duluth to the Isabella area near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), but I found the best show was when I returned home. Up by the BWCA there was too much water vapor in the air (it rained during my drive north). This image was taken at “The Deeps” … Duluth Lester / Amity Park (200 yards from the end of my driveway).
Sand River near the BWCA
Lake County 2 … Road Scene and Zenith
Please note … many Northern Lights photographs you will see from the Lower 48 will show more dramatic colors, including red tinges to the images. I like a photograph that more accurately reflects what I am able to while Aurora watching. Thus, in post image processing I lessen the color and saturation found in my Northern Lights photos. The camera can see more light, and more spectrums than the naked eye. The other images are not wrong, but I prefer to capture something much more in line with what I actually am able to view.
One week ago I was camped out at Crisp Point while working my volunteer lighthouse keeper’s gig near the far eastern end of Lake Superior, and Lady Aurora danced for me (see my post … Lighthouse Keeper’s Dance). This week Lady Aurora decided to dance for me near the western end of Lake Superior. I am a lucky guy! My location was deep within the Knife River Ravine one mile inland from the big lake. I hope you enjoy the lady’s Northern Lights dance. I did!
Note: I tend to edit my Northern Lights images in post processing to better reflect what I saw with the naked eye. With respect to last night’s dance I removed much of the green color my camera chose and made the Northern Lights more white. Most images were taken at an ISO of 3,200 for 2 seconds (Sony A6300, Aperture 2.0 and Rokinon 12 mm manual lens). The real time Northern Lights Videos are at the bottom of this post.
The Green Glow (around 10 pm … an indication the dance was about to start … the horizon often glows just before the start of a good Northern Lights display)
Northern Lights Rays
Firestorm (the lights were flickering on and off every second … and moving around in the sky)
Some Light Painting to Better Show my Environment (see the boulders in the river)
Around midnight I returned home. The Northern Lights were calming down. I took this photograph 150 yards from the end of my driveway.
Northern Lights at Amity Creek / The Deeps
And the movies! Yup, here are two real time videos I took with my Sony A6300 (not time lapse images stitched together). My Sony is not an expensive camera. It dates to the year 2016, and I was using a Rokinon 12 mm manual lens set at 3,200 ISO and Aperture of 2.0. My vantage point is I am standing in the middle of Knife River!
Lady Aurora’s Dance #1 (video link 1 for email subscriber)
Lady Aurora’s Dance #2 (video link 2 for email subscriber)
As with my still images, I did very little post processing of my two videos … some noise reduction and color correction to make the Aurora Borealis less green to better reflect what I was seeing with my naked eye.
