Jump to content
  • Member Statistics

    17,586
    Total Members
    7,904
    Most Online
    LopezElliana
    Newest Member
    LopezElliana
    Joined

September Discusssion--winter bound or bust


moneypitmike

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.7k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I know that was with a bit of a long exposure, but I wonder how it looked to the naked eye. Breathtaking

I have only ever seen them once. In the late 1980s in Lowell

 

Seems like it was a similar aurora to the one last November. Ekster saw both and compared them similarly, this one maybe being a shorter duration on the intense stuff. But in November I know I was able to make out different colors with the naked eye, and see movement of the curtains and pillars.

 

I would describe it as a dull glow, but it was bright enough that you didn't need time for your eyes to adjust before you could see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Usually just the greens at the horizon will be visible with such a weak display.  The vertical rays may have appeared faintly whitish.   I'm guessing he really tweaked the saturation up too.

Yeah, that scene strikes me as one of those cases where somebody standing right next to you wouldn't believe the picture is real. The advent of digital photography has probably added at least 10 degrees of latitude onto the southern extent of aurora hunting. It's a beautiful picture, and photographing the night sky is always an enriching experience, but it's easy to create inflated expectations of mid-latitude auroras with a fast lens, a 30-second exposure, some "minor" (wink wink) tonal enhancements in photoshop, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, that scene strikes me as one of those cases where somebody standing right next to you wouldn't believe the picture is real. The advent of digital photography has probably added at least 10 degrees of latitude onto the southern extent of aurora hunting. It's a beautiful picture, and photographing the night sky is always an enriching experience, but it's easy to create inflated expectations of mid-latitude auroras with a fast lens, a 30-second exposure, some "minor" (wink wink) tonal enhancements in photoshop, etc.

Well let's ask Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

my favorite Aurora pic from last night Mt Mansfield with undercast at Stowe. And wow at the number of low temp records set in the MW, shades of 2013

https://twitter.com/FISkiers

Holy sh*t...that's poster Gpetrics on here. He kills it with the photography. He's posted a few times on here...good friends with "ADK" poster.

It's tweaked but I think it looks better like that. I'd print that up. The clouds below summit explain why we couldn't see anything in town haha.

Looks like you can see the lights of Montreal too on the left horizon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not saying there's anything untoward about enhanced aurora shots... the ones posted above are magical, to be sure. It's just important to remember that the camera always offers an alternative view to what is seen with the naked eye. Sometimes we consider it inferior, and other times it looks miles better than what we remember.

 

Personally I've photographed faint auroras from my home three or four times over the past couple years (including last night), but I've yet to see them with the naked eye. My shots don't look anywhere near as impressive as the ones from NNE, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not saying there's anything untoward about enhanced aurora shots... the ones posted above are magical, to be sure. It's just important to remember that the camera always offers an alternative view to what is seen with the naked eye. Sometimes we consider it inferior, and other times it looks miles better than what we remember.

 

Personally I've photographed faint auroras from my home three or four times over the past couple years (including last night), but I've yet to see them with the naked eye. My shots don't look anywhere near as impressive as the ones from NNE, though.

 

Since moving to PWM, I think I'm up to four sightings with the naked eye in four years. Not a bad return rate, and I'm not exactly chasing them either. Those are just the ones I happened to be at the office on an evening or midnight shift for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jeremy Gilchrist nailed it.

Don't know if you saw the whole series (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11832585&sk=photos&collection_token=11832585%3A2305272732%3A69&set=a.10102114764955989.1073741896.11832585&type=1) but if you toggle through the first several shots, it's almost like a flipbook showing the subtle movement in the curtains. Awesome stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't know if you saw the whole series (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11832585&sk=photos&collection_token=11832585%3A2305272732%3A69&set=a.10102114764955989.1073741896.11832585&type=1) but if you toggle through the first several shots, it's almost like a flipbook showing the subtle movement in the curtains. Awesome stuff.

sweet
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lets not forget that we're looking at something that is 50-80 miles high... basically everyone in this forum saw the exact same thing with only minor changes in elevation above the horizon depending on latitude.

some day I will post some blurry Auroras for you, seriously though I am choosing wallpapers now, Greg's enhanced or not is winning
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...