As a hobbyist, one of the best uses for my photos is as screensavers or wallpapers. I’m probably more swayed by the image or memories than I am by its qualities as a screensaver.
This was taken last March in Alaska on the second night of minor substorm activity. It wasn’t nearly as cold as the night before, and we were the only ones out there with the exception of one vehicle that passed by in the night. We stood in the highway staring up until we had kinks in our necks. I’m easily pleased, but we definitely had a good show for people from the lower 48!
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
Any input is welcome. I think I maybe should have composed a little more to the left, or maybe I should crop in slightly there. Perhaps I should have exposed it a little brighter, but I was concerned about clipping the highlights in the aurora, so I pulled it up in post. The settings were just guess and experiment, but I was afraid to deviate too far from what seemed to be working lest I miss something.
Technical Details
ISO 1600, 6s, Rokinon 14mm, Sony A7C
I don’t have the aperture, because this is a completely manual lens, but I think it was wide open (2.0 or 2.8).
Single shot processed in Capture One. Lifted exposure and shadows a little, adjusted white balance so the sky was a little more blue and less green/black, and added some clarity. I played a little with noise reduction.
REPOST NOTE: I removed some of the dark area on the right that I don’t think was adding to the image. i also did a little edge patrol on the left, cropping out a little distracting bit of tree. I think it may improve it. Let me know if you have a preference.
Hi Karla,
this is a really beautiful aurora image.
I think you chose just the right shutter speed. If you had exposed it longer, the image might be brighter, but then the beautiful structures in the aurora would probably be blurred.
A great aurora image, the shape of the aurora takes you through the image and the same does the FG. I have no experience in shooting auroras but to me the shutter speed seems correct, the aurora has a pleasent smoothness. Have you tried to crop a tad at the right edge? I like the exposure, to me night images should not be too bright.
Hi Karla! That is beautiful. Would love to see a storm like that. Nice work keeping the exposure right to be able to distinguish the pillars in the aurora. I realize there’s some dark space on the right, but I like how the road leads into the photo so I feel like it works.
@Jens_Ober@Ola_Jovall@Cameron_Wilcox@Dean_Salman Thanks for all of your feedback!
Ola - I feel like I struggle to find the right balance between a good night exposure and having it still look like it was the middle of the night. I agree that I like night photos to clearly be night and feel like I am there (as much as possible).
Wow, this is breathtaking! Normally I’d agree about a bit of cropping from the right, but, as this is a Screensaver, I can place all my Desktop links in that dark space without spoiling the shot.
@Mike_Friel - Very true! Not only that, the unconstrained crop then messes with the ratio for filling my computer screen. I didn’t think about that. Thanks for pointing that out. I’m glad you enjoyed the image.
My dream trip. Beautiful! I prefer the first photo as by leaving the edge and not cropping it shows how large the aurora is and how far it extends into the surrounding landscape. I love the darkness also as I think the green color and the sparkling stars show up much brighter. Very nice.
@sonja Trips with a good chance of seeing the aurora continue to be pretty high on my list. I hope it works out for you to do this sometime! Thank you for your comments. It does seem like most people prefer the space to the right for a variety of reasons. I’m glad it works!
I’m easily pleased, but we definitely had a good show for people from the lower 48!