Northern Lights
One of the more interesting formations of the nights of 11/3. I was sitting on the side of a small lake in Tolsona, AK. The lights were starting to become more active after dying down a for a bit. Then suddenly the formation in this image appeared. The first thing I thought was, "That looks just like a broken stained glass window".
This time of the year is great for Aurora photography. In this image I captured the Sunset and Sunrise basically at the same time. The Sunset a 9:54pm last night. Today's sunrise was at 5:59am. The light from the the setting sun was visible until 1am, which is when the light from the rising sun started to increase. Added bonus an interesting foreground and the Auroras.
Pink, Purple, and Green Corona
This is the overhead shot I managed to capture as the pink, purple, and green corona passed overhead. I only wished that I had more time to shoot this unique color combo before it disappeared. On this image I had to once again had to adjust the Exposure, highlights, and Saturation way down. I also had to do my normal adjustments of Lens correction, white balance, sharpness. Desides those adjustments nothing else was done to this image.
Usually I wait for the vehicle to pass so that the light from the headlight doesn't mess up my shot. I wanted to try something different. I timed the passing vehicle so that I would capture the light as it painted the spruce trees. It took me a couple of tries. Oh yeah. The northern lights were pretty amazing too. Broad Pass, AK. 1/6/2021
The sky was filled with greens, reds, pinks and purples. The lights were so bright. It was so bright that a person could easily read a book without a light. Shortly after this photo was taken a pack of wolves or coyotes started howling nearby! That's when it dawned on me. I'm standing out in the middle of nowhere , in the open, with wild predators nearby. That's when I decided to change locations.
A nice aurora last night near Anchorage, Alaska. I took this photo while standing in the middle of the road. Right as I hit the shutter a vehicle's headlight peaked over the hill behind me. At first I was mad that the headlights ruined my shot. Then I looked at the image and realized that the headlights perfectly lit the road ahead of me.
Today is the day that I replace my trusty chariot. This vehicle has been on every Aurora journey with me. From the multiple trips down the Denali Highway to Quick trips down the Seward Highway, This truck has been there from the beginning of my photography journey. While it will still be around, We probably won't be going on anymore Aurora trips together.
This was the big surprise of the night. Where I was at in Tolsona was the perfect spot. The sky suddenly erupted in very fast moving auroras directly overhead. Then suddenly a huge streak of pink and purple racesd across the sky. I was able to get this shot as well as a directly overhead shot of the corona. As soon as the purple raced across the sky it became VERY bright. Almost as if someone turned on a very big lamp with a pink bulb. Everything around me had a pinkish glow to it. Its taken me a a couple of days to figure out how to proccess this image so that it didn't look so oversaturated, unrealistic. I had to desaturate this image down A LOT. I also had to reduce the exposure and highlights down quite a bit as well.
Auroras as I came out of the woods
Auroras as I came out of the woods, during the great show we had on 11/3-4. This was shot along the Glenn Highway in Tolsona, AK.