Aurora Borealis from North Slope

[trout bum]

Traffic In The Sky


Piles of Aurora


Ice Road Aurora



Illuminating The Past



Northern Street Lights

[barb_48]

Amazing shots! I have seen them a couple of times, but never as beautiful as the ones you captured on camera.

[llewpics]

First, I think, has the best story to tell. The last one is very nice as well. Wish I was there :-(

[arne saknussen]

All very nice, but #1 really captivates me. Definitely because of the hut, but also the inclusion of the snow swirls that seem to mimic the aurora.

[Greg McCary]

On the first one the buiding looks soft and I also think you could get rid of the car trails.
The rest are very good maybe sharpen the third.

[n8]

I think you caught a UFO in a couple of those! Really outstanding though. I hope to get that kind of photo op some day.

[trout bum]

Thanks guys! llewpics, I agree that the first one boasts the best story with the old shack and the truck hauling in the background along the ice road. I hadn't noticed that arne but now that you point it out, I can see the correlation.

Greg, I hadn't really thought about removing the trails considering the environment where I was shooting (ice roads on the slope), but it might very well be improved without the truck trails. Don't know if I have the photoshop savvy, but I may give it a go although I've never cloned out that much of a pic with any coherence. I had my lens set on manual and focused to infinity. The live view mode wouldn't pick anything up so I couldn't utilize it to focus and with the temps, the tripod and the lighting I couldn't get a good manual focus on the shack itself. I will try sharpening it up some. Thanks for input!

[gahspidy]

Jealous.....wish i was there lol
All are very good, but I'm favoring 1,2 and the last one is my choice for best of the bunch.
The first two are really strong, but my only suggestion would be loosen the crops a bit more in #1.
The last image is fantastic. I think if you could lighten the image a bit more and bring out the road as well, it would help a lot.
Excellent location and captures.

[starriderrick]

Wow,Thanks for sharing these. Capture #2 is my fav.The sense of depth is fantastic..
Congratulations on the sticky! Great shots in this series.

Rick

[LeeIs]

Love them all. But the last one is most amazing to me. Congrats on the sticky and very well captured!

[GB1]

They're all great! I like the first (top) image the best, as it shows more of what's going on - house, sky, snow, etc. The one with the sign is pretty neat too. How cold? I was at Prudhoe Bay last July for a visit, and thought it was cold then

G

[armando_m]

Beautiful scenery!

This is not something I have seen as beautiful ever in person , only briefly from a plane but only so faint, that it was hard to know if I just wishing I saw it.

Congrats on the sticky

[trout bum]

Thanks for the sticky!!!

I only started shooting the Aurora this March. The second night out I screwed up some phenomenal displays with my lack of knowledge. I figured the settings out to some extent and managed these photos and a few other decent shots in five or six nights of Aurora chasing. Still have much to learn and figure out but with time hopefully it will come together.

Speaking of which... I had some difficulty acquiring good focus. The general rule of thumb I learned via online research was to shoot Aurora with lens set on manual at infinity, which I did. I tried autofocus some with little luck. Any advice for shooting at night and gaining better sharpness would be appreciated. Live view didn't work as it was too dark.

Temps were anywhere from ten to thirty below. Coffee was necessary. Thanks a bunch for the feedback and input - when I get a chance I'll spend some time applying your recommendations and will repost. I'm still on the slope working 12 hours a day each day of the week which equates to less time playing with pictures than a guy would like.

Thanks again!!!

[patia]

Nice shots. Strangely, I really want to visit the North Slope.

[Photo-John]

Nice shots. Strangely, I really want to visit the North Slope.

C'mon now, Patia. This is the Photo Critique forum. You don't just get to pop in and tell us you like a photo. You also have to tell us *why* you like it

[Greg McCary]

Thanks for the sticky!!!

I only started shooting the Aurora this March. The second night out I screwed up some phenomenal displays with my lack of knowledge. I figured the settings out to some extent and managed these photos and a few other decent shots in five or six nights of Aurora chasing. Still have much to learn and figure out but with time hopefully it will come together.

Speaking of which... I had some difficulty acquiring good focus. The general rule of thumb I learned via online research was to shoot Aurora with lens set on manual at infinity, which I did. I tried autofocus some with little luck. Any advice for shooting at night and gaining better sharpness would be appreciated. Live view didn't work as it was too dark.

Temps were anywhere from ten to thirty below. Coffee was necessary. Thanks a bunch for the feedback and input - when I get a chance I'll spend some time applying your recommendations and will repost. I'm still on the slope working 12 hours a day each day of the week which equates to less time playing with pictures than a guy would like.

Thanks again!!!

On the first one I would have focused on the shed, far enough away and high enough F/stop and you would have been at hyperfocus distance. I carry a big, bright, flash light. You could have shined it on the building, focused and then turned it off.
I quit using AF at all for landscapes. My images have been sharper, your eye is better than the cameras AF system.

[shootme]

Wow, what a marvelous set of shots, brilliant.