Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Adventures In Nighttime Photography // The Northern Lights


For the last year or so, Robbie and I have had somewhat of an obsession with seeing the Northern Lights. If he isn't on the road and we get word that they might be visible here, we'll likely drop whatever we're doing (sometimes this even means sleeping for the night) to jump in the car and drive away from the city lights to try to catch a glimpse.  Perhaps those of you who live in Alaska or Canada or Finland find this slightly silly, since you guys get to see this awesome phenomena on a much more regular basis.  But the elusive Aurora Borealis is very rarely strong enough to be seen from down here in northern Illinois.  And despite all of the amazing natural wonders I've been lucky enough to see in my lifetime, I have never once seen the Northern Lights, so it's a big one on my list.  I told Robbie the other night that it just seems wrong that I've snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, on the complete opposite side of the world, yet have never even caught a peek at the Aurora.  Sigh.  (Poor me, I know.)


As those of you who follow me on Twitter may know, we had one of these mini adventures Saturday night, when heard there was a solar storm and hopped in the car around 11 PM to drive northwest, away from the urban-ness in search of our beloved lights.  Alas, we were back home a little after 1 AM, having seen nothing out of the ordinary aside from a really creepy abandoned house on a gravel road when we took a wrong turn. 

Thankfully, on Sunday we read that there was going to be another opportunity to see them from our location, this time with an even better chance. So Robbie decided that we were going to go buy a cheap remote for our Canon, set up the tripod on our back porch late that night, aim the camera north, and play around with long exposures.  Our goal was not to shoot pretty photographs of the night sky, like in the truly amazing shots above, because this is basically impossible from a porch in an urban area drowning in light pollution.  All we hoped for was to maybe pick up a tiny glimpse of the Aurora that our naked eyes alone couldn't see.  I'll admit that Robbie was much more committed than me, and hung out on the porch for several hours (I made it for about 45 minutes).  We didn't catch the Northern Lights (booooo), but it was a good excuse for us to practice shooting with long exposure, which neither of us had really done before. 


Because of the excessive amount of ambient light, the photos don't look like much, and most of them are overexposed because we were leaving the shutter open for 20 to 30 seconds in an effort to catch the Aurora.  But it was really cool to compare them to the sky we saw with our eyes.  It was after midnight, and when we looked up at the sky, we could barely make out any stars, and everything looked quite hazy and very dark.  The pictures taken with long exposures, which were able to capture more than the human eye was capable of detecting, showed stars that we couldn't otherwise see, and lightened the sky.  We couldn't see the Big Dipper when we looked at the sky, but we were able to see it in the photos.  It was actually really fascinating. 


I'm going to veer slightly off topic for a minute and say that it's almost shocking how much light pollution exists in the Chicago area (and most other major cities, I'm sure).  And I'm not just talking about the urban and suburban areas.  Even out in the rural places, you could still see the haze of Chicagoland lights all along the horizon.  One of the things I miss the most about living in Colorado and Oregon is looking up and seeing a big sky speckled with bright white stars.  Most of the time, I like living in a more populated area with an abundance of culture and food and choices at my fingertips.  But when I'm in the mood to star gaze, I sure wish I could click my heels three times and wake up in the middle of nowhere. Just for that night.

Hopefully we'll be able to take a little camping trip sometime this summer and try the long exposure shots in a darker, more remote place.  If we do, I'll be sure to post some photos and tips.  In the meantime, if you're interested in being a fellow Northern Light storm chaser, this site is great for the most up to date information and real time predictions.

Images, from top:  Lake Manitoba in Canada, via National Geographic // Aurora in Finland, via The Telegraph // Lake Superior in Michigan, via National Geographic // Aurora in Quebec, via National Geographic // Sparks Lake in Oregon, 07/16/2012, via Goldpaint Photography //  Our shots of the big dipper and night sky, Chicago area, 07/16/2012


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18 comments:

  1. just discovered your blog and I love it!
    Newest follower - hope you can check mine out and follow back : )

    allthingsprettyandlittle.blogspot.com

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  2. I live in Manitoba and have seen the lights similar to image 1 dancing over the lake while sitting on cold sand around a bonfire.
    Every glimpse I can get of them is a treasure.

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  3. Love the big dipper over the clouds - there's something magical about that picture

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  4. I think your pictures are really neat!!! The clouds and big dipper look so pretty, I'd love to learn more about long exposure. I've never seen the northern lights either but this makes me really want to. :-D

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    1. yes! please post about long exposure!

      and living in seattle--- i should have the chance to see them-- they wander down here every so often but i still have yet to glimpse them! (its on my bucket list)

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  5. Such beautiful pictures! When I was kid, I was up every morning at 5am (farm chores, of course lol)...and in the Winter, I saw the Northern Lights almost every morning that a clear sky. Nothing as gorgeous as those! I think the best I've seen were one random summer night.

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  6. Wow that second pic is my favorite...so amazing! Love the gorgeous colors in the sky. That is cool you captured the big dipper! I love to sit outside and stare at the stars before bed each night. The sky and stars are truly so fascinating.

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  7. I've never seen the Northern Lights either. I go stargazing every once in a while, but never see anything awesome like those pictures above.

    And YEAH about the light pollution. My parents live in southern IL and every once in a while I'm driving back up here after the sun has gone down, and I can see the haze long before I hit the suburbs.

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  8. I wish I could teleport myself up north whenever the Northern Lights happen! I can't even imagine it being real and seeing it with my own eyes. Looking at photos I think it looks amazing but a part of me is thinking "there is no way that is real!"
    Also, love your night time shots! The big dipper shot is gorgeous

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  9. i saw them once in northern wi, they were breathtaking

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  10. Beautiful photos! (Both the ones you shared and the ones you took.) Nighttime picture taking is not something I'm overly familiar with (except for firework pictures) but this post made me want to try some more. I think we're lucky we can see the stars as well as we can here (being so close to the city and all) but I would lovelovelove to go out in the middle of nowhere and star gaze. I never have before, but I just know it would be amazing to see how many stars I'm missing here.

    Thanks for sharing that website too! I've never really thought about seeing the Northern Lights before, but I think I could handle putting it on my list of places to see ; ]

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  11. this is beautiful. i think it's adorable that you go on dates like that and do things out of the blue...it makes my heart warm... maybe one day i will come see these lights with u in person!!

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  12. I've never seen the northern lights either and always wanted to! Sonya (Kanelstrand) did a post not that long ago with a video from Norway. I watched it like 10 times. You would like it. :)

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  13. I found the post on Sonya's blog:
    http://blog.kanelstrand.com/2012/01/solar-storm-and-aurora.html

    xo,
    Mary

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    1. Beautiful video Mary! Thank you so much for sharing it!

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  14. Those are some really amazing photos!
    I love living when I can see the stars every night :) They are one of my favorite things ever!

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  15. Nice little adventure!Hope you get to see the Northern lights soon ;)

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  16. I always try to photogfaph the stars..

    http://www.adayinmywheels.com/2012/03/planet-gazing.html

    my efforts not as great

    xo

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