Northern Lights from July 14th.

[Dbl]

I made a last minute decision based on the forecast to head north in the Grand Rapids area yesterday to capture the Aurora after the latest solar event. It was well worth the trip! There was a 5 minute period around midnight when the sky literally exploded! Pulses of light like lightening, waves of colors. My understanding there was another burst around 2am but I packed it in around 1am. Heading out in an hour to try again north of the cities.

A VERY small sample.

Shooting star in the Milky Way!

Newly added shot.

[jentz]

Kool eh! I can only imagion the colors the camera didn't capture! Great pics!

[Canon Guy]

Great Captures!

[yakfisher]

Nice!

[Cyberfish]

Nice! Yes it really went bonkers around 2 or so, I got some good shots I will post later this week.

[MuleShack]

Really nice.

[finnbay]

Really nice, Dan! My fave is #4. I was down in the Cities for my son's wedding on Saturday, but hurried back yesterday to be set up in time for last night's show. Unfortunately it clouded over early and didn't break all night. Ah well, next time!

[eyeguy 54]

sweet! I went out here till 1:30. Could just barely see them.

[eyeguy 54]

DBL, would you mind sharing some settings. I'm a rookie and hope to capture them some day. I have a D 5000 with just a DX 18-55. I got a couple pics last night but they were really faint lights down here and the sky was kinda hazy. I could see a few stars here and there.

[MN Shutterbug]

Wow, makes me think of Alaska. There was even some nice video of it on TV just 20 miles from here, the night before last. I was tempted to stay up last night but I really like my bed and there is never a guarantee.

[Freddy1]

Huge solar event this weekend. Started with a glow then @ 2AM erupted into a full sky show with punches of intense flashes and undulating ribbons accompanied by loon calls. Shot near McGregor MN.

[Dbl]

Thanks everyone for the comments!!! Ken, I went out last night just north of the cities and it had the start of good display until the clouds moved in. I need to check the camera and see what turns up. Mike I am always looking for opportunities to capture these! Fortunately we have the best year yet ahead of us! 2013 is going to be the peak! It is not often the "stars" align and I get everything in place to get some shots so the loss of some sleep is a small price to pay!

eyeguy2, There are always more than one way to photograph these but I keep it fairly simple as with all night work. Set aperture, shutter speed and adjust your ISO. Open your aperture up as wide open as you can with your lens, you don't need to worry about depth of field you are shooting at the earth's upper atmosphere! I really like to use about 20 seconds on the shutter speed, for me any longer and you begin to see the earth's rotation in the movement of the stars. I like pinpoint sharp stars but others use 25 sec or even 30 seconds. I zoom in on my shoots 200% in post to see how sharp the stars are.

Now its a matter of determining how much light you want to let in. Up north away from the lights I start at 1600 ISO. When the lights are not real bright I may have to go way higher! When you get a burst you often have to turn the ISO down to 1250 or maybe down to 800 ISO. Just north of the cities I started at ISO 800 because of the light pollution. Don't be afraid to experiment! Hope that helps you out some, if not ask away!

[Freddy1]

Shot at 1600 ISO with 15 second exposure.

[BartmanMN]

Sweet. I must see these with my own eyes at some point in my life.

[ThunderLund78]

Absolutely awesome, thanks for sharing.

[eyeguy 54]

Thx DBL! I shot at 400 ISO last night, 20 seconds F5. The lights were really dull just as they looked in the sky but I got a fair pic of the big dipper. :>) I lived in Alaksa 40 years ago for 3 years, Sure wish I would have been into photography!

[Paul]

cloudy here each night. thanks for rubbing it in Dan. j/k They are great Shots.

[JohnK]

Great shots Dan, the northern lights are so cool.