aurora Oct 28 2008

Got a call from my daughter alerting me of the Aurora. I missed any of the early part and I'm sure it was great :(, but was able to run out and get a few quick snaps. Luckily I've shot enough to be able to guess a good exposure because I didn't have any time for second tries. I got off about three shot and it began to fade. Here's one of the more interesting shots. Three others are at http://www.pbase.com/santa/aurora

Canon MKII with 16-35mm lens at 16mm, 15sec, ISO800, f2.8

Bud,
Nice shot, really like the swirl. Where was it taken? The nights have been nice and clear, I have been waiting for someone to post an Aurora image.

Carl

Carl,
I took this just down the street from my house in North Pole. I'll be curious to see other shots from last night. I'm wondering what I missed in the early part of the evening.

Well, I went out last night and the lights were dancing pretty good, but by the time I went back in, put on my super suit, and got back out, they were done. Took few shots just for my trouble and just got that green glow.

Staying up late tonight and since it is about 30 degrees warmer I won't have to take so much time getting dressed.

[IMG]http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g44/skipmartin/Winter12008_4605.jpg[/IMG]

sorry about the link, I still can't seem to figure out how to post photos on this forum

Skip, if I can be so bold as to make a suggestion, Skip. Open up your image and crank them about 2 stops in Photoshop Levels dragging the right most slider to the left a bit more than half way. Follow with some noise ninja and you end up with a much more viewable image. Nice shot, btw!

Bud,
Nice aurora!! That swirl is really neat.
I see you have the Mk ll. Is it the 1Ds? That's what I have and I must admit I'm not thrilled with the performance of the batteries. It seems like I got better performance out of my 20D batteries, even in cold weather.

It's just a lowly 1DMKII. The batteries are good in normal temps with roughly 1500+ images per battery when new, but at -50F that drops to about 5 minutes :). Thus, I have 7 batteries and keep them in a small pack with hand warmers so I can cycle them when it gets cold. So far it's not an issue as it hasn't gone under -10F or so. I've got a 5DMKII on preorder and I'm looking forward to a FF with better high ISO performance. If I can shoot at 1600 or even possibly 3200 with Noise Ninja applied it will raise my shutter speed and help me catch curtains with more definition and less blur.

Thanks for the info. That's what I see with mine, too. The cold temps really, really cut down on the length of time the batteries are good. Even temps just below freezing seem to affect them. I bought my 1Ds as a used camera just about a year ago; if I'd know the specs on the 5DMK and when it was going to come out, I might have waited. I sure like having a tough body, though. The thing it built like a tank. Weighs about as much as one, too....
Well, I guess I better go order a couple more batteries.

You will also find that if you warm up a "dead" battery that was killed by cold it will -miracle!- come back to life once warmed up, hence I keep a heat-pack in a small insulated bag with my batteries and I can go through all of my batteries and then start over with those that have warmed up. They are good for a warming or two before they are really omg dead.

Great shot Bud! I was able to capture a few images that night near Talkeetna along the Parks Highway. Hopefully I post this correctly. You can see more at http://www.lucaspaynephotography.com/gallery/4361713_PYbfv

Very cool...I know that turn out.. :). A few of your images are so hilariously close to mine, like the shot from the turnout for the Denali view. what a hoot. thanks!