Aurora Borealis over Calgary
When we first came to Calgary we were stunned to see the Aurora Borealis from the balcony one winter evening, at that time my knowledge and my camera let me down, both lacking the quality to make long exposures at night and the resulting photos were a disappointment.
Sitting the living room on February 19th 2014 exactly 2 years after that event my vision was drawn to moving lights outside, it was back I jumped up and ran into the office, grabbed the camera gear and ran through the house changing settings as I did, I hurriedly set up the tripod and grabbed a shot, a little blurry but still beautiful.
Sitting the living room on February 19th 2014 exactly 2 years after that event my vision was drawn to moving lights outside, it was back I jumped up and ran into the office, grabbed the camera gear and ran through the house changing settings as I did, I hurriedly set up the tripod and grabbed a shot, a little blurry but still beautiful.
I checked the time and wondered how long it would last, it was 11:30 pm. I had now set up the remote release to prevent camera movement when pressing the shutter button and I was ready with greater knowledge and better equipment, I tried to calm myself long enough to make some lasting images this time.
The display was actually a little less vibrant than last time but still perfectly mesmerising as it danced across the horizon in unpredictable shapes.
After greedily grabbing shot after shot of this remarkable phenomenon I settled down and began changing lenses and experimenting with exposure times and aperture values.
At every opportunity I checked the images, was I getting them, was there too much 'noise' is it sharp (I found this the most difficult as my eyes were watering in the cold) but even when they weren't perfect, they did provide a perfect memory.
Occasionally spread across the entire skyline and occasionally woven in narrow bands, the lights just kept on coming, when Sarah appeared to see what the noise was (me stomping around on the balcony) I realised it was 1 am, 1.5 hours had passed so quickly.
I even found the time to make a 'night sky' shot with stars woven through waves of green and red, I was really pleased with the result as the 15 second exposure grabbed so many stars.
On a number of shots the thin wisps of red light come to life much brighter than they were under observation, though I could see them they were not as prominent as the images suggest.
With so many shots of the night sky it was only a matter of time before a shooting star put in an appearance, there were many shots where I got my hopes up for a shooting star only to see it was a plane! This one, though tiny, is at least the real thing.
Little remains of the Aurora on this shot when compared to the others but it does show a long white streak of light in the valley which is a freight train heading in from the west.
I even had time for vertical stacks of shots, this one is one of my favourites, three images in a vertical panorama that captures the stars, aurora and horizon perfectly.
A change of lens brought two nice shots that I stitched for this panorama of a huge ribbon crossing the city, even the lights of the city couldn't wash it out.
A switch back to the nifty 50 got me this stunning coloured ribbon across the same area but with a much wider aperture it even captured the reds on the far left of the shot even though the exposure was 20 seconds shorter.
I switched back to the night sky for this swathe of green and red almost blotting out the stars it was so dense, because these night shots have come out quite well I'm beginning to think I should head out to the mountains one night and make a few out there.
As I began to lose all feeling in my feet I realised it was almost 2:30 am and I'd be standing out on the balcony for 3 hours, the aurora was easing and had almost disappeared a couple of times, but it managed another wonderful curved display and left me wondering if I would ever get to bed tonight.
Then, in it's final flurries as the movement slowed and the colour drained from the sky, mother nature brought proceedings to a close with a final shooting star over the fading aurora. Soon after this shot it was all over and I packed my gear away and crawled into bed around 3 am, even then I struggled to get to sleep thinking about the shots I'd got (or hoped I'd got)
Now, in the cold light of day with the emotion subsided I may be a little critical of some of the finished product but all in all I am really happy with the outcome....and I can't wait for next time.
Now, in the cold light of day with the emotion subsided I may be a little critical of some of the finished product but all in all I am really happy with the outcome....and I can't wait for next time.
If you're a glutton for Aurora shots, the whole gallery is below, just click an image to begin.