Aurora at Glacier NP

borderbrae · February 21, 2015

Late last August I stopped in Glacier NP for a few nights. One night I was able to capture the Aurora Borealis.

Another night there I captured the Milky Way over Mt. Logan from a spot on Going to the Sun Road near overlooking Saint Mary Lake.

Stumblebum · February 21, 2015

Excellent!
Stuff of dreams!

David_S85 · February 21, 2015

Dang! How lucky you were to witness an auroral display - and then to capture it! I've never, as yet. Good work there on the nearly vertical MW shot.

boco · February 22, 2015

heel mooie eerste.
grt,boco.

borderbrae · February 22, 2015

Stumblebum wrote: »

Excellent!
Stuff of dreams!

Thanks, it was a fantastic experience.

David, sometimes it's a matter of being in the right place at the right time and then being prepared. With luck you'll capture the Aurora some night.

Boca, many thanks.

moose135 · February 22, 2015

Beautiful work!

borderbrae · February 22, 2015

Thanks, Moose.

kdog · February 22, 2015

Outstanding shots there, Jean. Love the colors in the first one. I didn't know one could see the auroras in August. Great milky way shot too.

Post some more!

PrevailingConditions · February 22, 2015

I would love to be able to see the aurora with my own eyes. Thanks for providing the vicarious experience.

Mike

Thelensspot · February 22, 2015

As a part time telescope using star gazer I find the Milky Way shot just fascinating. Perfectly done for my taste. You did a nice job with the nighttime exposure.

borderbrae · February 23, 2015

Thanks Joel. Seeing the Aurora is a matter of what is going on with the sun, have there been sunspots, etc. There is a great website, www.spaceweather.com, that s a big help.

Mike, I'm glad you enjoy the images.

Wayne, thanks to the astronomers at St. Mary Visitor Center I expected to see the Aurora that night. Some of the national parks actively encourage viewing the night sky and take pride in their darkness.

borderbrae · February 23, 2015

I drove from Glacier NP to Yellowstone the day after capturing the Aurora at Glacier. Got a campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs campground and went out that night.

This was taken from the Mammoth Hot Springs Upper Terraces parking area, looking over the little village of Mammoth Hot Springs. The heavy amount of stars you see to the right is part of the "northern" end of the Milky Way.

This was taken from the parking area looking at the hot springs and the Milky Way. The lighting on the hot springs is all ambient from parking lot lights, etc., no light painting.

Another Aurora image, with the Milky Way. This was taken early in June 2013 in Yellowstone, in the Lower Geyser Basin area. It is 4 images stitched together. This was taken with my Canon XSi, that has an ISO limit of 1600, and I was using an f 4.0 lens. Subject matter was super, equipment not up to it. When I got home I ordered the Canon 6D immediately, I enjoy the night photography too much to compromise. So this is more to show what you might see if you're in the right place at the right time than to show off quality.

Lots more nightscapes on my website and blog.

Stumblebum · February 23, 2015

Super cool! Thanks for sharing!

borderbrae · February 23, 2015

Stumblebum wrote: »

Super cool! Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed the images!

Thelensspot · February 25, 2015

Jean, the shot of the Milky Way with ambient parking lights on the foreground is very nice.
A great exposure on that one. Nice lighting effect on the ground without compromising the sky.

borderbrae · February 25, 2015

Thelensspot wrote: »

Jean, the shot of the Milky Way with ambient parking lights on the foreground is very nice.
A great exposure on that one. Nice lighting effect on the ground without compromising the sky.

Thanks, Wayne. I had discussed wanting to ge that image long before I made the trip and and a good friend and I talked about how it could be done with light painting..... lo & behold, it was already done for me, thank heavens!

Cornflake · February 27, 2015

Somehow I missed this until now, but I agree with the others. Beautifully done. Thanks for posting these.

borderbrae · February 27, 2015

Cornflake wrote: »

Somehow I missed this until now, but I agree with the others. Beautifully done. Thanks for posting these.

Thank you, Don.

bristlecone · February 28, 2015

I didn't miss it. Just haven't had the time to post. Bravo! Great color in the aurora and the MW shot seem to be about perfect. May I ask what technique/software you used in the MW? Great work.
-Len

borderbrae · February 28, 2015

bristlecone wrote: »

I didn't miss it. Just haven't had the time to post. Bravo! Great color in the aurora and the MW shot seem to be about perfect. May I ask what technique/software you used in the MW? Great work.
-Len

Thanks, Len. Milky Images all taken with the Canon 6D, Tokina 16-28 f 2.8 lens. Lens wide open, either 20 or 25 sec exposure. ISO for Mt. Logan was 4k, the others were all 3200. I use Canon DPP to convert from RAW to TIFF, then I use levels in PhotoShop and sharpen a bit, that's about it. My experience with PS is really learn as I go, based on an article or 2. I don't have any plug-ins, etc. to use with it. I like to keep it simple. I've read a bit about selecting parts of an image to work on but have only tried that a couple of times and really not thought it was that much help. I try to get it right in the camera.

The image of the MW & Aurora taken in 2013 is not nearly the same quality as the others. Sure wish I could go back and redo that one with the 6D. I'll be back there this June, though, and will be hoping for another wonderful night.

FlyNavy · March 1, 2015

Wow! Excellent work.

borderbrae · March 2, 2015

FlyNavy wrote: »

Wow! Excellent work.

Thank you!

El Gato · March 2, 2015

Aurora at Glacier NP
Absolutely amazing!

Great composition and imaging.

It must have been wonderful to see all those stars and just gaze into infinity.

Super job, thank you for sharing these!!

borderbrae · March 2, 2015

El Gato wrote: »

Absolutely amazing!

Great composition and imaging.

It must have been wonderful to see all those stars and just gaze into infinity.

Super job, thank you for sharing these!!

Thanks! It is humbling to be out at night taking in the Milky Way or other wondrous night things. Each time is a bit different, every night is special.

Aurora at Glacier NP

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