October Aurora

Well! Something crossed off my bucket list! I finally (FINALLY) got to shoot the Aurora Borealis! After all the times I watched the Aurora website and chasing out to a location when the conditions were supposedly 'right' and coming home with nothing the Aurora creeped up on me when I didn't expect it. It's been a week or more since this was shot and I don't remember the exact date--it's listed with the exif info on the right though

but I was READY when I saw a flash of color in my rear view mirror north of Lusk, Wyoming. I pulled over to see a vibrant display of these purple and magenta pillars. I had known the aurora was happening when I left on my trip even though the sky was overcast--through a hole in the gloom I could see a green glow which is all the aurora we usually get this far south when in North Dakota they might be getting a dazzling display. This time we got it!

I only got three frames and of those this is the only one that was bright enough to work up and post. Yes, I have edited this shot some to bring out the contrast and color of the display but have added no extra color like saturation. Mostly I made white balance adjustments and contrast adjustments with some mild tone mapping.

When the pillars were happening you really couldn't see the colors--just a ghostly shimmering in the sky. It wasn't until the shot showed up on the camera LCD that the colors showed up.

Anyhoo--I am a happy boy I hope you like it too!