The Lights

One of the most common questions visitors to Alaska ask is "how can I see the northern lights?"
After traveling all over this state, in every season and weather condition imaginable, my unfortunate reply is always "good question."

Full moon above Earthquake Park

There is no sure-fire method of viewing the northern lights. Certain scientists, such as those at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute, have become adept at predicting when the aurora is likely to be active. They have even developed a website: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast
to keep those of us that are interested informed about when, and to some extent where the aurora may be viewed.

Abby and I have followed the website tenaciously. We even have the Aurora Forecaster App on our iPhones, ya know? And we have waited with eager anticipation for days deemed to have the right conditions for a higher probability of seeing the northern lights. These days are indicated on the website using a number value to represent the chance of seeing the aurora. A higher number means a higher chance. And on those days we have assembled our camera gear and driven to dark, deserted places in hopes of having optimal viewing conditions. And waited in said deserted places. And waited. You get the point.

It was about 8pm on a Thursday night and we were both exhausted. I was actually lying in bed reading when Abby said "Tonights a 5, do you feel like going?" My first reaction was no. No, I dont feel like getting our camera gear together, plus clothes to stand outside in the single digit temperatures, and going to sit in a dark parking lot for an hour only to come home disappointed, again. My warm blanket and book sound like a much better idea. Then I thought to myself, I've gone out for 3's and 4's. If I stay in on a 5 night, I may very well be kicking myself later. "Fine, let's go."

So we threw some clothes on, grabbed the camera gear and headed out the door. The usual flurry of questions: Are we taking Indie? Do you have gloves and a hat? Do you have the camera? Did you charge the batteries? I reply - yes, yes, yes, and I think so. I know at least one of the camera batteries is charged.

With limited time and energy, choosing a location was easy. Whether trying to photograph Anchorage, or catch a glimpse of Denali on a clear day, Earthquake Park is a staple spot for scenery. When we arrived, there was already about a dozen cars. Abby set up the camera and started testing camera settings by shooting the full moon. She immediately noticed that the battery was low and asked "I thought you said the battery was charged." Knowing that the back up battery was fully charged, I began battery replacement. Between my lack of familiarity with the new tripod and my already numb fingers, it took an extremely long time to get the battery replaced. As luck would have it, the northern lights came out during this time.

Display begins. Photographers frantically try to set up

Needless to say, Abby was not happy and the phrase "You said the battery was charged" was repeated several times with continually heightened frustration. Nevertheless, the battery got swapped, and pictures were taken.

Focusing the camera was the biggest challenge

The one thing we had a hard time with was focusing. Autofocus is not an option with northern lights. The camera gets confused and the result is nothing in the photo is in focus. The manual focus settings I've always used cause the LED display to light up, which completely blinds you from being able to see the focus light. Abby had very limited success focusing by trial and error. The process was complicated significantly by the fact that the evening temperature was hovering around zero degrees. Our toes were completely frozen and our fingers weren't far behind.

Our best attempt at a portrait with the aurora 

People showed up in droves once the display began

B's favorite  

Abby's favorite

We stood outside and photographed for over 2 hours. Everyone at the park was either excited they were there to see the lights, or severely disappointed that they didn't arrive sooner. The excitement of seeing our first real aurora would have certainly kept us out there longer, but neither one of could feel our fingers or toes. Thanks to Abby's photography prowess, we did not come home empty handed. She took two amazing photos leaving the night a success!! We headed home very cold, and very happy.

Faint Aurora with Anchorage city lights

Photographers seem to be split on the subject of  computer-aided enhancement. It seems the most contentious in the realm of photojournalism. However, when you consider photography as an art form....why not? Even as a  novice with photo enhancing software, it's still fun to tinker.