Colorado creek and the northern lights in the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8L (16mm), 30 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 100, Time: 12:39am, Fist quarter moon.
I spent a few days in the White Mountains National Recreation Area a few weeks ago, just north of Fairbanks. On the final clear night, while hanging out with friends in the warm cabin and enjoying good food after a long day of skiing, the aurora appeared in the sky about midnight. The displays were nothing special, but I geared up and went out to shoot for a while since I had no pictures of this particular cabin. It’s situated about 13 miles from the parking lot, on a pretty good trail system, although snowmachine traffic with the large paddle tracks can make the skiing less desirable. What is not particularly evident in this photo is that I’m waist deep in snow (I didn’t have my snowshoes). I wanted some of the spruce trees in the foreground, and based on the orientation of the aurora, I needed that angle. The shadows on the tree reveal a pretty strong moonlight, even with a first quarter moon status. The displays never cranked in the hour I was outside, but with a long ski behind me and another one coming in the morning, I gave way to sleep in a nice warm cabin. Due to my low angle, stuck in the snow, and the use of the 16mm focal length, I used a little vertical distortion correction in Ligthroom to correct the severely leaning trees.
Hey Patrick
I hear you on skiing over snow machine tracks, for sure.
The public use cabins in Alaska are so awesome. As is the aurora .. even a “mild” display is special, I think. On this particular night, they really turned it on about 2am.
Cheers
Carl
Carl,
Thanks for the aurora report on that night. I just did not have it in me to go sleepless that evening and wait it out. The skiing was really excellent. The main frustration with skiing on multi-use trails is not that there is snow machine traffic, but more specifically the heavy, knobby-tread tracks designed for high performance mountain riding. When people use those for general recreating on the trails, they really rip it up. In contrast, the Tundra tracks are quite nice to ski on.
Very Very Nice Patrick! This is a winner for sure!
Thanks Ronn,
I was hoping for a more dramatic aurora, but you take what you get.
I really like this picture, Patrick. The strong, warm light from the cabin, the aurora in the sky, the huge field of stars, the snow, the trees, the shadows – I like it all. For those of us who live in the cities, scenes like this speak to the soul.
Vivian,
I’ve spent my time in the cities, and I enjoy much of the pulse and culture that lives there. But it is true, that little compares with the seemingly normal but rare beauty of a night like this away from the city. Thanks for commenting.