I've shot the Aurora Australis. As the sky was dark, I overexposed. The 2SP
got better results than the 1n (Now that hurt to say!). Between 1 and 2
stops, depending upon battery life and the brightness of the aurora.
Having also photographed rainbows, I underexposed a few shots too. Not much
success there.
The colour of the aurora will dictate it's hight. White is low, then
orange/yellow and then red at the activity increases with height. The white
will photograph as green. Film works differently to eyes.
Photos will not do it justice. Imagine getting really drunk and laying under
one of those light curtains that stop no light, and watching it move and
shimmer. Auroras look similar, and also seem to involve achohol. The film
shot will be a smudge, like a time exposure on a waterfall. But if the
aurora shape is round instead of stretching across the sky, the photo is
still great.
If I get access to a slide scanner, I'll put some photos on the Oly gallery
Foxy
----- Original Message ----- > Hello all,
>
> I am going to Fairbanks in a few days to see and hopefully photograph the
> northern lights. I have seen them only once before, but saw enough to
> realize they will be a challenge to capture on film. I will be using an
OM
> 4t, so I have a great meter to work with. Does anyone have experience
with
> this?
>
> My first plan is to use a 50mm 1.4(my fastest lens) wide open with Provia
> pushed to 200. This should give OK grain and good color while allowing
> fairly fast shutter speeds. It would seem to me that the speed of the
> light's movement will blur with any speed over a few seconds. I thought
> about using Provia 1600, but am afraid the grain will be awful. I also
plan
> to spot meter an area of green or red in the lights and let the meter do
the
> rest, but also considered letting OTF work under center weighted metering.
>
> Any suggestions are welcome as well as recommendations as to where in the
> Fairbanks area to go for viewing the lights. I hope the city decides to
> turn on the northern lights when I am there!! ;>)
>
> Ron Crabtree
> Santa Fe, NM
>
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