October 10th Aurora

Catching the Aurora

Sun is just starting to go down and it is just about 7:30pm and the dogs are itching to go on their walk to the dog park. Get them all packed up and head out the door. Phone starts buzzing of notifications that there was a possibility of a show in the next hour and it could go right overhead. Making our rounds at the Coaldale dog park and start seeing the the lights bouncing and sure enough it goes right overhead. It was getting strong enough that I could see the colors without the help of the camera. Usually with how dark it had gotten we are the only ones at the park, but not tonight! Half a dozen ours brought their dogs and came to see the lights. We headed home so that I can could my gear ready for a quick trip. Received a couple questions for fellow photographers on some setting to use. Then hop on a call with family in another city to help them capture the light with their cameras. Waited a bit and headed 20mins north of Coaldale on the way to Turin. Found a good spot and set up for a quick shot. Shucks clouds had rolled in. There were a couple clear spots above and to the south. Since it was so strong the storm was all over the sky. So ended up shooting directly up and also to the south with the moon in the shots. Quite happy with the results. Have never seen so much Redd and Purple in the Aurora before.

For those that want to know gear and settings here is what they were

Gear - Camera: Pentax K1 ii Full Frame Lens: Samyang 14mm 2.8 Manual Tripod: Vanguard Alta Pro

Iso: 3200 f2.8-3.2 shutter 1.6 seconds