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After 12 years of failed attempts, I finally caught the Aurora
What an experience. I have been trying to shoot the aurora since I started astrophotography nearly 12 years ago now. Yet, I have always seemed to come up dry. I would go out on the prospect of a good night, then nothing would pop and it would just lead to a sleepy day at work the next day. As a result, I would go to bed early that 2nd night and while I was sleeping BOOM, it pops. Other causes of failure were clouds, a flippin wedding on May 10 of this year which was the other massive storm, work obligations, and this list goes on. There is way more to it than that, the bottom line is I have been trying to shoot these fickle little things for years and have been disappointed every time.
Finally, on the night of October 10 last week, I struck gold. I went out thinking I was going to strike out again, so I decided to hike up a mountain with the prospect I could shoot other things if the aurora didn't pop. Well I was wrong.... dead wrong. The whole display absolutely blew me away. I saw colors, the pillars, the arc, all that crazy madness. I was swimming in it. To be honest, I don't even love how I shot it that much. Just simply witnessing it for the first time was astonishing.
While on the summit of the hike, I wanted to get down lower and shoot from one of the lakes near the trailhead. After shooting for 2 hours I packed up, then headed down. I found a tiny little spot which gave me enough of a reflection I wanted, all the while another substorm was breaking out. This is that shot here.
The next day at work I was beyond sleepy. I drove 4 hours north, then did a 5.4 mi hike with 1800' of elevation gain, shot all night, then drove home right after to make a meeting at 8 AM. This time though, it was worth it.
Oct 15, 2024 at 11:20 AM
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