I took a few photos of N.Lights, on a two week solo outing, in September 2000. There was a full moon a few days earlier, so the moon was a bit bright on the night that I took my shots. In fact , I started out trying to take some nice shots of the moon as it rose from the distant lakeshore- appearing to rise from the woods on the other side of the lake! As my interest in the moon wore on , and the moon rose higher- and I lost the effect of the moon and it's reflection on the water, I noticed a faint greenish glow to the north! WOW! it was so spectacular to see the Northern Lights; the colors, and streaks danced across the sky in errie silence, back and forth, east to west! I quickly reloaded the camera, and got set up as best I could, given my location on a rocky shore. I fumbled with the tripod- trying to adjust a few too many knobs in the dark was a pain! If you can, I'd recommend a tripod with a quick-adjusting type of locking mechanism- which can be easily set and reset without any difficulty!
Then , I had to guess about the exposure time required- I'd never done this before, so it was a complete experiment- but a few of the shots actually came out ok!
WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made the biggest mistake by taking my photos to a "quick" photo developer (Bemidji Fast Photo)-(I have a brother who lives there , and wanted to get them developed so I could show them to him and his family while I was finishing my vacation)! THE IDIOTS THREW OUT MOST OF MY SHOTS(NEGATIVES)- !!!!!!
(Probably because to the person doing the developing thought that they may have appeared underexposed!!!!
I RECOMMEND TAKING ALL YOU VALUED PHOTOS TO A REPUTABLE, KNOWLEDGABLE CAMERA SHOP/DEVELOPER/PRINT developer etc!!!!
BE SURE TO TELL THEM THAT YOU WANT ALL OF YOUR SHOTS PRINTED, AND THAT YOU WANT ALL OF YOU NEGATIVES RETURNED TO YOU!!!! Tell them that yopu have some shots taken at night, and in adverse lighting conditions,& so that they will be able to help you improve you methods by talking to you about your photos when you go to pick them up!!!!!!

I tried using 400 speed film, but would recommend 800, or faster- just for these kind of night shots. Also, I tried long exposure times- up to 2 minutes or more. Keep a few notes, so that if your shots come out nice you will be able to get a "feel" for taking night shots!! Perhaps you should burn up a few rolls too before your next outing- just to get some practice!!

Most of all , I thought it would've been really nice to have had someone there with me to share that experience! It's so hard to try to explain the moment to someone who hasn't experienced it for themselves!!
I hope you have many more such experiences in the future!!
Always take plenty of film, and extra batteries, and try to "compose" your shots well!
Best of luck!!

Posted by guloguloguy on July 28, 2002 at 05:02
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