I’m not sure there could be anything better than the Northern Lights on the shores of Lake Huron. Between 11:30PM until 1:00AM, I was around the Rogers City area photographing the event, with a focus on the shoreline. I was somewhat unsure if any of the photos were going to turn out because of the 30 mile per hour wind gusts that may have shaken the camera, but luckily it didn’t… Another image is after the break! Read more
It has been about a month since my last post on here, I have been patiently waiting for the flowers to bloom in the local greenhouse called Nettas. This past Tuesday I took a drive there and managed to capture a few interesting images of the freshly ‘hatched’ flowers. The image above is my favorite because of the texture and color contrast between the flower and backdrop that I was testing. In about a week all the flowers at the greenhouse will be blooming; I plan on spending an entire day there doing macro photography (with plenty more to post here!)
- Travis.
Tonight the northern lights will be very active due to a large solar flare that is impacting the earth. Most northern latitudes in the United States should be able to view the display, as long as clouds hold off. The northern lights are a great nighttime treat to watch or capture on ‘film’.
If you plan on photographing the ‘Lights’, here are some tips that may be useful:
- Be sure to use a tripod to stabilize your camera, this is critical.
- Use a lens that has a large maximum aperture. A f/3.5, f/2.8, or f/2.4 lens would be ideal. If you aren’t sure of what the maximum aperture size is for one of your lenses, it usually is printed on the lens. The smaller the number, the better.
- Use a slow shutter speed. Primarily, I use a 30 second exposure speed (or faster) and usually have the aperture set wide open (f/2.4 in my case because that is my lens’ widest aperture). Anything above a 30 second exposure may reduce details in the ‘lights’ and cause motion blurs from movement of the Earth. Shutter speed is quite subjective to the light conditions. If the Aurora is very bright, you can get away with a with a faster shutter speed and lower ISO.
- Depending on the speed of your lens & how bright the aurora is, you may need to bump up (or turn down if the Aurora is very bright) the ISO. I usually try to shoot at 1600 ISO or maybe 3200 ISO. But remember, the higher the ISO the more grain that will appear in the photo. Also, the higher the ISO, the faster your camera will pull in light. This setting is also subjective to the brightness of the aurora.
-If it’s very bright, a lower ISO & faster shutter speed can be used. If it’s very dim, a higher ISO (in combination with a slower shutter speed) will be needed to capture the light of the Aurora.
- Set your lens/camera to Manual focus. Make sure your lens’ focus is turn to Infinity (which looks like this on the lens ∞ )
- Make sure to bring a flashlight.
- If you don’t capture the ‘lights’ in your first image, don’t get discouraged. Adjust your aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings until you start to see the lights in your image.
If anyone has any specific question, feel free to email me your questions via travis@travispeltz.com
These are the tips I keep in mind when I shoot the northern lights. Keep in mind that there are different methods to capture the lights on film. So if you find a different method that works for you, then certainly keep shooting! 
Happy Shooting!!
- Travis.
Last night, a large coronal mass ejection (CME) was thrown from the sun. It’s hurtling straight toward our little planet, Earth. This means northern areas in the USA may be able to see the Aurora Borealis tomorrow night (March 8, 2012). The last time a large CME occurred was last year in the fall, it was seen as far south as Tennessee. This event may be the same size or larger. I highly advise everyone to keep there eye on the sky tomorrow night. It will be a great photo opportunity and definitely is something that a family may enjoy watching.
I plan on shooting the ‘lights’ all thursday night. It’s a rare event, some people never see them in their lifetime. I’ll be posting new images periodically through the night and Friday morning.
- Travis.
Winter in Michigan so far has been unusually warm & snow-less. There was relatively no snow on the ground during December. It was depressing, especially during Christmas. However, Ol’ Man Winter had a big surprise for us during the first two weeks of January. Read on for more images! Read more
Black Friday has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the sales are! Hit the break for an unbelievable deal….
In the past month or so I noticed a few new patrol cars on the road…and not your average Crown Victoria. I’m talking about two brand new, supercharged,
Read more
Last night my awesome blog designer, Ryan Hamrick, set up my web store. If you look directly below most of my images you’ll see the words: Buy Print, Buy Card, Download, Share, & eCard. All are quite self-explanatory. If you click any of those links, you will be directed to my FotoMoto web store where you can choose from premium prints, fine-art prints, canvas prints, cards, & downloads. All options are very high quality products.
You can select almost any size print you can think of. Also, the images that will be sent to you will not have the black border or my logo on them. You will get the original image.
Thank you,
- Travis.
Last night was truly remarkable. I was processing a few images & also checking on Facebook when I read a post talking about the northern lights. At first, I thought nothing of it. I continued to see more and more posts about the northern lights. I decided to go step outside and see what all the talk was about. Hit the break for more images & the story! Read more
Normally, I just post a tweet on Twitter containing people who I think everyone should ‘follow’. I decided it would be more beneficial to post my #followfriday list on my blog and include details about the people. So without further ado, let’s get started.
Hit the break to read my #followfriday list!
