starry nights

Last night I took pictures of the northern lights for the first time, which I was also seeing for the first time. When I heard they were going to be out, I got excited and quickly ran out of the house with my camera, forgetting things like a headlamp, hat, gloves, and warm clothing. It was windy, and it was cold, but it was awesome.

This is a picture that I had thought about taking since last summer. Initially I wanted to set up my camera for a long exposure on a clear night with the moonlight lighting up the rocks. Because of the south facing view, the stars would have made a nice arch over the rocks. However, being a south facing view, the moon passes right through the sky in front of the camera, which would make an ugly streak and back light the waterfall. For this shot I just set up a 30 second exposure and lit the waterfall with my head lamp.