The Glensheen Mansion in Duluth hosted another event for photographers the other day to allow access to the colorful lights on the grounds. Some of the lights had been acquired from a local resident that could no longer continue the tradition of decorating her backyard on the shore of Lake Superior. It has made a nice addition to the festive feel at the mansion.
Recently, after hearing that there would be better than normal northern lights, I headed out to my chosen destination and set up for the show. Sadly, it turns out the show started after I gave up and went home; however, I at least tried to capture some night sky shots, something I haven’t done much of. The results are a good starting point to help me learn how to do better in the future and how to improve my post production. One lesson is to not pick a very windy night as it leads to camera shake on the tripod. Next time I will not extend the tripod all the way open, keeping more rigid and close to the ground.
I’m working on getting an image for an upcoming photo submission that needs to be a long exposure. This is not quite what I was hoping for, but it’s a good start.
Downtown storefronts in Fairbault, Minnesota.
Light rail station near downtown Minneapolis, MN.
On a recent night when I expected to see the aurora lighting up the skies over Duluth, I got a surprise. Rather than seeing the northern lights, I captured this unique image, for which I have no explanation. I took many shots that night, but only this one has what appears to be lights in the sky over the Blatnik Bridge and the harbor. Other than cropping the image, doing a bit of sharpening and noise reduction, I’ve done no other editing.
Night time observation as I drove through Red Wing, MN. (iPhone 5S, tweaked in LR CC)
Northern Visions Media 