Photos of the northern lights are often hard to capture, but reward the photographer with a beautiful and rare final photo.
Every so often, the city of Calgary almost stands still for a few minutes to gaze at the sky, squinting their eyes as much as they can to grab a glimpse of the beautifully jade-coloured northern lights. Some were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of it, but many people, being in the same city, say they couldn’t see it at all. What gives? How come some can and can’t see it?
All of the lights
One of the reasons one might be missing out on the northern lights is because of location. Depending on if someone’s in the city center or out near the city limits, their northern lights experience will either be incredibly disappointing, or amazingly beautiful. This is due to light pollution, as the experience will be much worse with more lights. Artificial lights, which are abundant in a big city, affect our ability to view the night sky as clear compared to wide open rural areas by “polluting” the sky. For a beautiful nighttime experience in a rural place like Airdrie or Drumheller, take a look at the sky and see how many stars have been blocked by light pollution!
Take a photo, it’ll last longer!
When someone get the chance to see the lights, they’ll notice they’re not nearly as vibrant as many of the photos online make them out to be. Are these photos fabricated? Is it possible that an advanced digital camera is capable of picking up light much more effectively than the inferior human eyes? Yes. The average camera sensor does a much better job at detecting light, making for easy, beautiful photos of the aurora. Next time the lights are just barely visible, take a picture! It will, indeed, last longer.
For all the aspiring nature photographers who didn’t get a chance to grab a photo or take in the beautiful presence of the northern lights, they’ll surely remember these tips and tricks to be able to see the next light show even better.
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