We’ve just had quite the light show from last night’s (15th July) Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) over the coast here in North Northumberland.
It started a little slowly, I almost gave up having stood out in the chilly July evening for over 30 mins without so much as a flicker. Then it all started and lasted 40 minutes before it seemed to calm and I decided to call it a night. But before then the aurora danced around the sky sweeping in in waves. I’d never seen them like this before, in fact I’d only seen them once before.
This is the 1st time I’ve shot the Northern Lights, so it was all a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of shoot. This is a 25 second shot, ISO 500 at f/6.3. I’ve no idea if this is good or “right” but the result isn’t bad at all! This has been processed in LR 4.1.
Anyone have any tips on night sky processing techniques or workflow?
More shots to come over the next few days. For 1st view always keep an eye on my Google+ profile
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Andy Gray
Andy is a Northumberland UK based Freelance Photographer, web and print designer. Selling images from http://photos.andrewsgray.com.
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This entry was posted on Monday, July 16th, 2012 at 1:38 am
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I think that looks pretty awesome as it is!
Thanks +Kevin Taillieu! Yeah I'm really pleased with it, I just wondered what tips the experts had
Magic!! I give this a try +Helge Korneliussen =)
Beautiful.
LR should do you just fine!
You've done a bang up job already Andy.
Congrats on seeing the NL's.
I've been watching the sky too, but we're not that clear.
Play with the contrast, and the separate colours in LR also.
*Jealous!
Lovely!
Great image +Andy Gray! I think settings are similar to photographing thunderstorms. Why did you shot on ISO500? You could have opened your lens fully, or was 6.3 the max?
Oooh wow, lucky you to get to see this! This is a fantastic shot, especially for a first attempt! I've never had a chance to take photos of the lights but my understanding is similar to what +Rogier Rood says. Open the lens wide and use a high ISO to grab as much light as you can?
Nice one +Andy Gray
Thanks everyone, will be posting a few more in the coming days.
Thanks for the colour tip +Darryl Van Gaal never thought of that! We got a nice half hour show, luckily it coincided our 1st clear night in weeks!
+Rogier Rood because I was being a dumb ass? Is that a valid reason
I should have been shooting at f4 and a higher ISO to bring that light in, instead of having to bring the light in using LR. But I didn't so I'll know for next time 
Thanks again everyone, +Kevin Taillieu +Hanna-Mia Kullman +Bryon Lippincott +Darryl Van Gaal +Isolde Eleison +Sumit Sen +Rogier Rood +Chris Miller and +Steve Gill all appreciated!