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The Night the Northern Lights Came to Maine
Late last week I had heard grumblings about the Northern Lights being visible in Maine. Every time I’ve heard this over the past few years, I never had any luck seeing them, so I dismissed what I was hearing.
On Friday night around 9:30pm, I started getting texts from friends: “Go outside and look up!” “Hope you’re seeing this” or “Dude, you’d better be getting pictures”
Begrudgingly I got out of bed, threw on a hoodie and slippers, grabbed my camera and a tripod, and muttered under my breath “This better be good.”
Holy shit.
I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.
Pictures of the Northern Lights in Maine
Now let me explain this to you from the get go. I edit my photos. I adjust lighting, colors, saturation, and so on because I want you to see the world through my eyes. BUT, with these images of the Northern Lights in Maine, there was very little adjustment needed. Once I finally got my settings dialed in, I just looked for angles and interesting compositions. The skies were constantly changing so I just kept shooting.
But to prove my point on how spectacular they were, here is a 10 second exposure from my iPhone 14Pro:
The fact is, these were some of the brightest, most vibrant skies I’ve ever seen. And all I had to do was stand outside in pajamas and Crocs. Scientists said it was a K8-K9 on the index which is super rare.
According to AuroraZone.com,
“The Kp-Index – derived from the German “Planetarische Kennziffer meaning “Planetary Index” – is a measure of geomagnetic activity in the Earth’s atmosphere. Geomagnetic activity is the origin of the href=”https://www.theaurorazone.com/about-the-aurora/the-science-of-the-northern-lights/how-do-the-northern-lights-appear”>Aurora Borealis
The Kp-Index does just that by utilising a scale from 0 to 9 where 9 represents a hugely significant geomagnetic storm. However, such storms are very rare indeed (approx. 1 every 3 years) and historical records point to Kp1, Kp2 and, to a lesser extent Kp3, being far and away the most frequent levels.”
Editing Photos of the Northern Lights in Maine
Obviously, being the quintessential portrait artist type, I looked through all of the images I captured and tried to coax out the personality of the sky, just like I do with all of my portrait clients. A shadow here, a highlight there. Hell there were even some shots I got that were horribly underexposed, but through the miracles of digital processing, I was able to recover beautiful colors.
I stayed outside for about 2 hours, circling my house and trying to get the widest variety of shots possible while staying on my property. It was an absolute blast. I even started to use the small flashlight in my pocket to do a bit of light painting and expose more of my house.
For the non-photographer folks out there, when you’re shooting in very low light and pushing your camera to the limit, digital noise creeps into the image and can make it appear very grainy. You can see some of that grain in the iPhone photo. Part of my editing process is to reduce that as much as I can without affecting the rest of the image. I found that using a software called Topaz Denoise AI, I could reduce or even eliminate the majority of the noise, leaving a much more pleasing image.
The Real Magic of Seeing the Northern Lights in Maine
There were so many people I talked to after the fact that were disappointed in the photos they got of the Northern Lights in Maine. I had to tell them that they missed the point entirely! Our solar system gave us a gift to witness with our own eyes and demonstrate the majestic power of the Universe. While having photos like these are cool, it is my JOB to do this well. The important part was to just enjoy the show, share it with friends if you happened to be around them, and take in the moment.
So if you were in a portion of the US where you couldn’t see anything, just take a moment and see what it was like here in Western Maine.
How I Captured Photos of the Northern Lights in Maine
For those interested in the technical details, here’s how I captured these images of the Northern Lights in Maine:
Gear:
Tripod: Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod with an Arca Swiss ballhead
Camera: Fujifilm H2S (APS-C sensor)
Lens: Venus Optics Laowa 9mm F/2.8 Zero Distortion manual focus lens
Settings:
Exposure: Generally started at 30 seconds (for those shots with star trails), but mainly between 3-10 seconds to avoid star trails
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 3200-5000
Post-Processing:
Adobe Lightroom for basic adjustments
Topaz Denoise AI for noise reduction
Remember, the most crucial element is simply being present and appreciating nature’s wonders. So the next time the Northern Lights come around, don’t forget to look up, just in case!
