By Adam Stewart
From the Newsroom
I got home pretty early—by Tuesday newsroom standards—on Nov. 11. I was able to eat dinner with my wife, Michelle, and was settled in for a quiet night at home.
Our quiet night changed quickly about 8:15 p.m. I saw a post on Facebook from local photographer Greg Holmes, saying the aurora borealis was actually visible in Hutchinson. I’d seen some friends across the country posting about it on social media, but I hadn’t expected it to amount to much here.
I mentioned to Michelle that I might go out of town with my camera and tripod to get photos. She was immediately on board, telling me that I should, and that she was coming with me. We identified an out-of-the-way spot, away from most of the light pollution, with a clear view to the north. By 8:45, I was setting up my tripod just off a gravel road west of Hutchinson.
It was a perfect night for astrophotography. The temperature was in the 40s, but there was barely any wind, so I only needed a jacket to stay comfortable. More importantly, the sky was clear, and the aurora was easily visible. Michelle could even see the red light in the sky from the car on our way to take photos.
I’d never photographed an aurora before, so it took some time to get the settings on my camera just right. Once we did, though, it was spectacular. With a 6-second exposure, we could see detail and intensity that weren’t visible to the naked eye. Photos also made it much easier to see the green of the aurora that, even at its peak, was only faintly visible. Later at home, cycling through the photos on my computer, I could even see movement in the aurora that was too slow to see in real time.
As happy as I am with the photos for my first attempt photographing an aurora, the process was the real highlight. Michelle and I dropped everything at a moment’s notice to take a rare, limited-time opportunity. We could scarcely stop laughing while we were out there, just the two of us, on a quiet gravel road. It’s a memory we won’t forget any time soon.
Most of the time, I am a planner. I like to have plenty of information and a plan, because even if I have to improvise, I feel like planning makes me better prepared to improvise.
But sometimes you just have to be spontaneous, and having the right person to encourage you sure helps.
Adam Stewart is the assistant news editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached at adam@hutchtribune.com.