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Photographer Carla Goldschmidt says the camera finds much more light than can be seen with the naked eye when shooting the northern lights.
Goldschmidt says this is more like what the naked eye would have seen of this particular northern lights display.
Carla Goldschmidt at the opening of her new exhibit at Common Ground in Cloquet.
To get photos of the northern lights, photographer Carla Goldschmidt first had to become a hunter. Not in the traditional sense, rather hunting with her camera and her wits for the elusive and spectacular aurora borealis.
"You can't just decide willy-nilly to go out and see the northern lights tonight," she said. "There's a lot of factors, so learning that was very helpful."
Goldschmidt, who currently has an exhibit of her aurora and nature photographs on display at Cloquet's Common Ground Coffee Bar & Deli, is actually a relatively recent convert to the joys of capturing the northern lights with the camera.
First, she had to up her camera game. In most cases, it's not something that someone with a cellphone camera will be able to capture well (with the exception of the amazing show some people enjoyed in the wee hours Friday, March 20, or a cell phone with aurora settings).
"You need a DSLR camera. You need a tripod. You need a good lens, one that has a wide angle and low aperture, so it can open up," Goldschmidt said. "You need a remote control, or you can use a timer. And then you need to know all the settings, and you need to look for the right numbers."
The numbers she's referring to are the numbers indicating geomagnetic activity (Kp), hemispheric power, the interplanetary magnetic field (Bz) and geomagnetic storm ratings, among others.
Fortunately, there are Facebook groups that can help the uninitiated, such as the Great Lakes Aurora Hunters, which is how Goldschmidt got started.
"I probably followed the posts and did research at least six months before I was ever able to get a picture of [the aurora]," she said. "You have to get used to the lingo and what they're looking for in the science."
Other useful websites include the Space Weather Prediction Center at https://www.swpc.noaa.gov, which has a special section on the aurora, spaceweatherlive.com and spaceweather.com.
The other requirements for all but the strongest aurora storms is a dark place and a lot of patience. Goldschidt has been known to drive around and look for open fields during the day, then she goes back at night to check for outdoor lights, which can really mess up a nighttime photo.
Patience is a necessity. Once a person arrives at their chosen location late at night, they then have to allow their eyes to adjust to the dark, which means no peeking at the phone or the back of the camera or building a fire. Even then, they may see light bands or spikes of white or light moving, but no colors in northern Minnesota.
That's where the camera comes in.
"The camera picks up all the color," she said. "You do a long exposure and it has the ability to gather more light and more color than our eyes can."
Goldschmidt, who is a music teacher by trade, considers herself an amateur photographer who wants to spread the joy.
"We were out the other night watching and giggling, and when I can capture that, I love to share it, so having the opportunity to display my photos and sell them to whoever wants, just is a joy to me," she said, adding that she also enjoys nature photography, particularly birds, and is starting to take more photos.
Goldschmidt's very affordable photos will be on display at Common Ground through April, at least; or, find her on Facebook at Carla Goldschmidt Photography.
