Photo journalist Tom Stefanac was out this weekend in cottage country capturing the magic of Aurora Borealis. In this Q & A, Stefanac shares some professional tips and some of his life experience.
CTV Toronto: When and where did you take these photos?
Stefanac: Tiny township / Lafontaine on Saturday night to early Sunday morning (10:30 p.m. - 1 a.m.)
CTV Toronto: What does it take to capture the Northern Lights? What kind of equipment do you need?
Stefanac: The equipment is variable, in this case the lights were fairly dim. In fact they're much dimmer than starlight and probably 20 times dimmer than moonlight. The lights first appear to the human eye as a faint white glow. If the geomagnetic storm intensifies they can become much brighter and eventually the human eye can see the colouration as it appears in the photos.
I've seen aurora's so bright they cast shadows and even overpowered the moons light as far as intensity.
In this case because they remained quite faint so I used a professional dSLR (Canon 5DSR) with a 24-70mm lens and an aperture of 2.8. You also need a good study tripod to keep the camera still and an exposure of anywhere from 4 to 30 seconds with a moderate to high ISO.
You also need patience, the lights sometimes appear suddenly with little warning or take plenty of time with lots of false warning. It's also important to keep watching because while we can make good educated guesses, sometimes they really do appear out of nowhere.
CTV Toronto: Was this your first time seeing the lights in all their glory?
Stefanac: I've seen the northern lights many times, my most memorable experience was in 2004 when a solar sub-storm so powerful occurred the lights were visible directly over my head in Vaughan and overpowered the street lights and all the light pollution. They were green and effectually turned a deep red colour casting strong visible shadows on the ground. To put it in perspective, you could have snapped a wonderful photo with a modern camera phone effortlessly, that's how bright they were.
CTV Toronto: Did you stumble upon them or did you have a hunch you’d be able to see the lights clearly?
Stefanac: I keep an eye on the aurora forecast and the observed space weather data. There are a number of satellites in orbit that watch the sun and monitor the solar wind as it flows past. This data is sent to earth where computers at NASA use it to run an aurora simulation. From this simulation I try and plan aurora watching. I also have text message service i subscribe to which alerts me when the observed data suggests that an aurora may be possible despite a poor forecast. Between the satellite and earth, the particles responsible for the aurora take about 30-45 minutes to arrive so that gives me a reasonable lead time.
CTV Toronto: Any tips for people wanting to stargaze and view the phenomenon for themselves?
Stefanac: If you want to view the aurora you need to get away from the city lights and any cloud cover. You'll want to look towards magnetic north right along the horizon and watch for a faint glow. The best areas to watch from are those that are flat with a good view of the horizon. You'll also need to dress warmly and keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness of the night. You can pass the time by watching shooting stars. Lastly, nights that are moonless are best.
CTV Toronto: You’re a great student of extreme weather events. What is one thing you’ve witnessed that you’ll never forget?
Stefanac: The sky has always amazed me, in particular the relationship that exists between the weather and the landscape below. Tornadoes are of particular interest perhaps because they are so powerful, mesmerising and relatively rare considering how common other forms of weather are. The Joplin tornado was particular impactful, it's not common to have a large violent tornado impact a large city or town, and 2011 was a year full of damaging tornadoes. While in tornado alley that year I witnessed more property destruction in that particular year than any year previously or after. While I enjoy seeing tornadoes, I absolutely despise the property destruction that sometimes can result and Joplin was historic as far as the sheer volume of devastation, death and destruction.
With the weather, I'm simply an observer. As humans we can't stop a tornado, all we can do is attempt to forecast them, warn people and observe what is ultimately an accident of nature in its rawest and most powerful form.
