Re: [Leica] Re: Northern Lights

[Zeissler@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/23/99 9:26:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,
71247.3542@compuserve.com writes:

>  Only the higher-altitude lights can be photographed; these are the graceful
>  sheets of pale light that wave slowly in the cosmic wind.

This is what I want to shoot.  This is what I've dreamed of seeing and
shooting since I first heard of the Lights (Leitz; a coincidence?  I don't
think so!) decades ago.

>  The low-altitude stuff is something else entirely: wild spinning flashes of
>  every imaginable (and more) vibrant color. The shutter speeds required to
>  record an image are way too long to catch anything other than an indistinct
>  blur.  The low altitude lights are very rare; in my 6 summers in Denali

Even with a Noctilux wide open?  (A serious question, as I've never shot them
and when I do, I may never have a second chance.  I'd like to be prepared.)

>  National Park I saw them only once, for about a half-hour of utterly
>  painful ecstasy.  Their beauty is too painful to watch, too amazing to not
>  watch.  If you happen to see the low-altitude lights forget the camera,
>  live in the moment for it is one that will change your perspective on life
>  forever.
>  Doug Herr
>  Sacramento

With such a description, I cannot imagine being stuck in Sacramento (no insult
intended; your statement just seems at odds with such a cosmopolitan area).
My wife and I are always scheming to get out into the wilds and enjoy nature.
Thank you for the exquisite observation.

/Mitch