Wednesday, August 7

Lately up north... Pow-Wows & Campfires under the Northern Lights


We had a lovely weekend in the north. Actually it was a perfect northern weekend.
The annual pow-wow was taking place, and aboriginal groups from all over North America were in town.



Unfortunately it rained on Saturday and the festivities had to be moved indoors, but it was fun just the same ;)



Zac loved watching all the dancing and listening to the loud drums and (rather intense) singing.


Then on Sunday night, we had friends and neighbours over for a campfire and s'mores in our backyard. 


 It was a beautiful starry night, with a light breeze and surprisingly no bugs. 
And just when I thought the night had reached campfire perfection, the northern lights made an appearance and gave us all a beautiful light show.


It's a lot harder to see the aurora borealis up here in summer, since the sky doesn't get dark until very late. But even though the auroras looked paler against the still bright sky, they were still incredibly beautiful!


I am back in Montreal now for the next 3 weeks, and planning to soak up as much of the remains of summer as I possibly can!

Hope you're having a great week.
oxo
Vanessa.

6 comments:

Tiffany Kadani said...

What setting do you use to catch the stars so perfectly? I'm just in total awe. (Ps... I love when you share photos from the North. So rich in culture and love.)

Lady Grey said...

Tiffany, thank you!
The most important part is simply using a tripod. I don't use the same settings each time... depending on how bright the sky is and how strong the northern lights are, I'll use a shutter speed ranging from 5 seconds to 20 seconds even. And usually I leave my aperture wide open, and use an ISO of 640 or 800. Oh and you have to use manual focus because the camera's automatic focus has trouble choosing a focus point when it's so dark out.
And last tip.... I set a 2-second timer on my camera so that I don't cause any motion at all by pressing down the shutter button when I take the picture.... it honestly makes a difference :)

To be honest, I'm still learning as I go. I get frustrated a lot when I get a blurry picture of the starry sky that *would* have been spectacular! But that's all part of the process!

Rebekah said...

what a perfect weekend. thanks for sharing :)

For the love of psych. said...

That first pic of Z where he's watching the pow wow makes him seem SO grown up! He's turning from a baby into a little boy SO quickly! Ahhh must plan a trip to see you guys soon!!

sweet harvest moon said...

How beautiful! Look at those stars!

Margie Oomen said...

you always make me so want to visit the north and see the auroras dance