Seeing the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis in North Iowa is not a common event, but it is so sweet when we do get to see them. I won't go in to all of the details of what causes the auroras, (you can do your own research) except to say that accurate predictions of more than about 45 minutes are difficult. There are numerous Aurora Alerts web sites, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages where you can get alerts and notices of Aurora activity. Of course it needs to be dark and few or no clouds to the north. If there is a bright Moon it can wash out out the sky and make event bright Northern Lights difficult to see.
As you look at the charts and graphs on the web sites there are a few things that you need to know to determine if the lights are a possibility in your area.
A 'Kp index' of 6 (G2) or higher is usually necessary for North Iowa.
On the Bz chart a negative number or 'South' is a good thing. -3 is better than -2.
Watch for indicators that it is possible to see Aurora at middle latitudes.
Many sites display the time zone as UTC or UT for Universal Time. At this time of year Iowa is -5 UT. So 05:00UT or 5:00 AM would be Midnight here in Central Daylight time (CDT). 02:00UT would be 9:00 PM the previous day. When we are no longer on daylight savings time (CST)  Iowa will be -6UT.

A few Aurora Alerts Web Sites:

• Aurora Forecast
• Softserve News Aurora Forecast
• Space Weather Live 
• Aurora Alerts - Facebook site
• Great Lakes Aurora Hunters FB Group (request to join)
• Aurora Alerts on Twitter
• KP Aurora Alerts on Twitter
• Long list of Aurora Alerts sites

Photographing the Aurora:
Put the camera on a sturdy tripod. Full manual settings - manual focus on the lens focused on infinity or a very distant object, manual exposure. ISO from 400-3200 depending on how bright the lights, f/stop 2.8 or wider if your lens will allow, exposure time will vary from a few to several seconds. You'll have to experiment. Every night will be different. Sometimes they are barely visible to the naked eye, and can only be seen well in the camera with a longer time exposure. On rare occasions they are bright enough to shoot a video. If you see Northern Lights don't expect them to last long. They could last only a few minutes or several hours. There is no way to know. Or they could start and stop multiple times during the night or in to the early morning.
Good Luck. I hope that you get to see and photograph the Northern Lights!
- by Bruce McKee

Have you ever received an email message with a huge photo attached that was so big that you had to scroll back and forth to see it? Have you waited and waited for your email messages to download because of a huge photo file that was attached to one of the messages? Have you tried to view a web page that takes forever to load some of the images?  It is likely in all of these cases that the images were not resized to a smaller size before adding to the email message or the web page.

I have recorded three short 6-7 minute videos on resizing photos. These are the same presentations that I did at the March club meeting in a condensed form. I show how to resize photos for email or the web using Photoshop Elements, Lightroom 4 and Microsoft Paint for those who don't have either of the previous two applications. You can find the videos on the Resources page.

The short version of the story is to resize your images for email or for the club monthly photo contests to no bigger than 800 pixels wide at 72 DPI. Usually for email 500-600 Px in the longest dimension will work fine. If you are not sure, send an email message to yourself with the photo and see what it looks like in your email. 

- Bruce McKee

Don Barnes put together a short tutorial on using Photoshop to do easy highlighting of photos. You can read his article here...
(opens a pdf file)

By Jack Vanden Heuvel

I just spent a couple days at the Sax Zim Bog in late January, 2014, doing photography.  Bruce asked me to give a report.  Located NW of Duluth, MN, it is a favorite place for those doing bird photography, especially of Great Gray, Snowy, and Northern Hawk Owls.  They also have feeders up to attract smaller birds such as the boreal chickadees and gray jays.

These are not tame birds, and it is a big area, so it is still not a sure thing.  I got good photos of a Snowy Owl and a Northern Hawk Owl.  I had three sightings of Great Grays, but that was rougher, since it was low light, and I was shooting fast with a high ISO.

Finding them is something you work on by yourself, but it is also helpful to find others who have stopped their cars because they are seeing something.  It is like the Yellowstone bear jams, only not that bad.  I really do appreciate other people’s eyes finding those owls.

It is pretty easy to get something of Snowy’s since once you find one they will hang out from a few perch places for hours.  I had not seen a Snowy since the 50s, so I had a great time simply watching this beautiful bird for hours!  They are so beautiful.  Their hunting ability is incredible.  They can spot a vole way in the distance, and go down there immediately and nail it!  Same for the Hawk owl!

Great Grays I still am after.  They are the largest of all owls.  I photographed one once by the Claybanks in Iowa with slide film many years ago.  It was exciting for me to actually see one again, and then to have three sightings!  BUT I only got to see them in the low light of early morning and late evening.

Although many of the photo people used tripods, I usually used a bean bag on the window of my car.

The best way to find out about this place is to go to their web site.  Even better than the web site by far, is to go to their Facebook account for regular updates.  They have their big birding festival there February 14-16, 2014.

I found the best birding on the north end, just west of the corner of Zim Road and Highway 7, and then again for Greys on Admiral near the Admiral feeders.

If you go there in winter, note that Lake Superior shoreline is fun to photograph too!

A great web site to get all kinds of ideas and updates on the whole Duluth area including Sax Zim Bog is pro photographer Sparky at http://thephotonaturalist.com/

To find out what is going on in the bog, it is always a good idea to talk to someone with a big lens, and just ask.  That is how I found the Hawk Owl, many miles away, on Owl Avenue.  By the way, I talked to a professional guide there with his clients.  They had all just been in Iowa at Lock and Dam 14 for eagle photos!  He told me there were 1100 eagles at Lock and Dam 13, but #14 was the best for photos.  Of course the North Iowa Photo Club knows that by now!

I have attended the Minneapolis Nature Photo Club that meets in REI and have appreciated contacts made there.  But the North Iowa Photo Club website is extremely impressive compared to other web sites by photo clubs!  I enjoy watching the Iowa Public Television videos Bruce posts as well.   I keep in touch with your web site, and miss the super club you are there in Mason City!!!  Keep welcoming one another, and have fun with your camera!
(Click the photos below to see a larger image)

Landscape photographers want highly detailed sharp images with everything in focus. The best way to achieved this is by  focus stacking. The lens is sharpest when it is stopped down one or two stops from its widest aperture. If you have a 16-35/F4 lens like I do, the sharpest images are produced when the aperture is set between 5.6 and F8.  Beyond that the image can get  soft due to diffraction... [Read the rest of the article here...]
- Article by Harsha Jayawardena

I was concerned about what might happen to the image sensor on my camera in very cold weather and if it would change the quality of the recorded image, so I posed the question on one of the photography forums that I follow. The consensus is that cold does not negatively affect digital image sensors. However, the cold will cause camera batteries to lose their charge sooner, and the cold metal of the camera on cold fingers or your face while taking pictures could increase the risk of frost bite. In cold weather there are often heat-waves coming up from the ground that will slightly distort things in the distance, causing pictures of distant objects taken with a telephoto lens to be unsharp.

Another real concern is condensation that may form on or inside the camera or lens when bringing it in the house (or into a warm car) from the cold outside, just like it does on my glasses. Condensation forming inside the lens or camera could ruin it and cause all kinds of mechanical, electrical or optical problems. Before I bring my cold camera in the house I will either zip it tightly inside my camera bag or I will put it inside a "dry bag" used for keeping things dry while canoeing or kayaking and seal it up tightly (a large sealed zip-lock bag may work also). First wrapping a towel around the camera may also prevent any moisture that may form inside the plastic bag from dripping on the camera. Then, when I bring it inside I will wait several hours to let everything gradually warm up to room temperature before opening the bag. I guess I can't be in too much of a hurry to get to the photos that I just took or to recharge the batteries.  Surprisingly, the same thing happens in the summer when taking a camera from the hot-humid outside in to a cold air-conditioned building. So the same steps should be taken to stabilize the temperature before exposing the camera to the colder room to avoid condensation.
Well, that is my photo-tip for the day.
- Bruce  McKee

The North Iowa Photo Club will hold a monthly just-for-fun online photo contest for club members. The purpose of the contest is to have a friendly challenge to shoot for a theme and to work to improve your photographic craft. The photos can be taken at any time in the previous 12 months. Submissions can be made by email during the month of the contest. Voting will take place online by the club members during the first three weeks of the following month and winners will be announced each month at the club meeting and online.
Have Fun!

Read the Rules -
http://northiowaphotoclub.weebly.com/photo-contest.html

By Don Barnes
There are several reasons for creating a digital mat or frame for your image.  Maybe you just want to enhance your image for online viewing.  Perhaps you don’t have the tools and materials to make a traditional mat for your image.  Possibly you can’t find the right color or texture of mat to compliment your image.  For all these reasons digital matting and framing may be the answer to your needs. [Read More...]