Growing up in Vilas County, I admit taking for granted the beauty that surrounded me daily. That finally changed as I became an adult. I remember occasionally thinking to myself while driving “oh, that would be a pretty shot.” A couple years ago, during a conversation with my husband, it dawned on me that I had never seen the northern lights, despite growing up in a relatively prime location for viewing them. It soon became my mission to “hunt” for them and finally discover the northern lights.
I already had a decent camera that I had purchased for taking photos of my water skiing events, so I did some research on how to photograph them to identify the camera settings I would need. I hoped if I had the opportunity to spot one, I would be able to capture what I was seeing on my camera.
My first sighting finally happened on September 18, 2023. I remember how the northern lights danced so vividly overhead. I was awestruck! I still recall seeing my first photo as it appeared on my digital camera’s display and thinking how the true colors were so beautiful and amazing. Now I was truly hooked!
I immediately started researching better equipment for nighttime photography, as well as tutorials on how to correctly edit images. As I got deeper into the details, I soon was able to predict how, why and when the lights might be out to give me time to plan my outings. I’m fortunate that I don’t have far to go — I live on a lake where I can access a north facing shore, where most of my pictures are taken. While I don’t love sitting outside alone in the woods in the dark , that’s quickly forgotten when that view of vibrant colors pops up on my camera screen.
I also greatly enjoy post processing my images, where I take the raw file and fine tune the contrast and sharpness. A crucial step is removing the image noise, which is the gritty, grainy dots that comes from taking digital images in low light. When denoising is finished, the image goes from good to professional grade in my opinion, and it’s just so fulfilling!
I’ve dabbled in a few fall foliage photo walks around my family’s resort this past fall and I love the shots I’ve gotten, but my true passion is northern lights photography. I find myself waiting impatiently for the next opportunity to capture them!
—
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
During the summer months, Kate spends her time water skiing in Vilas county with the Plum Ski-ters. This upcoming summer will be her 23rd season skiing with the team and her first as team President. Kate fondly notes that this small little team in the woods has accorded to her many life accomplishments and experiences. “We’re a family orientated team with no tryouts or age restrictions, yet we have several individual national champions on the team and achieved a list of accolades, including the Division 3 Outstanding Male Skier and the multi-time Division 3 Outstanding Female Skier (myself). Our most notable accomplishment is winning the 2024 WI State D3 Championship as a team!” If you’re in the area, check them out on Plum Lake in Sayner, WI.
Follow Kate on her new
Facebook page to keep up to date on her newest images & adventures!
