Saturday morning's forecast was for the potential for the northern lights to be visible in our area. I have seen many pictures of the aurora borealis. I knew what I was looking for or at least I thought. I tried one night last summer to get a look at the spectacle without success. This time I found out I needed to be able to get a view of the northern horizon. I drove a couple of miles from here and parked next to a sod farm. I set up my camera on my tripod and waited. Staring at the horizon I could hear Canadian Geese and a dog barking off in the distance. I saw the occasional car headlights driving along a nearby road. The moon was very bright that night, bright enough that I did not use a flashlight I had brought along. I made a couple of exposures finally ending up along a bank of a ditch that got me up off of the road.
This exposure is at f 8.0 at 30 seconds. The bottom left horizon is light pollution from a town several miles away.The moon's brightness reflecting on the melting ice intrigued me so I turned around and snapped a picture with my Iphone and stuck my phone in my pocket. I waited around for about an hour before deciding to make my way back to my vehicle. Before leaving I made this image which includes our new used vehicle backlit against the night.
I hopped in and drove home and went back to bed. I did not see the northern lights that night and made a few images just for the fun of it.
The story does not end here. As I was taking a look at my images so I could post them. I thought what about that picture I took with my Iphone? I took out my phone and brought up the picture I had taken. I am posting this image below as a composite and levels adjusted in Photoshop.
I have been around photography for about ten years and have come to the conclusion that this is a picture and there is a face in it. I've never seen a ghost. I've been creeped out before but usually have been able to rationalize each situation. I have also given some thought about that night. The top of the image is the horizon and the field had melting patches of ice. What are the chances of ice patches in a field melting into the image of a face? Possible I guess. I can't go back and recreate this image.. The warm days and rain we have had has melted much of the ice. Was I not alone that night? I do know that there was not a physical body around me for at least a mile in every direction at 3:48 a.m. when I turned around from the direction I was looking and snapped it. I made a couple of images in a pretty dark room using the same program and settings with different results. I also contacted Hipstamatic where I was informed that they do not use a layer containing a face within the program. So, what happens now. I don't know.
