Northern light & bald eagle in Alaska

Hello everyone!

I plan to have a trip to Fairbank, AK and Holmer, AK in this coming Dec-Jan time mainly to take picture of northern light and bald eagle, and I need your help/advise to be able to take lots of beautiful pictures.

1) Northern light:

Is Dec-Jan the right time to see a lot of northern light in Fairbank? Where is/are the best locations to take northern light pictures (with beautiful foreground and background or with a reflection on a water front, etc.)?

Besides northern light in Fairbank, what else is there to take picture there during this time of the year

2) Bald eagle:

I know there're less bald eagle in winter than in summer in Holmer but I see lots of bald eagle pictures taken in winter in Holmer during the winter time. PLEASE let me know where would be the best spots to have highest opportunity to see and take good pictures of them.

Thanks a lot everyone!

I am far from an expert, but I have some experience.

For Aurora photography keep an eye on the KP Index, there are a few sites on the web that will give you the prediction for how strong the Aurora activity will be for that night. A reading of 6 or higher is great, but I have seen them with only a 4 in September between Anchorage and Denali which is a far north as I have been. Fairbanks is 199 miles past the entrance into Denali on Parks Hwy 3.

Just Google KP Index Auroras, you will find many links to sites.

The winter months are usually best, I have not been there past September, but talking to the locals that stay, it can get really cold at night and they were telling me numbers like -30°F. Dress warm. Take extra batteries and keep them warm.

I recommend a tripod and a good wide angle lens. I did a lot of experimentation with a 14mm F/2.8 Canon L prime lens and a Canon 5D MK IV. The nights I went out there seemed to be clouds under the Auroras, I hear deep winter in Alaska is a dry cold so you may have clear skys though some clouds can make for interesting images.

I was trying ISO from 5000 up, and varied F-Stops and Shutter speeds up to 15 seconds. I set my lens to manual focus and peaked it near infinity, manually tweaking focus on a star magnified in liveview. Check it once in a while. I did a 2 second shutter delay, I recommend a remote cable or set the camera for timed exposures.

Check your focus once in a while to be sure it has not gotten bumped off. It can be disappointing to find your focus was slightly off for many shots when you start your post processing.

I found in September the times after midnight to 4am were best, but in December you may have a longer window.

Generally the same techniques used for photographing the night sky will apply for Auroras. These aren't the best shots.

As far as Eagles or much other wild life, let me know how you make out. I saw very little wild life from Anchorage to Denali in September. A few birds, ducks, a couple moose. But it was hunting season in Alaska so perhaps a lot of the wild life was avoiding the places I was traveling. I recommend reading up on staying alert for wild life and how to prepare and stay safe in bear and moose country.

Best of luck and enjoy.

Besides northern light in Fairbank, what else is there to take picture there during this time of the year

What else to photograph in Alaska? :) It is Alaska. I don’t think that will be a problem considering every mile and twist and turn of the highways of Alaska is another photo opportunity. There are mountains, lakes, vast expanses of thin pine and white birch. Some of the scenes are so amazing. It is a unique place.

There is native culture, museums, tours, for around $1600 you can charter your own bush plane for several hours to take you anywhere you want to see.

Your bigger problem will be a short window of daylight so plan well. Sunrise in December in Fairbanks will be around 11:40am and Sunset around 2:45pm, it varies depending on the day.

The stars in Alaska are amazing, if you get away from the city in can be so dark and the Milky Way so bright.

You may want to take a dog sledding tour. Taking a ride with a pack of Mush dogs can be a fun ride and this is something that you can do year-round in Fairbanks and other parts of Alaska. Even in the summer you can take a ride with mush dogs pulling a cart. Alaska is home to the Iditarod. I had a chance to visit the Iditarod Museum and take a ride with a team of mush dogs led by the son of the man who started the Iditarod Trail Race the last time I visited Alaska. We got to hold mush dog pups and get up close with the dogs.

You are going to have a lot of things to photograph. But plan well, travel in the dark and be in the places you want at sunrise, daylight and sunset. Short daylight windows will be your biggest challenge for day time photos. You will have all the night you need though. :)

I highly recommend a good GPS and just about the only cell phones away from the city that work up there is AT&T and even that doesn't work in remote places. At least this was true above Anchorage and Wasilla going up to Denali. We picked up AT&T phones and with a pay by the month plan. If you have contacts in Fairbanks, ask what provider gives the best coverage in Alaska.

Things to note. Food is expensive in Alaska and that is in bigger towns and cities. Gas is comparable to the lower 48 states in populated areas. But as you get a few hundred miles remote into the wilderness, gas and food goes up, a lot of the touristy places to eat shut down for the season after September as that is about the end of tourist season. Gas up near Denali was about $4.00 a gallon and a sandwich ran about $12 if you can even find a place that is open. So plan well and pack food if venturing out.