Winter night scenes from Fairbanks

[Øivind Tøien]

For those missing the winter (I got a fairly recent reports of +20°C in Oslo...), here are some winter "street" scenes from Fairbanks captured a couple of days ago. Added bonus was some aurora, but at a chilly (lack of adaptation at this time of the year)  -28°C.

#1


D5100, f/3.2 @ 10.5 mm, 20s, ISO 800



#2


D5100, f/3.2 @ 10.5 mm, 20s, ISO 800



#3


D5100,  12-24mm @ f/4.5 & 15 mm, 30s, ISO 800

[Akira]

Beautifully atmospheric image, Øivind!  People living under servere conditions are rewarded with something beautiful by the mother nature.

[Peter Connan]

Out-of-this-world images! Really like them.

[Jakov Minić]

Øivind these are beautiful. Special for all of us who don't encounter -28ºC that often (never).
Whilst envy the opportunities for photography, as I said before, I doubt I would have the courage to get a camera out of my bag in such temperatures

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for the kind comments all of you.
Getting used to cold is a matter of adaptation over time. 4 weeks ago I thought -5°C felt pretty cold. Now that it has warmed up to that level again from -28°C it feels almost too warm.    Unfortunately weather has not been too cooperative lately - we are back to gray overcast sky again. When we get a little further into winter -28°C is going to be normal by traditional standards, and only -40°C feel cold.

[Jakov Minić]

Øivind, you have to tell us more about life in Alaska.
How do you do ordinary things, like go shopping, or go out for dinner, or go to the cinema? What do people do for a living? Why would one want to live there? The list goes on and on...

[elsa hoffmann]

For most of us in South Africa - that is fairy tale stuff

[Jørgen Ramskov]

Really wonderful images.

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for further kind comments.
I think I will need to get back to the daily life part later Jakov (would probably deserve some images), but let us for now say that the need to stay warm has a pronounced effect on the local clothing "fashion". People drive cars just like everybody else in the US to get around, one just need to remember to keep some  emergency equipment in case of a breakdown and at least out of town that includes a good sleeping bag. A few hard-cores among us use bikes and skis to get around and even go shopping year round. Elsa, skiing a clear night though a moonlit snow covered forest can really feel like a fairy tale.

[PeterN]

Very beautiful. Like Jakov I don't have the courage to travel to Alaska this tine of the year and shoot with these temperatures. So I thank you for sharing your photos

[Jacques Pochoy]

Wow, great pictures ! One would expect some reindeers led sleigh flying by... :-)

[Alex Cejka]

Thanks for posting these - looks awesome form here! We are still above freezing point here.

[Gary]

Very nice images. I am glad you have the courage to venture out into -28C and snap away. (It is 63F right now and I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit before the pooch and I take our morning walk.)

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks for the further comment all of you. The dry air makes the cold more bearable, but it is nice to not venture too far away from the warm cabin at this time of of the year, still adapting to the cold.

With the arrival of a refurbished D7100 body, I have been into a period of testing - not too easy at these temperatures.
Some more images up the road from my cabin - first one with the 10.5mm on D7100. I liked how this body white balances the sodium vapor light, although here I switched to a custom WB in CNX2 to compare to my D5100.
#1

NIKON D7100, f/2.8 @ 10.5 mm, 20s, ISO 400



Then the same scene with 12-24mm on the D5100. The color rendition is remarkably close to the D7100 if the custom WB in CNX2 and other settings are kept close to the same, and particularly considering these have sensors from two different manufacturers.
#2

NIKON D5100, f/4.5 @ 12 mm, 20s, ISO 800



Another one from my neighborhood again:
#3

NIKON D7100, f/3.2 @ 10.5 mm, 20s, ISO 500.



#4

NIKON D7100, f/3.2 @ 10.5 mm, 15s, ISO 640