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I kinda wish we'd stop try to oversell northern lights with overexposed HDR pictures. They're nowhere near as bright or vibrant as they look in the pictures, e
by marginalia_nu 3y ago
I kinda wish we'd stop try to oversell northern lights with overexposed HDR pictures. They're nowhere near as bright or vibrant as they look in the pictures, even when viewed somewhere properly dark and far north.
Raising expectations too high means visitors come away with disappointment at the faint green-ish sky-snake, which is a shame, as it is pretty spectacular.
- sam_lowry_ 3y agoI witnessed some pretty mind-bogging northern lights in my childhood. It's not that they are bright, they just change form so fast that you actually see it, and this is enough to realize how alien they are. Granted, that was beyond the polar circle.
- marginalia_nu 3y agoYeah, I'm not saying they aren't spectacular, but they don't look anything like the pictures. It's more about the motion and just the vastness of the experience than the vivid colors.
- cpach 3y agoYeah that kind of picture seems to have increased a lot in popularity the past few years.
- alkonaut 3y agoThey also aren’t nearly as spectacular on any picture as they are in real life so overexposing isn’t really overselling that much. I definitely saw Auroras every but as spectacular as those pictures but it’s really rare (happened once or twice in my entire life). Selling Auroras to tourists is a really tricky concept to begin with.
- pciexpgpu 3y agoIn certain areas, yes. If you visit Iceland at the right time away from city lights, it is indeed better than what the pictures claim. It’s spectacular and magnificent.
- KolenCh 3y agoI kinda wish we’d stop try to oversell the Milky Way with overexposed HDR pictures. They’re nowhere near as bright or vibrant as they look in the picture, even when viewed somewhere properly dark…