Back from a trip to Finnish Lapland, was lucky enough to get a few shots of the northern lights.
First one is more exposed 25s ISO3200, second one is exposed and edited in a more low-key fashion; 20s ISO800.
Shot with my K-3 and DA 10-17mm Fish-Eye at 10mm, wide open.
Could have been better with a newer generation sensor with better high-iso performance but the old and trusted K-3 still has something to say and is built like a tank as per Pentax standards, camera and lenses held up fine in the pretty extreme temperatures around -34 °C.
Tripod head was frozen solid after the snow hike to get to this remote location (what you see in the snow are wild animals footprints), thankfully I was able to set up a decent composition nonetheless.

[WileyB]

First one gets the magenta bands - nights with a good variety in colors are so spectacular!

Nicely done on both. I would not say the iso values were hurting the results...

[MikeNArk]

The first one is my favorite, but not because I don't like the second. The first is more bright and colorful and the second one a little dark and sinister. I like both very much.

[shyrsio]

I cant get enough of aurora pictures. I really hope I will see/shoot them at least once in my life.
I agree about the first one, more rich and striking imo.

[SelrahCharleS]

Nice shot!

[UncleVanya]

I love the first one. Great job.

[angkymac]

The top one really "inspires" the imagination--for me.
Bottom one is more of a mood shot.
Angky.

[MilamBardo]

I really like the first one. Lovely light, and the stars are nice and prominent.

This reminds me of a trip I made up to Harris, Scotland, in an attempt to find the Northern lights. They did not appear, unfortunately, but we did have some fantastic weather, and I got some nice pics anyway.

[Kerrowdown]

Impressive results, only the tripod head frozen solid... this old Kerrowdown would be the same at -34°C

[simon_199]

Thanks for your comments. I like the first style better myself, but since I have several exposures capturing different moments i wanted to edit some in a way that looks more realistic and similar to what you could see live.
By the way, that day the intensity of the display was considered low. It's the first time i've seen this phenomenon but i have to say that to the naked eye it isn't nearly as spectacular as long exposures suggest.
(Maybe also because I was unable to wear my eyeglasses in that conditions )

I've also put together a simple timelapse joining a series of iso800 exposures, but edited more in the style of the first shot above.

As I mentioned the light itself was relatively faint, the spectacular part is to see it move and change colors. So the "video" captures some of that magic..

Northern Lights Timelapse | simone_1_9_9 | Flickr

[GhostRed7]

awesome. this is on my bucket list. def not gonna see it around ga, us lol.

[OrchidJulie]

Lovely...great job!
I have only seen the aurora once, in person...from a position in northern lower Michigan, decades ago, but the display was very faint, looked like very dim red draperies in the northern sky. No camera, alas. Hope to see the real thing someday! Thanks for the vicarious experience!

[tncasual]

Wow. Great images.