Edit
To provide some context given the messages below. I was a professional photographer, and understand that getting a good photo is a skill. Exposure time, timing, location, and many other factors come into play when capturing a great image.
Seeing the aurora was a fantastic experience. The purpose of this post is to help reduce FOMO of those who could not see it. Many people who don't know these things will imagine dancing lights in the sky of brilliance, and will be saddened by what they missed. While they did miss something, it's important for them to know exactly what they missed.
Edit2 I should also note this is why I enjoy when photographers post gear, conditions, and settings alongside results. It tells viewers what was real.
It's not an Instagram filter, it's exposure time. I set my camera on night mode and it took pictures during 4-10 seconds and the results were incredible
But even with the naked eye the lights were incredible last night
We arrived to the park before sunset and the biggest display was right when it became dark enough and a lot of people started arriving 2-3 hours later after watching pictures of other people and they were complaining that it didn't look as magical as the pictures. Lots of those people who arrived late were also using flashlights and just taking pictures of using their phones, not letting their eyes get used to the dark conditions or even really looking at the sky
This. Thank you for explaining it correctly, I’ve seen sooo many people saying it’s just filters. Of course, there will almost always be some colour correction but the way a camera a camera can capture the light is different to the naked eye.
Camera almost never can reproduce the image as our eyes see it. The dynamic range for example is vastly superior on eyes compared to a camera meaning that in some cases an HDR photo may infact more closely resemble the reality despite looking unnatural compared to a non-HDR photo.
While true, this is a bit misleading. While rhe eye does have a higher dynamic range than a standard camera lens and sensor, that is only true when there is enough light. In the dark, the situation is reversed, as the human eye has difficulty taking advantage of that range.
See edit and response above, thank you for the feedback.