Ya, the contrast is over the top. Just playing around with parametric masks in Darktable. Trying to see how far I could push it. (Phacelia campanularia, desert bluebell.)
So this is the place in Doyle, Calif, that I first stopped to photograph the aurora. I could easily see the vertical column structures while driving down the highway! I didn't stay long because some residents turned on a bunch of lights & came out with barking dogs &c. I moved to a spot further away. Wish I could have stayed because the railroad people were assembling the train & I may have captured some interesting lights of moving trains.
I decided to roll the dice, that my CV joint on my car wouldn't blowup, for a run up north out of city lights to see the aurora--& I'm so glad I did! Two shots from northern California: First is from Doyle & the second is from Frenchman Lake. What an amazing display! For a time the aurora covered a 180 degrees from east to west & was overhead & could be seen in the south! I shot these photos with a 15mm f/2.0 30sec ISO400.
Here's a pair of charcoal kilns not often seen as they are a bit out of the way high in the Cedar Range of southeastern Nevada. The Panaca Kilns were built c. 1875 and used until the 1890s to make charcoal for mining smelters in the region. They were operated by Swiss and Italian woodcutters, known as "Carbonari," who had perfected the charcoal-making process in Europe.
I finally got a clean photo of the old Eureka Opera House (1880) and Jackson House Hotel in Eureka, Nevada. Usually there are vehicles parked in front. Too bad this wasn't in the evening with the lights on. The reflections on the wet pavement would have been awesome! Guess you gotta take what you can get!