Aurora Borealis - August 2014
No matter how many times we see the Aurora, it remains an incredible sight, on August 26th 2014 I was preparing for bed and shutting off the lights when that familiar green glow caught my eye. I rushed to get the camera and tripod and set up on the balcony to watch another wonderful show, it was 12:00 midnight and thoughts of bed were gone.
After standing on the balcony grabbing shot after shot, I realised that I always showed this perspective, so I picked up the tripod and headed down the steps to the garden, through the gate and out into the trees behind the house.
Flip flops are not the most suitable footwear for wandering the woods after midnight, nor is a T-shirt when the mozzies are still around, after a few bites I moved again around a pathway to an open area where the breeze kept them away. Unfortunately that same breeze moved the trees during the long exposures resulting in some blur.
It was fantastic to be out in the trees on a warm summer evening watching this beautiful phenomenon dance across the distant skies, the stars filled the darkness beyond completing the canvas.
Even the city lights couldn't erase the glow and for once the tree tops stood still as the camera strained to capture the available light.
Looking away from the city lights, the darkness over the Bearspaw reservoir allowed the aurora to stand out against the night sky, the stars were still littered across the horizon and I happily accepted my few mozzy bites as payment for this incredible moment.
After spending a couple of hours wandering the trail in the woods behind the house, I began to make my way back toward the relative comfort of the balcony, stopping again on the open space where the breeze would blow away the mozzies once more.
I even had time to experiment with a silhouette of myself created by turning on my head torch and standing still as the camera captured the light form the torch and the aurora beyond, I'm quite pleased with the outcome.
moving back toward the city lights the night sky is washed by the glow from a million light sources, but its not enough to wipe out the aurora or the faint glow of the stars above.
As I get back to the house the annoying street lamp that sits close by casts its murky yellow light across the trees in the garden and the city lights burn brighter than ever, it hacks me off, who the hell needs all these lights at 02:00 am??
I changed lenses once more and shot the wider view from the balcony before going inside and making a nice cuppa. I kept on clicking away until around 02:30 am when the aurora died away, I found myself already hoping for the next one.