Aurora Borealis
Also known as Northern lights, auroras occur when highly charged electrons in the solar wind brush by the earth and are drawn by the earth’s magnetic field to the polar regions. These ionized particles interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the earth’s atmosphere, causing light to be emitted.
Upsala, Ontario where I live is not terribly near to the arctic. But even so, we are far enough north to enjoy a good night of auroras from time to time throughout the year. And even after living in Northwestern Ontario for many years, I still find myself awestruck while out viewing and photographing auroras on a dark and quiet night. I think this must be one of my favourite photo pursuits.
I like to tell folks that my aurora photos only really tell part of the story. To get the whole thing, one must actually get out there oneself. See the vastness of the starry sky, hear the many night sounds of wilderness creatures calling from afar, feel the coolness of the northern night, smell the breeze off the lake, paddle one’s canoe on glassy waters at midnight, snowshoe by moonlight on the frozen lake. For those of you who don’t have the opportunity to partake of these simple pleasures, I feel a twinge of pity. But I do hope that some of my photos will at least begin to convey to you the magnificence of a northern night.
The photos on this page were all shot very near where I live in Upsala, and they are rendered as closely as possible to what the camera actually captured. You will notice quite a difference in lighting and even colour between many of the shots and this has largely to do with the amount of moon that shone during any given session. And auroras themselves can vary immensely from one night to the next, both in intensity and in colour. One never knows quite what to expect.....and this reality can heighten both the expectation and the enjoyment of a given night-time photo session.
Because the earth is always rotating on its axis, celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, planets, and stars continually “travel” in arcs across our sky. This motion is undetectable to the eye, but can be captured with a camera over a period of time. Occasionally, when the auroras are not particularly active (and especially when the night is moonless and dark) I like to shoot a very long exposure to capture this movement (we call these images “star trails”). You will find some star trails images here as well. Some do include auroras and some do not, but still may be of interest.
Click on any thumbnail to view an enlarged version of that image. I hope you enjoy browsing through these images, and please feel free to contact me with any questions. For information about prices and purchasing prints, go to my Prices and Ordering page.
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