Aurora Borealis by abirkill

Aurora Borealis

A magnetic storm this weekend promised a good chance of an Aurora Borealis sighting. On Friday and Saturday the forecast was fairly steady but quite low, and being relatively far south in Vancouver, BC, the chances of a good show seemed unlikely.

Last night, the forecast showed the possibility of some spikes of activity in the early hours of the morning, so I figured what better way to break in the 5D Mark III Mark II! As I've not yet got a shot I'm totally happy with from this location, I again headed to Porteau Cove Provincial Park, about 30 minutes drive north of Vancouver.

For most of the evening, the Aurora was steady and visible, but very low on the horizon, not making for the best photography opportunity. However, there were two occasions where we saw a significant spike in activity, which caused the sky to light up! The peak of activity in both cases lasted for only about 60 seconds, and had died back down to low level activity after 5 minutes.

Apologies for the dots in the normal-size view, but view this large (using the magnifying glass button above the photo) and watch the Aurora quite literally come to life!
Fav - this is stunning and it has to be a fav because of the view large magic lol :)
July 15th, 2013  
What amazing colours! Must be quite an experience !
July 15th, 2013  
So cool!!
July 15th, 2013  
It really does come to life viewed large! That is amazing! Wow! Fav!
July 15th, 2013  
OMG that is amazing ! ~ how did you get it to do that on large? I could watch that all night long. FAV
July 15th, 2013  
That's absolutely gorgeous :)
July 15th, 2013  
Wow this is a dream to wTch this, cool Fav
July 15th, 2013  
AH MAZING. Fav!!
July 15th, 2013  
Stunningly magical-fav !
July 15th, 2013  
So cool. :)
July 15th, 2013  
Wow, gorgeous. Fav!
July 15th, 2013  
Cool! I like the car driving through
July 15th, 2013  
Oh, I just clicked on the enlarged view and saw it was animated. Amazing.
July 15th, 2013  
How the heck do you do that? Astonishing, wonderful amazing.......FAV FAV FAV!!
July 15th, 2013  
Fabulous fav!
July 15th, 2013  
I'm pretty sure that just took my breathe away. Loved how it was animated and put together. Those colors are so beautiful. Fav :)
July 15th, 2013  
Wow. Stunning. Love the animation. Fav.
July 15th, 2013  
WOW fav
July 15th, 2013  
AWesome! The animation was a nice surprise! I'll push the button again, it's wonderful!
July 15th, 2013  
How did you do that? Amazing lights, love the colours, just fabulous. Fav
July 15th, 2013  
Wow, how did you do that? That is truly amazing. I was so taken aback when it started moving, I had to keep going back and doing it again. That is one of the most amazing things I have seen on here. The sky is stunning and I love the car lights on the road too. FAV
July 15th, 2013  
Thank you for showing me something I may never get a chance to see otherwise.
July 15th, 2013  
You must have been so excited about the sky show! Thanks for sharing it here!
July 15th, 2013  
Without words, viewed large its stunning. This is something I would like to see once at least
July 15th, 2013  
It is amazing thank you for showing it to us:)
July 15th, 2013  
WOW! I love this!! Most definitely a fav!!!!!
July 15th, 2013  
Fav. Incredible images.
July 15th, 2013  
fav
July 15th, 2013  
Absolutely amazing and definitely needs to be viewed large for a great show of colours. Wish I could see it for real. A fav
July 15th, 2013  
That is sensational, you are very fortunate to live somewhere it can be seen. Very appropriate for breaking in the new camera. fav.
July 15th, 2013  
Super cool. I love it.
July 15th, 2013  
Can see why folk travel 100s of miles to catch a glimpse of this.
July 15th, 2013  
Oh wow! Must be viewed large. Fav.
July 16th, 2013  
Caz
Oh WOW !! This HAS to be viewed large, I've just been watching mesmerised....wow, Alexis, this is spectacular. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Fav of course !
July 16th, 2013  
This is awesome. Definitely a Fav.
July 16th, 2013  
This is wonderful!
July 16th, 2013  
Fantastic!! Fav for sure.
July 16th, 2013  
Great! FAV!
July 16th, 2013  
Oh, Alexis, how wonderful!!
July 16th, 2013  
WOW!!!!
July 16th, 2013  
soooooooo sorry to hear about your baby, Alexis. now we HAVE to get together to commiserate. your Mark III went to a good place in heaven, be sure of that... it was well loved.

you went all old school on this animated gif, huh? man, you're making me feel old.

best of luck in the Panoramic competition, I know you're good for some awards for sure.
July 16th, 2013  
An awesome capture. Fav.
July 16th, 2013  
Ohmygosh!!
July 16th, 2013  
Wow, amazing!
July 16th, 2013  
amazing!
July 16th, 2013  
Ian
Absolutely amazing !
July 16th, 2013  
This is absolutely beautiful, love the colors. fav
July 16th, 2013  
Stunning shot. Love the vibrant colours
July 16th, 2013  
totally amazing colors and I love the lines
July 16th, 2013  
absolutely stunning :) Fav, it just has to be
July 16th, 2013  
Fantastic! :)
July 16th, 2013  
Just incredible, thank you for sharing this! fave
July 17th, 2013  
Incredibly beautiful! Fav!
July 17th, 2013  
Sue
Stunning! Thanks so much for popping by & the fav :p
July 17th, 2013  
Ian
Viewed large just now.... That's magic !
July 17th, 2013  
Fav - would have faved it on the thumbnail or the usual size but viewed large it is magical in the extreme! How - please - how did you do that????
July 17th, 2013  
Stunning, instant FAV
July 18th, 2013  
Stunning - well done saw this on the TT
July 19th, 2013  
Magical colors in this, I love it!
July 19th, 2013  
Congrats on the TT!
July 19th, 2013  
Stunning image! congrats on the TT! FAV
July 19th, 2013  
Congrats !!!:)
July 19th, 2013  
Just fantastic, well done!
July 19th, 2013  
Wow - fantastic shot - many congrats on your double TT! : ) fav
July 19th, 2013  
Congrats on TT! Fav!
July 19th, 2013  
Caz
Congrats on TT x 2 !! :)
July 20th, 2013  
wow!!! how did you do that, make it come alive?!?!
FAV! soooooo gorgeous!
July 20th, 2013  
Wonderful colours, stunning shot and congrats on TT! A fav!
July 20th, 2013  
Simply Amazing - FAV
July 20th, 2013  
Congrats on the TT .... this is just amazing! fav :D
July 20th, 2013  
Congrats on the TT.
July 20th, 2013  
Viewed large is amazing. I don't know how that happens. Fav
July 21st, 2013  
Insanely amazing! FAV!
July 21st, 2013  
wonderful, glad I did view large!
July 21st, 2013  
Fabulous group if shots Alexis. Congratulations.
July 21st, 2013  
Speechless fav
July 22nd, 2013  
Wow this is amazing. Congratulations TT
July 23rd, 2013  
Instant fav! Wowy!
July 24th, 2013  
on my bucket list for sure.....and i am super impressed with the timelapse trick....and for some reason i love that you can see the cars driving past - - not JUST the sky show.......a fav!
July 26th, 2013  
FAV! That is utterly an amazing capture!
July 27th, 2013  
I'm quite mesmerized by the image viewed large - but how did you do that? How does it keep moving?
July 27th, 2013  
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