The Return of the Aurora Borealis by abirkill

The Return of the Aurora Borealis

2014 has been a pretty bad year for those wishing to see the northern lights from more southern latitudes, particularly on the west coast. There have been a number of promising storms forecast, but they have mostly either been weaker than forecast, or peaked when it is still light.

Accordingly, while I had a number of sightings (and took a number of photographs) of the aurora last year, this year the best I've managed to capture has been a faint green glow on the horizon. However, on Saturday things took a promising turn, when a storm that was forecast to be quite minor was appearing to be unexpectedly strong.

I kept an eye on the forecast throughout the evening, and saw that the east coast was getting a good display. To my surprise, as it got later and the aurora started to appear in the west, the forecast was still strong, so I grabbed my gear and headed out along the Sea to Sky highway, which links Vancouver and Whistler, to a spot about half an hour's drive from Vancouver.

Even when all the signs are pointing to a good display, it's very rare that the northern lights are constantly dancing this far south. It's much more common to have a faint green glow most of the time, and for occasional spikes of activity that last for a minute or two that light up the sky, so although I couldn't see anything when I got there, I knew that I'd have to give it a reasonable amount of time.

A perfectly clear night made for good viewing conditions but cold weather, with a temperature of -4, which starts off not being too bad, but after you've been standing in one spot for three hours starts to get rather chilly! I set up my camera to start taking exposures and waited to see if anything would happen!

After I'd been there for about an hour and a half, at around 12:30am, suddenly the sky started to dance with light. It was fainter than many of the displays I've seen around Vancouver, but more colourful as well, with some beautiful red pillars that nicely contrasted the green glow, which also grew significantly stronger. For about half an hour from 12:30am to 1:00am, I got to see my first good display of the aurora this year, before it once again faded back to a level that even the camera could barely pick up.

This is a composite shot of about 8 frames taken between 12:30am and 1:00am, capturing the best of the pillars of light and the colour. Each of these shots was taken at ISO 3200, 24mm, f/4, for 30 seconds. To get more detail in the foreground on this dark and moonless night, I took a longer exposure of 5 minutes.

Click to view on a black background for best effect! If you look closely you can make out some snow-capped mountains in the distance. Thanks also for the amazing response on my photo of the Andromeda Galaxy!
True dedication Alexis. Fav
November 17th, 2014  
Wow what an amazing sight a brilliant shot a fav
November 17th, 2014  
Simply amazing shot Alexis.
November 17th, 2014  
It is almost like spotlights from stage lighting in your backdrop.
November 17th, 2014  
Just beautiful!
November 17th, 2014  
Fabulous and a fav
November 17th, 2014  
One of the many natural phenomena I have on a bucket list. Magnificent capture.
November 17th, 2014  
Wow!
November 17th, 2014  
Lee
And yet again, fabulous.
November 17th, 2014  
Gorgeous!
November 17th, 2014  
Stunning - thanks for persevering :) fav
November 17th, 2014  
Gorgeous!
Fav
November 17th, 2014  
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Fave!
November 17th, 2014  
Lovely! FAV
November 17th, 2014  
Oh, I am so jealous, I have yet to see them, ever!
November 17th, 2014  
wow, fantastic
November 17th, 2014  
Beautiful!!
November 17th, 2014  
Incredible shot..fav!
November 17th, 2014  
Incredibly awesome!
November 17th, 2014  
You are the master of evocative night shots. Amazing image, yet again!
November 17th, 2014  
Like everyone else, just want to be able to witness a sight like this....
November 17th, 2014  
Very nice Alexis! Thanks for the info as well. Fav!
November 17th, 2014  
Great result for you efforts! It is always extra special to see the reds. Fav.
November 17th, 2014  
Awesome. Fav!
November 17th, 2014  
Wonderful shot, great display of patience, FAV.
November 17th, 2014  
Wonderful shot, as always... thanks again for the technical background. Great tenacity on the part of our photog. :)
November 17th, 2014  
gorgeous!
November 17th, 2014  
Wow, just incredible... both the scene and your photography.
November 17th, 2014  
This one is awesome. Love it.
November 17th, 2014  
Is's amazing!!!
November 17th, 2014  
Lovely shot and as always, great commentary. fav
November 17th, 2014  
Simply stunning ! Went on the Rocky Mountaineer earlier this year (seems to be something of a pilgrimage for Australians of a certain age) so I now have some idea of where this was taken. You are very dedicated to your craft ! I would love to see this event. Fav.
November 17th, 2014  
Amazing image, and thanks for all the technical information that you always so generously provide. Fav.
November 18th, 2014  
Can't imagine how beautiful this would be in person. Fabulous capture!
November 18th, 2014  
Totally gorgeous. Your usual brilliant work
November 18th, 2014  
gorgeous Alexis! fav!
November 18th, 2014  
Wow! Lucky you. Very beautifully done!
November 20th, 2014  
Double congrats on double TT for two marvelous images!
November 21st, 2014  
Wonderful to see these colours instead of the more usual greens and reds. Great composition too.
November 21st, 2014  
Absolutely Stunning!
November 23rd, 2014  
Another stunning shot from you!
November 23rd, 2014  
Yet another amazing image from you.....I am in awe!
December 1st, 2014  
Wow and fav!
December 4th, 2014  
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