Well, this is as good as it got last night! Or to be more precise early this morning. Had a drive all the way up the coast through sometimes pouring rain and finally got to just South of Holy Island. The rain had stopped and the clouds started to form some cloud banks rather than the complete cover we'd had all day. I must have sat for nearly an hour with the car window down, listening to the soft calls of the sea birds on the mud flats and watching the ebb and flow of light reflected in the clouds. Lots of noise in this picture, it was very dark and all I could do was wedge my little tripod against the inside of my car door to stabilise it. But if you take the time to view this large, you can see the faint rainbow colours just over the black mass on the right (Holy Island). Et voilà - Northern Lights :-) Not the spectacle I had the good fortune to see in Iceland 9 years ago on my first visit to my sister's, but still it leaves you slightly breathless.
Thank you all for the wonderful comments, favs and new follows over the past few days! I am blown away by your kindness and encouragement! Off to the Lakes for a few days to visit friends and not sure yet what connectivity will be like.
Waren Mill overlooking mud flats and Holy Island - 15 miles South of the Scottish Border.
January Treasure hunt - Rainbow (I know it's faint, but I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel now...)
Love it ... the Northern Lights fascinate me ... and I really like that greenish glow ... nice capture indeed! (BTW - the location you described sounds idyllic!)
@sixthblade Thanks Miguel! The ones I saw in Iceland where just incredible. Curtains and curtains of green light running over the sky and towards you - such an intense experience! he spot I settled on has the least light pollution and also had this open view around me, so I didn't get freaked out by the darkness...I am a wuss when it comes to that! Also some of the car parks had rather very questionable activity going on ;-)
Well done B - I'm sure I would have been so excited I would have forgotten to press the shutter!! I love that place, the view must have been wonderful and the lights a bonus! Have a great time in the lakes :)
very cool, that's a long drive up getting up that far - and Holy Island is amazing - great shot, glad you got something for your efforts - and yes, I remembered a week or so ago why I stopped taking on the month long challenges, I've had enough by now, bored, want to take what I want.
Love that you went out of your way to get this... no northern lights where I live (at least not while I was awake). Saw them in Iceland like you did. They ARE Magical.
Great capture. I like the contrast between the green light and the darkness of the clouds. It was cloudy here so I missed the whole event, except through the pictures of others.
Lovely shot - I think it catches the essence even with the cloud cover.
I remember my Dad & I driving back form a folk evening near Hexham one winter when I was quite little & suddenly we saw these amazing lights in the sky. Dad realized what it was & pulled over & we must have sat & watched for about an hour - I'll never forget it.
Thank you all so much for the comments! I think my mum thinks I've gone a bit mad ;-) but I loved being able to just do the crazy thing seeing as I'm on holiday! Just can't wait for the next opportunity, it's quite addictive :-) And just to say, sorry I'm quite behind with commenting on your shots! I will catch up over the weekend surely!! really appreciate all the comments and support!
@cliffs Well, nearly ;-) Still can't quite believe I didn't know anything about the spectacle on Sunday night and would've been able to get a beautiful shot and experience standing at St.Mary's...never mind! Did you get to see them on Sunday?
I had no luck but only was out for an hour.
I remember my Dad & I driving back form a folk evening near Hexham one winter when I was quite little & suddenly we saw these amazing lights in the sky. Dad realized what it was & pulled over & we must have sat & watched for about an hour - I'll never forget it.
Thank you all so much for the comments! I think my mum thinks I've gone a bit mad ;-) but I loved being able to just do the crazy thing seeing as I'm on holiday! Just can't wait for the next opportunity, it's quite addictive :-) And just to say, sorry I'm quite behind with commenting on your shots! I will catch up over the weekend surely!! really appreciate all the comments and support!