We were once again treated to a beautiful showing of the Aurora late into the night of the 18th/19th.  Around 12:30am the lights began to dance but the biting wind quickly brought in some cloud cover.  Just as we began to talk about heading home, stars began to peek out - as soon as the cloud cover came in, it was gone.  It reminded me the importance of patience in observing the unpredictable lights in our variable weather.  

Although the showing was much different than the night before, the dance was quick and wild with sudden bursts of activity all around.  At quarter to 1, the coronal formations really wowed and I quickly changed my compositions to focus directly overhead. Even with a wide focal length I was cutting off the display in my frame!  Two very late nights in a row - in the middle of the week no less - but they were beautiful displays and worth the next day fogginess.  

And now, to answer the question of who needs sleep?  I do.  

Living in the North, we are often treated to beautiful displays of the Aurora Borealis dancing across the sky.  Many of us love the challenge of capturing the lights and creating photographs.  I belong to a variety of groups/pages and check all sorts of forecasts - but unless you are committed to going out often, being very patient and staying out very late, it's not easy to create the images you desire.  And then there's the frustration of knowing that there is something special happening in the atmosphere and your sky is nothing but clouds.  After checking out all the forecasts you begin to weigh out how important sleep is to you and what you need to do the next day.  Since the Aurora is fickle and unpredictable, you have no idea if the forecast will play out as predicted (hmm, sounds just like the weather, doesn't it?)  But, when the forecast predicts that it's going to be epic and your sky is clear - you just go and hope that the sacrifice of sleep will be well worth it.  And last night... it was.

As we started to head out of town, away from the bright city lights, I could feel the excitement build as the light green began to dance in the sky beside us.  By the time we reached our destination of choice, we scrambled to set up - we were surrounded!!  It is pretty special to see pinks/purples/reds as the green and white lights are more common here.  I was absolutely giddy, constantly spinning around with my neck cranked back, trying to take it all in. How would I decide on my compositions as the sky changed with every millisecond!  The creamy greens turned even more vibrant and the sky was ablaze with a purple backdrop - Absolutely amazing!  The immensity of the joy, wonder and awe you feel when you're in the midst of a vibrant display is unmeasurable.  It is a tremendous challenge to capture the intensity of the experience but I don't think it'll stop us from trying.  

Click on the gallery to see some of my images from my thrilling night.