April 23, 2023 - maybe the most intense geomagnetic storm I've experienced in Southcentral Alaska. I wish my lens was just a little wider to capture the full display that was overhead. This was also the night that I took the cover photo for my 2025 “Seasons of the Eagle River Nature Center” calendars (available for preorder on my site by clicking on the image at the top).
I'm catching up two years’ worth of editing and continue to find winning images like this one. Stay tuned for more...
Have a great weekend!
Colin
Waiting for the Aurora at Paradise Haven Cabin, Eagle River Nature Center
Last night I set up at a familiar locale in hopes of catching the aurora borealis. As it often goes, the lights did not come out and hence, the image I had in mind did not materialize. After struggling to keep a fire going in the wood stove at -20˚F and no activity in the sky, I decided it was best to wait for another opportunity...
There is more potential activity in the coming days and I am scheduled to guide an aurora tour for Alaska Photo Treks this Saturday, so hopefully we will have better luck.
Cheers,
Colin
M M M My Corona!
From the Latin word for crown, 'corona' refers to an auroral display that appears to be flowing from a central point, generally directly overhead. These were taken in the early morning hours of March 31, 2022 in Alaska's Brooks Range, well above the Arctic Circle. If you look closely, you can see the Big Dipper is at the center of the corona.
Thank you for following along, and please stay tuned for more arctic auroras...
Colin
Aurora Photography Class, March 5
I am happy to offer an aurora photography class once again at the Eagle River Nature Center! If you are in the vicinity of Anchorage/Eagle River (AK) and looking to sharpen your nighttime photography skills while learning to track solar activity so you can be ready when the lights are active, please join me at the visitor center on Saturday, March 5, 2022. The indoor portion begins at 8 pm, followed by a trip to the viewing decks to photograph the night sky and with any luck, aurora borealis!
Cost is $65 for ERNC members and $75 for non-members; limited to 8 people. Register here: https://www.ernc.org/public-programs.html
Thank you and feel free to share!
Colin
Aurora photography class at the Eagle River Nature Center
Weekend Auroras?
Happy Friday, everyone!
The aurora forecast is calling for possible G-1 class geomagnetic storms this weekend, however the weather forecast is predicting clouds. If the skies are clear enough for a display, I will be out chasing lights on my skis again.
Have a great weekend and thank you for following!
Colin
Aurora gazing on Eagle River
Panoramic Auroras
Good morning and Happy Monday out there!
Here are a couple panoramic images I created this weekend. Both are a series of vertical frames stitched together from Friday night/Saturday morning's display. I'd literally been waiting years for the right conditions to be able to ski out onto Eagle River and shoot auroras from this angle. The way this season is going, I might get another chance before the river thaws. We could have more activity this week, weather-permitting.
Cheers!
Colin
"Friday Night Lights"
Here's an image from Friday night/Saturday morning as the activity was really starting to intensify. The aurora had come far across the sky, setting up perfectly for my eastward-facing composition over the Chugach Mountains. I shortened my shutter speed to capture the vertical curtains as they were starting to form.
Have a great Sunday out there and thank you for following along!
Colin
Welcome, Spring!
Well, Spring sure did arrive with a bang! I skied out onto Eagle River again last night and captured some images from new locations. I will have more to share in the coming days so stay tuned...
Happy Vernal Equinox to those in the Northern Hemisphere and to my friends below the equator, Happy Autumn!
Colin
More Aurora from Last Weekend
Aurora borealis over Eagle River Valley, taken around 1 am on Sunday, March 14. I had to search to find a bit of open water and was happy to find this spot looking back toward Ram Valley & Prudhoe Bay Ave. It was a cold night out there but worth the effort to come away with a few images from out on the river. Ski boots aren't the warmest footwear but they do allow me to move around much more quickly than walking. I'm hoping for a few more nights like this before the aurora & ski seasons are over.
Have a great week and thank you for following along!
Colin
Aurora Gazing over Mt. Cumulous
Hello everyone!
This year certainly has brought increased auroral activity in recent weeks– a welcome change after the past few seasons. I’d been waiting for the right opportunity to ski out to Eagle River to photograph and last night everything came together for me. It was cold out there and cross-country ski boots don’t offer much for insulation on a frozen river in subzero temps but in the “heat” of the moment when the lights are dancing, the discomfort tends to dissipate.
Stay warm out there!
Colin
Super Blood Wolf Moon
There was a pretty cool event in the sky last night. Hopefully you got to witness the "Super Blood Wolf Moon" lunar eclipse. If not, the next one takes place in 2037.
Happy Monday! Have a great week out there, wherever you are.
Colin
Crescent Moon & Venus
"Counting stars by candlelight, all are dim but one is bright;
The spiral light of Venus, rising first and shining best,
On, from the northwest corner, of a brand new crescent moon,
While crickets and cicadas sing, a rare and different tune,
Terrapin station." (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia)
This was taken just a few minutes ago over Eagle Peak, Chugach State Park. If you have clear skies right now you should be able to see the crescent moon and Venus on the southwestern horizon.
Colin
Sydney Opera House
Sydney, Australia. Your typical city involved in a typical daydream. Any trip here wouldn’t be complete without seeing the famous Sydney Opera House. I’m back to where it all began, one more wakeup at Coogee Beachside Accommodation and I begin the long journey home. Guess I’ll hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.
Goodnight from Oz, one last time.
Colin
Behind-the-Scenes
Here is a behind-the-scenes shot from early Thursday morning. I spent the better part of two hours hopping out to this rock and back to my camera, experimenting with different exposures and compositions, adjusting the intensity and direction of light from my headlamp to illuminate the water and backlight myself so I would show up against the dark foreground. I got it all dialed in just before the sky erupted with aurora around 2 am, when I took the shot that was in Alaska Dispatch News on Friday. I almost fell into the water on at least five different occasions and after hiking the roughly 1.5 miles out to this spot and back at night, alone, knowing full well there were bears in the immediate area, I returned home shortly after 4 am, edited through the images and picked my favorite one to post. Needless to say, it was gratifying to have landed a photo on the front page of Alaska’s largest newspaper just 24 hours later.
PS – if you look closely, you can see two salmon next to the submerged log on my right.
Sleep is for the weak...
Three nights in a row chasing lights, it's beginning to catch up with me but I just can't resist displays like this, taken about 90 minutes ago.
Goodnight from Eagle River Valley
Colin
Front Page, Alaska Dispatch News
If you happened to see a copy of Alaska Dispatch News today, you may have noticed my aurora/salmon gazing self portrait from early yesterday morning on the front page...
Cheers!
Colin
Mothers' Day Aurora Images
I've added images from Sunday morning's stellar display to the Aurora Borealis/Eagle River, Alaska gallery. Please take a look at the body of work I have created, largely from the area around the Nature Center:
More Eagle Summit Aurora
There is nothing quite like witnessing the aurora borealis under crystal clear skies near the Arctic Circle, where the stars are big and bright. Here's one of my favorites from last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at Eagle Summit, Alaska. There was no light pollution whatsoever, and not one vehicle passed by while we were out there.
