Surprise Geomagnetic Storm!

Wow, what a storm last night!

It truly was one of the best displays I've witnessed in my years of chasing auroras, which date back to the days of film. Never did I imagine back then how digital technology would allow one to capture images of the aurora with such detail and vibrance, using a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the rapidly dancing lights.

Geomagnetic storms are more common and can arrive unpredicted around both the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, due to a phenomenon known as the Russell-McPherron Effect. Click here to learn more…

Cheers!

Colin

 
 

Early Season Auroras

Hello everyone,

I hope you've been able to catch some of the recent auroral activity! This season is starting out to be very active and should continue as we are in the Solar Maximum.

These were taken last Friday while guiding for Alaska Photo Treks. The show continued through the night, and all of our 17 guests were thrilled! Click here to visit their site if you're interested in booking a local tour.

In other news, at Nat Expo Tours we are excited to announce a new partnership right here in Alaska that will allow our business to expand to include my home state in addition to our international destinations! These will be custom, private tours for small groups. I led my first multi-day tour last week. More to come on that…

Happy skywatching!

Colin

 

April 2023 Geomagnetic Storm

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

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

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"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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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.

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.