There are nights…

There are nights when things just go right, and for two reasons, last night was one of them.

Reason #1: After thinking it wouldn’t arrive after all, my brand new Canon 5D Mark III complete with a 14mm f2.8 lens (more on that in a future post) was delivered to my door at around 8pm. There are few things in life quite as enjoyable as slowly unwrapping new cameras and lenses from their packaging and oohing and ahhing over ever piece of glass, button, and ergonomic wonder.

Reason #2: The aurora went bonkers. Just as I was about turn in, I stepped out to let the dog out and saw a faint auroral band to the north. The perfect opportunity to run a new camera through its paces, I went out and started making images. For awhile, the lights just stayed the way they were, pale and indistinct, but a lovely green. Then, quite suddenly, they took off. In a matter of seconds the band tightened into well-defined curtains, and began to swirl and wave, separate and divide. Just like that the sky was alive. Snap-snap-snap went the new 5D, while I grinned and jumped around to keep my feet warm in the -20F temps. An altogether pleasant Fairbanks evening.

Here are a few images (I’m also currently uploading a video slideshow and will post that here, when it’s up):