Dusk Aurora

Last night, I stepped outside just before bed. It was 10:00 and still to the west, there was a broad, dusky-blue streak, the last of the lingering day. It’s getting to a point where one has to stay up pretty late to see true night. It’s definitely spring in the interior of Alaska. But I was even more surprised to see a couple of streaks of green hanging in the sky. The Northern Lights had decided to make an early appearance. Bed would have to wait. I grabbed my camera and tripod and headed back out.

I love where I live. Below my small cabin is a creek surrounded by an open wetland about the size of a soccer field. This time of year that wetland is completely covered in ice and snow, but its big and open with views of the surrounding hills. As I travel down to the creek I pass through a few different areas. Around my cabin is a mix of big white spruces and birches. Some of the spruces are nearly 3 feet in diameter and tower over the much smaller birch. Closer to the creek there is an area of open spruce forest with smaller, narrow, 30 or 40 foot tall trees.

The lights weren’t booming as they sometimes do, but they were active and bright green in the dark blue sky. So I played a bit with compositions. I post-holed into the deep snow back in the trees and started experimenting. My favorite is the top image here. To round things out I went down to the open area around the creek and made a few more typical shots.

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