Show Time

Breathtaking. Enthralling. Dazzling. Words seem inadequate to capture the breathtaking beauty and captivating mystery of the Northern Lights.

Alaskan author Eowyn Ivey comes close in her novel The Snow Child: “She looked directly up into the Northern Lights, and she wondered if those cold-burning specters might not draw her breath, her very soul, out of her chest and into the stars.”

Some cultures believe they are the spirits of ancestors dancing in the sky. Other cultures considered them omens of good fortune and prosperity. Today, we have a scientific explanation for this magical experience.

Each display is one of a kind. The random nature of charged particles from the sun colliding with the Earth’s atmosphere creates unique and unpredictable vibrant displays of greens, pinks, purples, and blues.

Witnessing the Northern Lights is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It leaves an indelible impression that connects us to nature.

The Shot

Wintertime blankets chaotic and distracting foreground details with beautifully simplistic snow. This makes the photographer’s goal of moving the viewer’s eye through the scene much easier.

The rime ice-covered trees bent towards each other creating a wonderful frame for the background. And the small mound of snow in the foreground was an unexpected bonus.

The image is a composite of a pre-dawn image of the foreground and an early evening image of the Northern Lights. Both were taken near Coldfoot, Alaska last February.

Thanks for looking,

Chuck Derus

https://cderus.zenfolio.com/