Northern Lights with the Stokksnes Beach and the Vestrahorn Mts. Iceland

I spent a little time processing this one. The beach and mountains are lightened up a bit (it was darker in person) and I knocked down the bright lights from the Viking Cafe/Hotel over on the left. I wasn't crazy about the lights but most of the time we can only work with what is offered.

Thinking the intro to Phil Collins 80's single "In the air tonight" pretty much sums up this magical night...

Best viewed large by clicking on the image...

In the air tonight
"I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight? Oh Lord, oh Lord"
Phil Collins

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Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus hudsonicus)
New Jersey

Here the Whimbrel is feeding along the shoreline moving in out as the waves crash in and then receed.
Overcast conditions on this day made it easier for me to position myself in one location on the beach and wait for the bird to pass as he worked his way up and down the beach feeding.

Overcast or cloudy conditions can be a great time to photograph shorebirds. It offers the opportunity to shoot all day and in almost all directions. Sunny days limit shooting angles and are usually limited to a few hours after sunrise and a few hours before sunset.

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Small Yellow Lady Slippers (Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin) New Jersey

""Finding beauty amidst the chaos"

"Finding beauty amidst the chaos" is a concept that can refer to finding joy in the midst of uncertainty, or to finding beauty in the ordinary.

May 11, 2024 "Ramblings from the road"

As I walked along the trail these Ladies began to call "Stop they said, take a closer look and maybe you'll see something you like"... Of course for anyone who loves wildflowers as mush as I do (especially native orchids) their beauty is undeniable. But here they were being somewhat choked out by other vegatation and a little to far in the swamp for mid range zooms. Finally I decided to sit down just off the trail and compose with my 180mm macro hoping to be able to get everything acceptably sharp. There were a few flowers that I could not fit in the frame, so I composed without them and this is the result.

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Sar Arc in the night sky to the east of where the Aurora was most active.
SARs are apparently pure red arcs of light that span across the sky during strong geomagnetic storms.
The following information is from an article written by Dr. Tony Phillips and I'll include a link below if you care to read more...

"Surprise: Some Red Auroras are *not* Auroras
November 22, 2021 / Dr.Tony Phillips"

"SARs may look like auroras, but they are not the same. Auroras appear when charged particles rain down from space, hitting the atmosphere and causing it to glow like the picture tube of an old color TV. SARs form differently. They are a sign of heat energy leaking into the upper atmosphere from Earth’s ring current system."

spaceweatherarchive.com/2021/11/22/3308/

Fascinating stuff...

Some may notice the tall crooked tree in this image, which is most likely the result of my camera not being perfectly level. It was a real challenge in the dark...

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Northern Lights photographed from a mountain top in northern Pennsylvania, USA.

Think I'll call this one "Christmas in October" for several reasons. First the colors and secondly I consider being able to see them a wonderful gift. They are really that amazing IMO!!!

I had missed several of the other solar storms we've had this year, so when this one was forcasted I began looking for the closest dark sky area I could find along with weather forcasts for matching clear skies. Then I searched for a location with elevation so I could have a clear unobstructed view, and of course the view had to be to the north with clear visibility to the east and west as well. This was almost as challenging as the long drive there.
I finally decided on this mountain top in northern PA and commited to the long ride to get there and back home.

The research paid off and I picked what I think is or at least was a stellar location. We began seeing them well before it was completely dark, a term often referred to as astronomical twilight (90 minutes after sunset).
I spent almost seven hours on top of the mountain and got to witness what I think was the best part of the show.

It varied in intensity during the night from rather weak to deep pulsating bands of color. So I think patience is a photographers best friend with these types of solar storms.

Below is a little information on the
Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis if you prefer... I've been asked by others what causes them, so I thought I'd try and describe the events to the best of my limited knowledge. Please feel free to correct anything I get wrong or add anything I might have missed.

The term aurora borealis comes from the names of two gods one Roman and one Greek. Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, and Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind.

They are caused by Coronal Mass Ejections or CME's for short. The science behind them is fascinating.

I have read several news feeds describing them as being created by Solar Flares, which seems incorrect since there is a big difference between the two.

A Solar Flare is a sudden burst of radiation and light from the Sun's surface, essentially a flash of energy, while a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is a large cloud of charged particles and magnetic field expelled from the Sun's corona, essentially a massive burst of plasma that travels through space

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