Tag Archives: northern lights

nature, Photography

Aurora Borealis

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The Northern Lights recently paid a visit to the Okanagan Valley. I was surprised to see such bright and colourful lights this far south but the sun is coming to the end of an 11-year cycle where huge solar storms are bombarding the Earth with extreme amounts of energy that is manifesting as unusually strong, brilliant and swirling Northern Lights.

My last picture of the Aurora was taken in the Northwest Territories where they are frequently and stunningly visible, but these pink lights were a lovely southern gift.

Who needs fireworks when we have these?

Happy Wednesday.

nature, Photography

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Collection

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The Wildlife Photographer of the Year pictures for 2023 have been released and they are amazing! Here’s a selection:

Dragonfly turtle. Tzahi Finkelstein, photographer.
Lion cub. Mark Boyd, photographer.
Northern lights. Audun Rikardsen, photographer.
Polar bear nap time. Nima Sarikhani, photographer.

The polar bear picture is such a stunning capture making Nima Sarikhani the winner for 2023. Please click the link below to read more about these photographers and their work.

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-68215592

nature, Photography

Spring Lights!

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We have had some amazing Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) lately.

Instead of the usual green, we have also had shades of pink, purple, red, and yellow; people have been able to see them as far south as New Mexico. These spectacular night shows are caused by some unusual solar flare activity and are expected to continue until about the middle of 2025.

Happy Monday.

Commentary, musings, nature, Photography

Green Lights at Night

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Although I work under the Northern Lights, I have resisted publishing photos of them …

… but this one, with its starry and reflective accompaniment, is a stunner and much too good to ignore.

Taken by photographer Beckey Lee and first published by National Geographic (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/04/your-shot-unbelievable-landscapes/), it embodies all the romanticism of that luminescent northern glow. In fact, many people believe that conceiving under the Aurora Borealis will imbue the child with wisdom.

If you’re interested in seeing them for yourself, there are many choices. Here’s the site for Yellowknife, NWT tourism: https://extraordinaryyk.com/

Thinking about travelling somewhere makes me wistful. Not that I need to (or want to) travel right now, but the idea of that freedom … I hope that we will soon have this pandemic under control, and such things as seeing the northern lights will become possible again. This weird perception that I’m “unfree” is strange. I’m not, not at all, but I feel an illogical and strong sense of entrapment. This must be my limbic brain kicking in. New normal? Hah! New abnormal is more like it.

How about you? Are you feeling trapped?

Happy week. 🙂