Aurora on film

Pixels 1 Minute

Back when I shot on 35mm film, I had one epic aurora photo shoot in the Kenai mountains south of Anchorage. I recently scanned the 20-year-old prints.

Most aurora borealis displays tend toward green or yellow-green colors, dancing on the horizon. But this display in the early 2000s had a complete rainbow of colors.
During parts of the display, all the aurorae were a solid and glowing red — a rare solar storm result.
From my position in Turnagain Pass the aurorae were directly overhead and cascading down like rain. Looking up, it felt almost like a Star-Trek-style warp drive special effect, with the waves of charged particles coming at me.
I mean… just stunning. But it was cold out there in early October or November in 2001 or 2002. Par for the course in southcentral Alaska.
The bold colors of red, orange, and so on died down as the solar storm played out. Within 45 minutes the aurora remained strong but began to pull back toward the north and the colors muted into traditional greens.

Discover more from digitalpolity.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Published