The joy of the unexpected.

Yesterday was by any measure a totally shit day for me. Except for one brief break in the clouds. Metaphorical and literal.

I stepped outside at twilight to watch another aurora, and over the next hour the cloud cover thinned. And it was a marvellous show. I decided to pop up a camera and start a timelapse in case more nordlys arrived... and I got lucky

One of the best auroras I've ever seen.

Here's a treat for being good this week, a timelapse of the forest last night in Arctic Norway.

There's a very very big mountain to the south of this creek that holds back the clouds. We constantly get long patches of clear sky even when the entire region is clouded over. And sometimes the aurora activity kicks up at the same time. That's a win.

This is what kept me awake all night though.

This morning we had a hint of light getting underneath the snow clouds. Enough to make us smile.

I'm using a 60-600mm telephoto by Sigma for this scene. It's a big lens that I usually don't make an effort to take off the shelf. This winter I've really loved having it with me for chasing birds and snow capped peaks.

Ended up with more clear skies tonight, despite the forecast. Was testing out the S&Q video mode on the new camera today and it happened to be rolling when the aurora spiked in the early evening.

I love a little moonlight with aurora photography, even a full moon.

Here's a lowres version so I don't fill up the hard drive space on our mastodon instance :)

Was a bit slow of the mark to notice we had clear skies tonight, and when I stepped outside to check the nordlys were already dancing.

Was a lovely show. The moon is super full tonight and lighting up everything. Hence the intense colours. Regardless, this moment of aurora was good enough to compete with the street light just behind the house :)

The snow came home today!

OMG the change in mood to look out the windows and see a foot of fluffy white stuff in every direction.

Some folks get sad in winter from a lack of sunlight. I get sad from a lack of snow. Climate Change is wrecking the party in Arctic Norway, and we've had weeks of rain instead of snow. But today is a good day. Today is lovely.

Flashback to a couple of weeks ago, our first night arriving into Senja. Had a lot of aurora activity through the night, and a beautiful location to enjoy the photography.

Today it's still 5°C outside and rainy, and most of the snow is long gone. These heat bubbles in the Arctic look like a permanent feature of winter now. That makes life much harder for chasing auroras in the night.

I wish more people could see the beauty in our world. The things that make this planet remarkable. The little details. The grandeur of its complexity. The harmony of nature. The preciousness of our very existence.

I wish every human on the planet could experience the beauty I've seen, and not just from the photos.

Textures and a mood.

These two images are from several weeks ago when we visited a Sami family and got a chance to say hello to a few of their reindeer.

If you know nothing about the Sami people, then it's worth seeking those who wish to share their stories. These are the people who inhabited the Arctic long before the crowns made it up north. There is great diversity in culture and language across the Sami.

From two nights ago. We had clear skies last night but pretty close to zero solar wind. Plenty of stars but no aurora.

Some nights it's on fire, some nights it's asleep :)

This time of year we very excited to see the sun. It reaches out across the frozen lakes, painting in the snow and ice with golden tones. I love it.

Today just keeps getting better. A hint of sunlight across the salt lake, and time stands still.

It's a foxy morning here in Norway. Little paw prints leaving a trail in the snow, and purple hues filling the fjord.

Today was lovely.

Am very lucky to share so much of my life with people who show me a path to being my best self.

Hoping to get a nice timelapse out of this scene today. Clear skies are such a treat in the middle of winter.

Herring Gull enjoying the scenery.

Stepped out this morning when I saw the light hitting nearby peaks. It started off pink but turned a little peach by the time I got out there with a lens :)