Wednesday, November 4, 2015

The Majesty of the Minnesota Night Sky


















This is how my night of shooting started out on November 3rd.  Taken just minutes after the new day began, this photo was made at 12:10 AM along the Sawbill Trail in Superior National Forest.  I had scoped out this location earlier in the summer, recognizing it as a potential good spot for some northern lights photography.  

Since the majority of the Sawbill Trail runs straight north, it's a good opportunity to watch the lights dancing in the sky as you're driving, provided they are active.  And active they were as I was cruising down the road that night.  I had to constantly remind myself to keep my eyes on the road and not get too distracted by the beautiful aurora that were sweeping across the sky directly ahead of me.  


When I arrived at this location with the trees, the activity had subsided and the lights were no longer dancing.  All I could see was a soft glow right above the horizon.  That didn't make the scene any less beautiful though!  I had the multi-colored hues of the aurora combined with the magical starlight of the Milky Way over the stand of trees.  Add just the right amount of clouds on the left that were illuminated by the rising half-moon behind me and I had a trifecta of night sky goodness!

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