DAY 21 #PHOTOGRAPHERCHALLENGE

Day 21. And so we arrive at my most popular photo, which went viral back in March last year: the northern lights appearing above Bangor Garth Pier.

I have travelled north in search of the northern lights on several occasions but they remained elusive. My first trip was to Iceland, where there was a barely visible line on the camera one night, but certainly nothing to see with the naked eye. My most recent trip was to the north of Norway where for just a minute on our first evening out there was a faint green line on screen, but again nothing visible in person and the weather for the remainder of our aurora hunting evenings was more inclement.

I never ever imagined that my first experience of the northern lights would be from home! We were stood out on our decking looking over towards Anglesey and I could see what looked almost like spotlights pointing up into the sky, except I couldn’t place where they would be coming from or why they were popping up in different places - it took me a good couple of minutes to figure out that it might just be the aurora! Once I’d pieced that together, a 10 second exposure was all that was needed to confirm my hunch and a glorious pinky red glow was visible to the naked eye. It did not last long, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Well from that moment onwards I was hooked, checking the aurora forecast every evening and with notifications set up to alert me to any signs of activity. I would try taking long exposures even when there was nothing visible to the naked eye, just in case they were hiding. Many times that the predictions showed the aurora should be visible, as is typical for the time of year, it was overcast, but less than a month after my first sighting of the northern lights I was rewarded with this stunning display. I had already gone to bed when I received a red alert, which means it is likely that the aurora will be visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK. It had been cloudy earlier in the evening so I nearly didn’t get out of bed, but I decided to check it out just in case, and I am so glad I did! Believe it or not, this was captured with my iPhone 13 Pro Max with a 10 second exposure, through my bedroom window - as I’ve said before, you don’t necessarily need a fancy camera to be able to capture the delights that nature throws our way. Not long after I took this, the sky clouded over again but I believe the aurora danced across the north Wales sky for several hours that night.

My quest to capture the northern lights continues unabated, with every display unique, the possibilities are endless and the unpredictability adds an extra level of excitement and anticipation. If any of you have managed to capture the aurora, I would love to see your pictures.

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