Welcome to my gallery of Aurora Borealis (the northern lights). As an avid ‘aurora chaser’ I don’t like to miss a show! These images and videos should give you a feel for what it’s like to be under the dark skies and aurora. I hope you enjoy!
If you enjoyed one of these images, a selection of them is available for purchase through Fine Art America. Thank-you for your consideration and support!
2017 – 2018 Aurora Season
2017 – 2018 Aurora Season
Aurora Borealis, Juneau, Alaska
2016 – 2017 Aurora Season
Columns of aurora reflect from the ocean in Hoonah, Alaska.
A pale aurora shows to the south in stark contrast to the green aurora surrounding it.
The Milky Way collides with the aurora borealis in Hoonah, Alaska.
This image of a pale aurora is incorrectly called a “proton arc” by many photographers and aurora chasers.
“The Emerald River” The aurora shines off a tidal river in Hoonah. Alaska.
A reflection of the aurora over the Mendenhall Towers, Juneau, from North Douglas Island.
An incredible display of Aurora reflects of the ocean and highlights the islands outside of Sitka, Alaska.
An incredible display of Aurora reflects of the ocean and highlights the islands outside of Sitka, Alaska.
Can you spot the big dipper?
Tall bands of aurora dance over the ocean in Sitka, Alaska.
The aurora at low tide from North Douglas Island.
The aurora at low tide from North Douglas Island.
A green crown on the mountaintops outside of Juneau, Alaska.
When I first took this image in Juneau I believed it was a proton arc. I now know that is incorrect.
Pinks ribbons of the Aurora Borealis reflect from a pool on top of Harbor Mountain.
Pinks ribbons of the Aurora Borealis reflect from a pool on top of Harbor Mountain.
Pinks ribbons of the Aurora Borealis reflect from a pool on top of Harbor Mountain.
The Aurora Borealis appeared as the sunset
The Aurora Borealis arches over Mount Edgecumbe in Sitka, Alaska.
The Aurora Borealis arches over Mount Edgecumbe in Sitka, Alaska.
Aurora Borealis, Hoonah, Alaska
2015 – 2016 Aurora Season
Wide vistas over Murphy dome showing off a beautiful sky.
Mission success! Capturing this full-sky aurora over some beautiful autumn foliage.
A big moon shadows the ornaments, and is a brilliant aurora reflection shines from overhead.
I love the reflection in these ornaments!
A snow-covered spruce leans with the Aurora Borealis in Fairbanks, Alaska
A bright section of aurora hightlights a beautiful scene capturing the Milky Way over the sleds at Blackspruce Dogsledding
Earlier in the night (about 10 PM) the galaxy was very bright and intersected a red and green display of the Northern Lights.
The aurora is punctuated by a intense white band.
A large covering of hoar frost in Midwestern Minnesota.
I never leave out the horizon in my shots, but did in this one for some reason. And you know what – I kind of like it! The milky way is showing up alongside the aurora in this shot.
Multiple bands of aurora swirl together.
A lone birch stands as the focal points of this large panorama. The city lights of Fairbanks show up on the right.
The aurora creeps in over the Dog Yard of Black Spruce Dog Sledding.
A compilation of of movment of the Northern Lights and the stars over 90 minutes in Alaska.
December 5th : Burst of Aurora in a winter wonderland
A powerful flare of aurora threatens to blow out this image. Such a beautiful scene!
Like two circus performers, this these bands of aurora are folded together like they are dancing with each other.
A panoromic stitch capturing a winter landscape, the aurora borealis, and the moon in Fairbanks, Alaska
A fusion of the northern lights and the Milky Way Galaxy at Black Spruce Dog Sledding.
A long star trails shows off the multitude of stars on a moonless night in Fairbanks, Alaska.
A long-dead black spruce stands testament to the longevity of trees once they pass. I love how its skeleton is silhouetted by the light of the aurora.
This image was taken due south and towers high into the sky.
October 9th : Stars over my house and the Aurora Borealis
Swirling greens of aurora during a incomprehensibly large push of energy.
A large panorama showing off the Galaxy and the Aurora Borealis over Black Spruce Dogsledding.
This image was captured with my camera pointed directly to the south. Intense greens that reach far into the sky.
This particular auroral formation takes one last swirl before dissipating.
A combination of purple sun-kissed aurora and the movement of stars over 90 minutes make this shot quite unique!
This insane push of energy came from the north and quickly grew.
I took advantage of this fully covered black spruce to make a Christmas tree!
This image of empty sleds beckons the viewer to come take a seat and enjoy a beautiful show.
A towering green aurora.
2014-2015 Aurora Season
Pictures:
A remarkable corona overhead at Angel Rocks!
This pink aurora is what I like to call the “watermelon auroa” 🙂
The aurora hangs over a staked sled at Black Spruce Dogsledding.
Panorama from 2 images stitched in PS6.
February 1st : Aurora borealis north of Fairbanks, Alaska
An amazing corona formed over Angel Rocks. This was at 5 AM!
The low moon and aurora at Wickersham Dome
All shades of the aurora above a whipping spruce top
The explosion of activity over Eagle Summit – whoa!
Aurora borealis panorama early in the night. Stitched in photoshop, these are 4 second images which capture the whole arc of the aurora.
Aurora Borealis – Murphy Dome, Alaska
A Facebook Follower described this as a ‘green flame’ to me this morning. I think that’s a pretty apt description!
This shot was taken as the aurora started to wind down. However, it still had some color, and was still very active.
Crooning to the aurora!!
Tracks in the snow indicate where I came from as I moved along the firebreak.
I love to frame spruce trees into my shots – it’s almost as if they’re pointing in wonder, too!
The starting purple pillar of sun-kissed Aurora
A double-band of sun-kissed aurora!
I love the split of the lights here and their intensity. The ‘white’ aurora on the left is actually starting to become over exposed. During this time the snow was lit up green. This was during the eruption phase.
The aurora is just starting ‘heat up’ in this great image looking through the black spruces.
180 degree panorama looking to the north.
The aurora while up-close and personal in the black-spruce forest!
The Aurora and Milky way melt together over angel rocks.
A beautiful aurora – doesn’t get much more classic that this!
Earlier in the night the sun-kissed aurora could be seen on the left edges
Aurora Blues as dawn approaches
The moon casting a long shadow under my guitar and the Lights
The full moon back-lights these black spruces in this aurora shot.
Purple Aurora – More than just red – there are some purples in the top of this aurora!
The Aurora streaks over a lone pine tree at Eagle Summit, Alaska in the early AM
Aurora Borealis – Murphy Dome, Alaska
“Divide” – the aurora is seemingly split in half by the points of this spruce!
A moody green auroral sky. Not unlike a scene from a Ghostbusters movie 🙂
A lone, scraggly pine tree stands sentinel on along the fire break.
Aurora Borealis – Murphy Dome, Alaska
My trusty axe in front of the aurora!
A plane streaks through the aurora over the Chena River.
A black spruce divides the aurora and the moon
Aurora borealis panorama 2. These images of the aurora were taken after the aurora activity picked up. I wanted to test how well the panorama would stitch with the higher activity – pretty good! The ‘break’ you see in the aurora is exactly how it looked. 2 bands in the sky.
An Aurora selfie. Silhouettes are great!
Two of my passions under one sky
Jiake and I hanging out under the Aurora.
A strong pillar of Daylight Aurora
An image of the corona ‘pencils’ flashing overhead!
The Green flame morphs a little bit over the Sustainable Village. A beautiful night out!
I love how this dead black spruce lines up with the aurora.
A blended aurora!
Aurora Borealis – Murphy Dome, Alaska
The moon and the Aurora!
A huge pillar of aurora shoots into the sky.
Here’s perhaps the best image of the night. The Aurora moved like a living creature from the northwest to the northeast. And the colors, oh the colors!
I guess these dogs were already tired of great aurora displays ;). Shot at Black Spruce Dogsledding
Green swirls of aurora combined with some Day Aurora on the left
This capture of the aurora over Angel Rocks, Alaska pretty much says it all. The lone spruce, rock outcrop and rich aurora all make for an amazing shot!
This is a prime example of auroral eruption when the ‘secondary circuit’ overloads. This power-ful and fast over head display was remarkable!
This is likely my best aurora image to date! I was really focusing on composition all night, and this one has all the pieces of a great image!!
One of my best aurora shots to date! I love the colors and banding in this shot.
The group poses for one of my most memorable portrait shots ever captured!
Waiting out for the aurora
The height of this aurora is incredible!
Aurora Borealis – Murphy Dome, Alaska
The “Aurora Borealis Lane” sign is an infamous Fairbanks sign in the Goldstream Valley. Many aurora pictures have been taken over it – now I guess I have mine!
Here’s a wider shot of the aurora as the purple developed
A full sky of red and green over Murphy Dome, Alaska
The aurora just starting to build over Eagle Summit, Alaska on 09/25/2014
A brilliant green curtain of aurora stretches across the moon.
The purple of the aurora spread out across the sky.
A gorgeous flare of aurora overhead as seen through a gap in the spruce forest.
A purple corona forming in the aurora
A 5 image stitch of the aurora over Wickersham Dome
The big dipper hangs over a the trees and in the aurora
A huge flare of northern lights dance across the sky in Denali National Park
The Milky Way and Aurora Borealis collided in Denali National Park! What an incredible thing to see!
Video and Timelapse:
2013-2014 Aurora Season
Pictures:
Looking Straight up at the Aurora over the Tanana River kP 5, 02/28/14
Aurora Borealis over Toolik Field Station.
Aurora Borealis over Toolik Field Station.
Aurora Borealis over Toolik Field Station.
Aurora over the Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK. kP5
Do you see the angel in this Aurora?
Aurora Borealis over Toolik Field Station.
Northern Lights over Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK 02/07 – 02/08/14
Overhead aurora over the Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK. kP5 02/28/14
Do you see the angel in this Aurora?
Aurora over the Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK. kP5 02/28/14
Aurora Borealis over Toolik Field Station.
Aurora over the Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK. kP5 02/28/14
Aurora borealis in the sunset over Toolik Field Station
Aurora over Murphy Dome. kP 5
The mixing of the reds and the greens was fascinating and differed from the distinctly separated watermelon aurora
The watermelon aurora.
Northern Lights over Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK 02/07 – 02/08/14
Aurora Borealis over Toolik Field Station.
Northern Lights over Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK 02/07 – 02/08/14
The northern lights over Murphy Dome, 01/29/14
Northern Lights over Tanana River, Fairbanks, AK 02/07 – 02/08/14
Video and Timelapse:
Hey Ian,
Thanks for the “Tokina assist” last night! You truly saved my aurora experience. You’re an awesome guy and this is a great site! Keep it up.
Ben
🙂 Thanks for stopping by Ben. More than happy to help! It was quite a set or circumstances that put you next to me, and for me to have an extra lens handy. Was great! If you get a chance, check back soon. Those purples I captured that night are really something! Will be a post about that soon.
Cheers!
Ian