Airglow over Chester Lake

 

Sometimes mistaken for the glow of the northern lights, airglow actually has nothing to do with auroras.  Unlike auroras, which are formed when charged particles bombard the Earth's atmosphere, airglow is a type of chemiluminescence that makes the atmosphere glow. The brightest region of airglow is a roughly 10 mile thick zone at an altitude of about 60 miles. We saw strong airglow last night after shooting the Milky Way for a couple of hours. For this photo, I asked my friend to pose on the dock at Chester Lake in Grand Portage State Forest, with the sky glowing beautifully behind him. 

The Magnificence of the Milky Way

 

What an awesome night for viewing the Milky Way!  The stars were crisp and clear, the sky was free of clouds and there was only the occasional hint of the faintest of breezes. A friend and I headed up into the woods to photograph the stars over a local lake that has some nice pine trees right along the lakeshore. No matter how many times I see the Milky Way on such a night, I am always amazed by its beauty. 

An evening with Chester and Esther

 

Evening rainbow over Chester Lake and sunset on Esther Lake.  Grand Portage State Forest, MN. 

Night Adventures with Night Roamer

 

Here are a few more images from my night photography adventure this past Friday night/Saturday morning. By this time of year the Milky Way is already quite vertical in the night sky, a stark contrast to the low angle it is at earlier in the year. I was able to find a composition that I really liked with the ribbon of the Milky Way lining up in between some nice pine trees with a forested ridge in the background.

While this view was happening to the south, the northern lights were happily glowing to the north. At first it was a soft green glow that hung low to the horizon but eventually some purple hues showed up too. Shout out to Night Roamer, my Jeep, for without it I would not be able to so easily access areas such as this. Some of my most favorite locations for night sky photography are down some very rough logging roads.  The Jeep handles these roads without issue. Other than my camera gear itself, it has been one of my most valuable (not to mention most expensive!) photography tools. 

I don't know what happened exactly with the photo showing the moon, the photo ended up with this really weird halo around the moon.  I've never seen anything like it.  It didn't happen with any of the other photos that I made that night. I'm guessing just the center of my lens was starting to fog up a little when that photo was made, and the fog on the lens diffused the moonlight making the halo effect. 

Ontario Aurora

 

With the promise of a good aurora forecast last night, I decided to head up into Canada to photograph the possible lights from one of my newly scouted locations. I first came across this landscape of pine trees about two and a half years ago.  Thanks to Covid, I was unable to cross the border for the last two years, which prevented me from doing any night sky photography at this location until now. While the lights didn't develop into the possible G3 storm that was forecast, there were some beautiful colors and subtle movements to the display. The mosquitoes were also quite possibly the worst I've ever experienced. 

Since the movement in the lights was subtle and the bugs were so bad, I decided to try a 25 minute timelapse. Once I had the timelapse recording, I retreated to the relative protection of the inside of my Jeep. Quite a few mosquitoes made it inside the vehicle but it was much better than the situation outside. After 25 minutes had passed, I got out to stop the recording. As soon as I got out of the Jeep, I heard several small animals scurrying away through the brush behind me.  I grabbed my spotlight just in time to see 3 very small bear cubs scramble up the trunk of a nearby pine tree.  I did not see any sign of mom, which made me quite nervous. I packed up my gear and drove a few miles away to another location. By the time I arrived at the second location, the lights were fading fast and dawn was quickly approaching, so I decided to call it a night and head for home. 

Receding Storm, Approaching Moonlight

 

The last of the first round of thunderstorms from the night of July 18, 2022 recedes out over Lake Superior as light from the rising moon illuminates the clouds high above the storm. 

Tropical Morning at the Tip of the Arrowhead

 

After a night of intense thunderstorms and rain, things looked a little tropical this morning on my way to work. Wauswaugoning Bay on Lake Superior is in the foreground, and the point of land you see in the distance on the right is Pigeon Point.  Pigeon Point is the very tip of the Arrowhead Region of Northeast Minnesota. 

July Thunderstorms over Lake Superior

Really beautiful line of thunderstorms moving through northeastern Minnesota tonight. Not a lot of lightning bolts, mostly flashes up in the clouds.  But the cloud structure was pretty magnificent!  

A special evening north of the border

 

I headed up into Canada again today to do some more scouting of potential locations for northern lights photography.  I definitely found some areas that will make for some fantastic images the next time we have an aurora event.  While scouting these areas I also came across two pairs of Sandhill Cranes. It is always an incredible treat to see these graceful and majestic birds. 

A perfect July day for a paddle!

 

A friend and I got out for a paddle this afternoon/evening and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather!  We took our time and just enjoyed the sights around us as we meandered along in our canoes. Other than the supremely nice weather, one of the highlights was seeing the proliferation of dragonflies and damselflies flying every which way wherever we went along the river. They were landing on us constantly as we paddled along.  At one point I let my canoe drift over to the river's edge and that is where I made these photos. A little while later a yearling beaver swam right up to our canoes and posed for a portrait. So many outings are unforgettable adventures and this one was no different! 

5 Mile Rock and Storm Clouds

 

I don't normally find 5 Mile Rock just north of Grand Marais, MN very photogenic, but on this day as I was driving south I just had to stop and make a photo when I saw these impressive storm clouds in the distance behind the rock. 

Beaver pond pelicans on a beauty of an afternoon

 

Last week my dad and I came across these beautiful scenes while out driving around the backroads of northwest Ontario.  Much to our surprise, we even saw a couple of pelicans hanging out on a beaver pond!  

Curious Critters

 

A few favorite photos from my canoe outing this evening. A very curious otter that came very close to the canoe and a small yearling beaver hanging out in the grasses along the edge of the river. 

Summer Storm, Northwestern Ontario

 

Storm clouds passing over a pine forest at sunset in Northwestern Ontario. 

Northern Lights - July 2, 2022

 

Here are a couple more photographs of the northern lights from the early morning hours of July 2, 2022. Enjoy!

Northern Lights over the Border Lands

 

When a friend and I went out to photograph the Milky Way last night, the last thing we were expecting to see was such a good showing of the northern lights over the boundary of northeast Minnesota and Ontario, Canada.  There was a soft green glow on the northern horizon as soon as the sky was dark enough to see the first stars. Just after midnight the soft glow turned into a very active ribbon of light that arced its way across the northern sky as pillars surged upwards, reaching for the stars.  This level of activity lasted about 30 minutes then settled back into the soft green glow. There has been quite a bit of solar activity over the past few months, and that activity should continue to increase as we move closer to the next solar maximum!