AURORA 6047

“Summer Solstice Night Sky”

My approach to photography is very much a mindful process that I put a lot of thought and planning into. I like to think of that method not as taking pictures but making photographs. Much like other people make their art, I make my art as well. And it is very much a process. It’s not just grabbing a camera and going “click, click, click”, I’m done. The implementation of my photography is very intentional and takes time.

I spend a lot of time in the daylight hours scouting for possible locations to photograph at night. Whether its hiking or just driving around in the state or national forests on some gravel roads, or out canoeing or biking, or even skiing or snowshoeing. I am always on the lookout for potential locations for photographing the night sky. Locations that I am either already familiar with or that I haven’t discovered yet, and just kind of having an eye for where the Milky Way might line up when I’m in that place at night.

So, if I find a lake that has an intriguing curve to the shoreline with some nice pine trees, or something like that, I will be looking at the direction and thinking ahead. In my mind I’ll by trying to “pre-visualize” what that area would look like at night. Whether the Milky Way would line up or whether it would be a good spot for some northern lights. Then I will start to plan for when I might want to go back there at night to try and photograph these things. In some cases, there are many, many hours if not days invested in scouting a location and sometimes years will pass before I make it back to that location to photograph it at night.

Throughout the planning process I am spending time in these locations at different times of the day and different times of the year. This time spent there helps create a familiarity and a connection to the place. I do believe that investing in this process yields stronger photographic compositions and images that draw the viewer in and hopefully make them feel something. Maybe something along the lines of what I felt as I went through this process of making that image a photographic reality.

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 30 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 6400

AURORA 2465

“Border Country Aurora”

It had been a long time coming, but in the early morning hours of September 4, 2022, we finally got a northern lights display to rival those that we saw during the last solar maximum several years ago! I went out just before midnight and stayed out until about 3:00 AM and the lights were active during that entire time.

As often happens, the activity ebbed and flowed which kept things interesting. Several times, just as the lights were slowing down and fading and I was thinking I had seen the night’s best activity, they would once again flare up and provide another round of waving and dancing throughout the sky. They were still going strong when I headed in for the night. I would have stayed out all night, but I had to work later that morning and needed to get at least a few hours of sleep.

On September 26, 2019 an article called “A Summer Without Sunspots”, written by Dr. Tony Phillips, was published on spaceweather.com (the #1 resource that I use for tracking aurora activity). Dr. Phillips wrote that “From June 21st until September 22nd, the sun was blank more than 98% of the time. During the entire season only 6 tiny sunspots briefly appeared. Not a single significant solar flare was detected during this period of extreme quiet.”

That summer of 2019 also brought a sign that the current solar minimum was coming to an end. A sunspot that briefly appeared on July 7th had a reversed magnetic polarity. According to Hale’s Law, sunspots switch polarity from one sunspot to the next. The reversed polarity of this July 7th sunspot marked it as a member of the next solar cycle. As we move further into this next solar cycle, we can expect to see more frequent aurora events. If forecasters are correct, the next solar maximum could be in full swing by 2023!

Camera: Nikon Z7 II
Lens: Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S
Exposure Time: 15 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1600

AURORA 6388

“Solar Storm Explosion”

2015 was an AWESOME year for northern lights! They occurred frequently and were strong, sometimes filling 2/3 or more of the sky. June 23rd of that year was the absolute best of the best aurora shows that I’ve seen. I had planned on heading inland from Lake Superior that night to photograph the show over an inland lake, but I never made it there.

My plan was to drive a few miles south to Hovland, MN then drive inland along the Arrowhead Trail. However, as I was driving down Highway 61, I saw the lights erupting over Lake Superior, which is to the south! I pulled into Hollow Rock Resort along the Lake Superior shoreline, just a few miles south from the village of Grand Portage. When I got out of my car and looked at the sky, I couldn’t believe how active the lights were to the south, and how little activity there was in the northern sky! The exact opposite of what we typically see in northern Minnesota.

It was a night of frantic activity with the camera. The lights were changing so quickly that I wanted to make one exposure after another to capture as much of the movement as possible. The lights were flickering and pulsating so fast that I shot several hundred images in a rather short period of time and every one of them looked utterly and completely unique. They were also so bright that most of my exposures were rather short. They ranged anywhere from 3 to 10 seconds long (typically for the aurora I am shooting exposures in the 15 to 30 second range).

The lights were active throughout the entire night. A few times there were some brief explosions of color where bright reds and purples could be seen. These lasted for just a few moments then the colors would shift predominantly back to green. It was one of the most unforgettable nights I have ever experienced.

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 10 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1000

MILKY WAY 1992

“Quiet Night in the Maple Forest”

One of my favorite things to do is to snowshoe through the woods at night, whether it’s under the soft glow of the stars or the bright light of a full moon. Hearing the trees pop as they give way to the bitter cold temperatures and the soft swooshing sounds of your snowshoes as they glide through the snow crystals.

The peacefulness of being out in the forest on these nights is incomparable. It keeps me balanced and reinforces that feeling of being connected to everything around me. Just being under this glowing sky is something that nothing else compares to. I think its important for us to keep that connection to the stars as much as we can. Because it is, ultimately, where we all came from.

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 30 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 6400

MILKY WAY 2222

“The Magnificence of the Milky Way”

I had a super interesting (and slightly scary) encounter while photographing this scene. I was standing at the end of a short dock on this local lake under the glow of the Milky Way in Grand Portage State Forest, MN. As you can see, it was an incredibly calm night. So calm that the stars were reflecting almost perfectly in the water. This meant that I could hear every little sound in the forest.

When I arrived at the lake there were a couple of rabbits that were running around in the brush near the shoreline. As I took in the scene and planned out my composition, I could hear them chasing each other back forth in the woods. After a while they either got tired or left the area as there was no longer any sound. By then I was making my first exposures and getting my composition dialed in.

By the time I had everything just right, I could again hear rustling in the woods behind me. Only this time it sounded different. This time it sounded like a much larger animal. I turned and faced the shoreline, but it was much too dark to see anything. The noises kept coming closer. I could hear a couple of twigs snap, then I could hear the animal breathing. I turned on the soft red light of my headlamp and there was a moose standing there near the edge of the lake, about 30 feet away!

My nerves were a little on edge, but I stood still and tired not to make a sound. I turned off my headlamp and the moose turned and started to walk through the brush along the water’s edge. It walked right past the end of the dock and through the brush for about another 50 feet along the lakeshore then turned and headed back inland. Once I could hear that it was a good distance away, I let out a sigh of relief and went back to photographing the scene. I never saw or heard it again that night. Later on as I drove away from the lake, I could see the impressions of its tracks in the gravel road. Standing under the glow of the Milky Way in such a beautiful location is special enough but having a wildlife encounter such as this made the night even more memorable!

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 30 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 6400

MILKY WAY 2746

“The River in the Sky”

The overall process of going out and spending time under the night sky and capturing these cool photographs of the Milky Way or the Northern Lights doesn’t happen by accident. It is very intentional. There is a lot of thought and planning that goes into it. You need to be prepared in order to get the best results.

I will scout out locations well ahead of time before I go and photograph them at night. I am always mindful of which direction I’m facing. Views to the south are best for the Milky Way, to the north are best for the Aurora Borealis. I look for compositional elements that will draw the viewer’s eye into the scene. The ability to visualize in your mind what a location might look like at night is very helpful.

When I arrive on location, it’ll be before it gets dark. I will get there an hour or two before the sun goes down. Just sitting in a spot and watching the light change; that is one of the magical things about being anywhere, I think. You can be in the middle of a city and watch that same thing. Watch as the light washes over the buildings and the skyline, getting warmer in color as the sun drops closer to the horizon.

As that moment is arriving, when daytime transitions into nighttime and the sunlight is going away and will soon be traded with starlight… in those moments, everything else kind of melts away. I’m there, I’m with the stars, and that’s all there is. It’s that simple.

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 30 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 6400

MILKY WAY 7614

“The Spirit Tree and the Milky Way”

My number one passion when it comes to photography is the night sky. I love photographing it but I also love the simple act of just being with it and experiencing it. For me it is my number one anchor that keeps me grounded and centered.

Oftentimes, the most notable quality of the night is the silence. I have experienced many nights where the silence is deafening. To hear that silence, you need to push everything out of your mind and let yourself truly be in that moment. And that’s not an easy thing to do. Our minds tend to always be running with some sort of thought or memory.

Our subconscious is always replaying that day's events or thinking about what might happen tomorrow. Most of the time I don't think we even realize it. That's why I like the night sky so much. It's the easiest way I can quiet my mind and just be there in the present. When I'm gazing up at the sky, especially on such a quiet night, I feel utterly and completely relaxed and refreshed.

It's one of the best ways, in my opinion, to balance out the clutter and commotion of modern life.

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 20 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 10,000

MILKY WAY 8027

“The truth is out there”

I try to practice mindfulness and being in the moment as much as I can and it's had a profound effect on my life. I used to busy myself with capturing as many images as possible and thinking about when or how I was going to share them with the world. But lately I've been doing less of that and instead trying to fully immerse myself in each moment and experience. Much of the time when doing this I never even take my camera out of the bag. Sometimes, when I do make images, I don't share them for a month or more.

In the practice of being mindful I've noticed that I feel much calmer than I used to. My mind doesn't race the way it used to. I feel rested and peaceful more often than not. My actions with the camera are much more deliberate and thought out than they used to be. I feel that this photograph is a good representation of that mindfulness. I feel like it really conveys the sense of calm and peacefulness that comes with truly being in that moment, right then and there.

It also reminds me of a favorite saying (and title of a book about mindfulness):

"Wherever you go, there you are."

MILKY WAY 8027
Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 30 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 6400

MILKY WAY 9797

“The Connection of Earth and Sky”

Water connects the earth and the sky. This is often most evident when you are at an inland lake, and you see the stars and the Milky Way reflecting on the surface of that lake. You are gazing up at that big, beautiful line that is this arc through the sky, that milky band of stars and light, which is just larger than life it seems. On those nights when there is absolutely no wind, you can see this almost perfect reflection, this mirrored image, of the sky.

If you are out on the lake in a canoe or a boat, the sky is both above and below you. It can feel like you are floating out there in the universe, drifting through space rather than across the surface of a lake. It can be hard to tell which way is up and which way is down. No matter what’s going on, no matter what kind of difficulty I might be having, I can go to a place like that and just lose myself in it and kind of get lost in the mindfulness of that experience.

There is that connection. You have the water which makes its cycle. Through evaporation, it goes up into the atmosphere and comes back down as rain. It is all connected, just like everything in life is connected. Being there in those moments and seeing something that is so close to you, showing you, right in front of you, what you can also see in the sky, it just ties it all together. It makes you feel insignificant and kind of large all at the same time. And makes you feel part of all that. Part of that energy that ties everything together.

When you have that presented before you, how can you not be amazed?

Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
Exposure Time: 30 seconds
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 6400