Sky On Fire by brewgirlca
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Just another of nature's wonders that we were blessed with seeing on our trip to Nordegg, Alberta.
The story here is that the early evening was completely clouded in so everyone else at the lodge packed it in early as there was no promise of good night shots. My friend Bob and I decided it was a fine time to dive into the bottles of Scotch that we had both brought and so at about 9:00 PM we started into a serious session of whiskey tasting.
At about 1:00 AM we stumbled to our room drunk as skunks.Then Bob did what he habitually does, and took a look at the sky out the window. The clouds had almost lifted, a full moon was partially hidden and the sky was aglow in reflected light. Bob went out and then came back in and hissed.. come out and look. I did. And the sky was on fire with the Northern Lights.
I instantly sobered up and set up my camera on a tripod. Even though it was 20 C below zero we did not bother to put on our boots and went out in our sock feet. While Bob danced around the back deck of the lodge in total tribal maniacle glee I focused on getting some long exposure shots. This is one of them. I even caught a satellite in this one. It was spectacular ... there were rarely seen reds as well as the usual green.
We debated about waking the others but decided at 2:00 AM we may not be too popular waking a group of strangers. It was a good thing we didn't because the lights soon faded.
The next morning all the other photographers were envious as all hell that a coupla drunken fools got the shots that everyone of them would die for!
Some have commented on my cold tolerance. Yes, I am pretty tough in that regard. The coldest thing I have done is camp out in an uninsulated trapper's shack in the Canadian arctic at -40C=-40 F for a week. That was bloody cold work.

Comments (29)
Beautiful!
YEP....Maximum sun cycle now.....we can see some in Montreal when looking far north :) Want to know why :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=603wHdQrQHo
Just once before I leave this plane of existence, I would LOVE to see the aurora.. This is magnificent, Roxy! Had you not produced a photo (and a glorious one at that), I would have wondered if the lights were a product of the whiskey tasting earlier.... LOL Musta been some good stuff!
Beautiful... would love to see them one day.
Very nice work on this truly dramatic capture, Roxie.
wow you did good. I never saw this and hope to one day
Beautiful capture Roxy! We love watching the Northern lights on crisp winter nights. They always put on a good show.
A wonder indeed, great shot!
Very very nice!
Wow! Beautiful aurora, Roxy-sensei!
This is one of the best Northern lights images I’ve seen and the story is hilarious!!! I’m sure those other photographers were very envious :)
Fabulous and fascinating capture Roxy Like Rod, I wish to see these in person thanks for sharing the photo and story
Very beautiful shot!!!!!
xlt northern lights capture
Excellent capture of the northern lights!
beautiful pic
Wowee! This is an amazing shot. Something for the books on "northern lights". I see the straight line from the satellite too. See....it pays to drink! LOL!
Roxy, that is amazing!!!! So super and I would have loved to have seen it. What a treat! Thank you so much for sharing. :)
Amazing
Well done!!!
Very pretty scene
Fantastic. Something I've always wanted to see & hope to achieve one day. I admire your passion, but you won't find me going out in frigid weather like that in my socks...
Stunning capture! This looks just like our sky outside in town here (Alberta also). Incredible shot, Roxy! :)
Only one word describes this... EXCELLENT!!!
Stunning!
I haven't been around for a while and I was looking at your images and this one just made my head turn. wow wee this is stunning. what year did you take this ? amazing capture
Awesome, brings back memories of a trip to Alaska.
So amazing... the thinnest trace of a shooting star adds a great deal to the whole wonder
Wonder why I have not been getting your ebots, very cool image.