Here is a gallery of some of the many Aurora photographs that I have been fortunate to create. To steal from Ansel Adams, “Sometimes I arrive just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter.” Five times this year, all in Michigan, the Aurora put on incredible shows. Longer, shorter, more muted, more intense, always different, but always spectacular. Of the thousands of images here are some from each night. Notice how similar and different each are. Within just a few moments, they transform into different shapes and colours.

May 10th, Crystal Lake, MI. Because of the predicted cloud cover, I drove about 90 minutes east. As soon as it was dark, the lights showed up, and were very strong for about an hour. As I was shooting. someone yelled out about the display straight over head (pic 1). This is a coronal hole and they are pretty rare. The clouds accent the lights, and a group showed up on the pier to enjoy the show. One of my favourite pictures and the reflections are always a treat.

Purple and pink northern lights in the night sky framed by silhouetted trees.
Vibrant aurora borealis over a beach at night, with green and red lights reflecting on the water.
Aurora borealis with red and green lights over a beach at night.
Night sky with Milky Way over a house and trees, illuminated by green and blue lights.

October 10. With the predicting numbers so high, there was no doubt about going out to see the lights. Being 30 minutes from Empire, I dedicated on the D H Day barn, hoping it would not be too crowded. Only a few other photographers were there to capture the Lights. As soon as it was full dark, the lights were immediately visible over the barn and the farm house. The moon provided just enough light to light up the white barn. A spectacular bonus corona showed up directly overhead. I made it over to catch the last of the lights in Historic Glenn Haven and the antique fishing boat.

Colorful aurora borealis over a rural landscape with a house and trees.
A boat-like structure on land under a colorful aurora-filled night sky with red and green hues and scattered stars.

And it’s not over yet! More to come this year?

All images were taken with either a Nikon Z8 or astro modified Z6ii. All were taken on a tripod, shutter speeds of 6 to 10 seconds. Either a 20mm 1.8 or a 14-24 2.8, wide open with ISO between 400 and 800 generally. All settings are manual mode, including focussing.

Vibrant Northern Lights reflecting on a calm lake with a dark horizon and colorful sky.
Northern Lights over a scenic beach at night, with green and red auroras visible in the sky and reflection on the water.
Northern lights over a beach with a starry sky and silhouetted trees.
Vibrant aurora borealis with green and red lights above a silhouette of trees at night.
Northern lights over a white barn in a rural field at night.
Aurora borealis with red and green lights
Northern lights over a lake with silhouettes of people on a dock at night.
Vibrant aurora borealis with red, orange, and green colors over a calm sea, visible under a starry night sky.
Northern Lights over a lake with silhouetted trees, showing green and purple auroras reflected in the water.

May 11, the next night. Watching the predictions, I headed out to a local beach. Since the local news hyped up the possibility, the beach parking lot was packed at 10PM. Setting up the camera, I could see a dark rainbow and the camera showed a faint green glow. Catching a quick update on an app about midnight indicated the KPI moved from 5 to 6. Finally, about 12:30 the sky. blew up. And for 40minutes, it was spectacular. Getting back to the car after 1AM, there were only a few cars left. Not too many stayed out long enough to enjoy the show. You can see the progression of the light show from left to right. The rainbow bridge was a smudge to start the night, but soon blew up into a bright magenta fury. Even the large moon setting in the distance could not overtake the lights.

Aurora borealis with green and red lights over a calm beach at night.
Aurora borealis with green and red lights over a beach at night.

September 9th. The Perseid Meteor showers were active, so I headed out to shoot them, along with a possible Norther Lights show. Once again, a long wait, followed by an unbelievable show. Somewhere around 3AM, I caught the first (and only) meteor. It happened to show up in the middle of an incredible Aurora.

Northern lights with red and green auroras over a beach at night under a starry sky.

October 7. Spending a week in Suttons Bay, MI, near the 45th parallel, the Lights came back. It was pretty nice to be able to shoot some images from the cherry orchard in the backyard and from the driveway of our rented house. Seeing the MW in the very darks skies, I decided to take a quick shot, only to find a SAR (Static Aurora Red). SAR is a fairly rare phenomena, which presents itself in the opposite direction of the Northern Lights. Charged particles show up as a stationary red streak across the sky and not visible to the naked eye. But once again, the camera captures it beautifully.

Night sky with vibrant red and green aurora borealis above silhouetted trees.
Northern lights over a white barn at night with a grassy field in the foreground and trees in the background.
Vibrant yellow and green aurora borealis with hints of red in the night sky.
Northern Lights glowing in the night sky above silhouetted trees.
Barns under Northern Lights with a starry sky and grassy field.
Northern lights aurora borealis over a white barn and field at night.