Thursday, March 10, 2011

Why I Love Alaska


For those of you who do not know, we relocated from Japan to Alaska in July. I had always heard about how gorgeous this state was. Its natural beauty is something you really cannot appreciate unless you have spent a fair amount of time here. The geography, wildlife and free light shows courtesy of the Northern Lights are amazing to say the least.

I have been fortunate enough to witness the Northern Lights on several occasions, but none was comparable to the show we saw last night! There was a solar event on the 8th which resulted in a lot of activity in our skies.


I am NOT a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but I was able to pick these up with my DSLR (manual/bulb, ISO1800, f/3.5). The bands of light are in constant movement, kind of like fireworks. In some cases they were moving rapidly changing from green to white with tips of pink and at other times they were more a quiet, vibrant green.


When they were really vivid and more light green to white, the whole sky was lit up and it was noticeably lighter outside! These pictures were all taken around 11:00pm on the 9th. This is what makes -40 degree temperatures in the winter worth it...well, almost! ;)


I hope you enjoy a little taste of my skies! I wish you could see the Northern Lights in real life...they are truly a wonder of the world!

15 comments:

~Chris~ said...

OMG those Pictures are amazing. You have a great Camera.. Thank you for sharing the Northern Lights. Beautiful!

Miss Molly said...

These are beautiful - breath-taking!

Glad you are here safe - hope your friends in Japan are too!

Whitney Cantrell said...

AWW you are making me miss Alaska so much. The Northern Lights are so amazing to see. I was lucky enough to see them many times and the ones with the pink and purple in them are just beyond words. God has made one amazing light show! Wonderful pictures!!

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! Glad you are safe and not in Japan. Take care.

Rhonda Langley said...

Amazing photos! Amazing light show! Thanks for sharing this!

Donna Heber said...

Absolutely stunning! You have captured the Northern Lights so well. TFS.

Teresa Jenkins said...

This is amazing! I would so love to see it in real life.... I could pass on the -40 though!

Anonymous said...

GORGEOUS!!!! We get the northern lights a bit here too, but with the city lights they're always a bit harder to see and they're nothing like these. Wow. What an experience!!

Pam~ said...

Awesome pictures! You captured the Northern Lights beautifully!

Amanda said...

Stunning! Absolutely beautiful.

Jenn Embry said...

Wow! Those pictures are amazing. I'm sure in real life the night skies are breathtaking.

ike said...

WOW these photos are awesome - it must be a truly amazing thing to see.
Does it happen all the time?
Can you here anything when they do it ?
May be silly questions, but I'd like to know.
Glad you are safe there and not in Japan x
Thanks so much for sharing.

Ike xxx

theneon said...

What an amazing show -- thanks for sharing. We would occasionally see a small vestige of these when I lived in Michigan -- but it was just a glimmer compared to the entire sky and the "whole deal."

gale said...

That is gorgeous!! My sister lives up there and things like that are no big deal to her. Weird. lol

Tigriswillreign said...

I live in Alberta but only saw the Northern Lights here once while growing up. Strangely enough, I witnessed them while living Idaho for a few years! Won't ever forget that!