Northern Lights

November 13, 2025
by dawnkinster 39 Comments

And then there was light

You probably saw on the news that there was a very large solar event this week. Tuesday night was supposed to be stunning, with the kind of aurora lights we saw a couple years ago. Of course Tuesday night I was in band and when I got home our skies were cloud covered.

I went to bed disappointed.

*In the beginning there was just the faint pink and green.*

Wednesday night the weather folks and those forecasting the aurora said it wouldn’t be as spectacular as Tuesday had been, but we had a good chance of seeing the lights. And this time the skies over my head were mostly clear!

The aurora last night was fickle. I watched the numbers, and went outside numerous times, once it was dark, to check using my phone to take sample images, thinking maybe, just maybe there was a bit of a pink tinge to the northern sky.

Eventually the numbers got better and I dragged my camera, tripod and a chair out to my backyard. I had considered driving somewhere that would provide me a clearer view of the horizon, but lots of stuff kept me home.

*But almost right away another pillar of light sprang up.*

I figured if I saw it, I saw it and if I didn’t, well, I’d see a lot of images online in the morning.

*And then more pillars with more intense color.*

Sitting in my own backyard took a lot of the stress out of finding a place with a clear view, worrying about other people, cars with headlights, or huffing deer.

It was actually pretty comfortable, even relaxing, out there. So comfortable I didn’t spend enough time focusing on the stars, so they’re not the pinpricks they’re supposed to be. And of course the trees, that were quite close to me, are out of focus. You can’t focus on both the stars and the trees!

*Imagine what it looks like from that plane.*

But the color, oh the color, was wonderful … if only for a few minutes. I think I spent 30 or 40 minutes out there before the color faded and the clouds blew in around 10 p.m. This morning I read that the lights came back out later in the night, but I was long asleep by then.

*And then the light began to fade again.*

I don’t have the most wonderous images. I didn’t have a view of the horizon so I couldn’t see much of the green dome below the red lights. My stars aren’t in focus. There’s no great foreground.

*Clouds overtake the last of the pink light.*

But for almost an hour I sat in the comfort of my yard, staring at the sky and smiling. If I hadn’t taken even one image I’d still have been happy that I went out into the night searching for Lady Aurora.

I hope some or all of you got a glimpse too. If not….squint at these images and imagine being out under the stars. I’m willing to share.

One of the cool things about an event like this is that I know so many people are out there staring up at the sky too. We’re all looking at the same big sky, and for one or two nights the rest of the crazy world falls away. I never feel alone when I’m out under the stars and I usually don’t even feel the cold until I’m back inside. It’s an amazing experience.

*Another phone shot testing the skies. It was there!*

All these images are pretty much the way they came out of the camera (or phone). I cropped a few, tried to clean up the fuzziness of a couple others. But mostly they’re the way they looked in the camera. You couldn’t see any of this with your naked eye.

If you ever get the opportunity, go out and watch the aurora. Take your phone or camera with you, it probably will be the only way you’ll see it. But it’s worth the adventure.

October 14, 2024
by dawnkinster 50 Comments

Look to the sky

We have been so lucky, up here in Michigan, (and sometimes all the way down to Georgia!) to be able to see the Northern Lights quite frequently this past summer and into fall.

*May 2024, somewhere in Michigan farm country.*

Of course even if the lights are dancing, the weather doesn’t always cooperate. Lots of evenings the skies are obstructed with clouds and you can only dream about what might be happening up there.

And of course you have to actually go outside to a dark place to see them. And even then you mostly can’t see them with your naked eyes, you need your phone or a camera to get a better view.

In May there was a huge aurora storm above us and I was lucky enough to take my sister and head north to see them. We ended up on a random dirt road in front of a farmer’s house shooting the amazing lights as they danced across the sky.

Last weekend there was some evidence that a big light storm would be arriving, but night after night nothing happened. Then Wednesday night, with clouds rolling in, people in my general area were starting to post pictures they’d taken from their own yards of colorful northern lights.

I leapt out of bed, and headed to my own back yard. There were clouds, but enough open spaces that I saw this.

*October 6, from my yard looking over my neighbor’s house.*

It wasn’t beautiful, no special location, the lights of my neighbor’s house spread across the image. But I saw them. I saw them in my own backyard without driving across the state.

I was thrilled.

I was especially thrilled because I took that shot with my phone, and had only just learned how to use my phone at night. My regular camera had been shipped back to Nikon as a trade-in for a new version of the Z series.

Thursday of last week my new camera arrived, and coincidently notices of potential northen lights grew louder and louder as the day went on.

I tried to learn all the differences between the new camera and what I was used to using. And when it got dark I went over to Katie’s park and set up near her pond.

*I was hoping for color reflected in the pond…but a layer of invasive plants covered the surface of the water.*

I was not disappointed. There was a definite pink tinge to the northern sky.

*It wasn’t always bright, but it was pretty and surrounded the Big Dipper.*

There were obnoxious lights in the parking lot, and I lowered my tripod as low as I could to minimize the light pollution.

But mostly I just watched the sky. As my eyes adjusted I could tell the lights were there, but I couldn’t see much. Sometimes I could see a few pillars of light.

*Sometimes the colors obscured the stars.*

And once I turned the camera over to the east a bit, because I thought maybe something was there. But looking on the back of the camera, I didn’t see anything interesting, so I turned it back to the pond.

*See that green waving at me from over there on the right?*

I was wrong. There were actually green waves over there, but I didn’t see them until I processed the images days later.

I was out there from 8 until shortly after 9. I wasn’t prepared with hand warmers, or a hat or gloves. You wouldn’t have thought you’d need them, but on this clear night as the moon came up behind me, the air chilled.

*The lights began to fad. I didn’t realize the green was ramping up.*

By 9 I was cold and my husband and I ambled back to the car under the fading colors that still filled the sky. I went to bed and dreamed about starry nights and dancing lights. In the morning I found out that Mother Nature has a sense of humor, because she put up a magnificent light show with curtains of color that started about 10. While I was sleeping.

Yep.

In order to really see the northern lights you need to prepare, take warm clothes, bring extra batteries, some snacks, a chair and your good camera and on top of all that, hope for clear skies.

*When I got home I went out back and took a picture of the moon. Because it was beautiful too.*

And if all that lines up…you’re gonna see a real show!

I’m not disappointed, I was so happy to be out there at all. I’m thrilled to have had the experience and to share it with my husband.

But I’m secretly hoping to get one more chance this season.

October 3, 2021
by dawnkinster 20 Comments

No, I’ve never seen them in person. Well. I might have seen a tiny bit of some once, but I’m not sure.

I’ve been watching all the great Northern Light images popping up on Facebook. Many are being shot in northern Michigan, often very near where I used to live a lifetime ago. Sometimes I can tell exactly where the photographer was standing because I’ve stood there myself.

*Creating pollution, light and otherwise while waiting for the Northern Lights.*

Now days I live far away from the northern reaches of the Upper Peninsulia which would be my first choice of viewing locations. It’s just not practical to jump in the car when conditions are right and drive ten hours on the off chance the dancing lights appear.

But I’m sure, sooner or later, I’ll be in the right place at the right time. In fact I was, kind of, a couple years ago.

*I never saw this fist cloud that night, only when I reviewed images later.*

These are photos from 2019 when we were in the UP in the fall and northern lights were predicted. Not only predicted among local northern light buffs, but also on national news networks. Everyone knew there should be lights that night.

Which is why we found ourselves on a beach looking out at Lake Superior along with a few thousand of our closest friends, all of whom were enjoying bonfires producing smoke obscuring the sky.

*Bad composition, but the Milky Way is there.*

Yep. That’s the closest I ever got to seeing the Northern Lights.

*They’re out there somewhere.* *I never did figure out what that red spot was in the water.*

It was a crazy night, and though I was facinated by the others on the beach, mostly Michigan Tech students, we couldn’t see much of anything out over the water. I didn’t even look at these images when we finally made it home from our adventures. We’d seen so many other wonderful things that trip I never thought about these shots at all.

But I have to say…maybe, just maybe I did see some Northern Lights that night. In spite of myself.

*There were people and bonfires as far down the beach as we could see. In both directions.*

Note: These aren’t great images, but to see them at all you’ll probably need to be in a dark room and looking at something larger than your phone.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Northern Lights

And then there was light

Look to the sky

Northern Lights