Northern Lights Over Lake McDonald

Arora Borealis

The Northern Lights comes from “solar wind” ,which is basically tiny electric particles from the sun, hitting the earth and changing its natural magnetic field, and spraying out bright light!

 The magnetic field is strongest at the north and south poles, which is why you only see this in the extreme north or extreme south.

The majority of the planet never gets to see the stunning northern lights.

It is only in the northern United States, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia where this is occasionally visible, far away from the light pollution of cities.

The Northern Lights are unique, no pattern is the same or ever repeats, it’s like a unique snowflake.

The bright color patterns of the Northern Lights, and the Southern lights are almost identical and they move simultaneous to each other despite being over 10,000 miles away from each-other!

The bright lights and the otherworldly and almost spiritual feel of them are unlike any other natural phenomenon on the planet. 

They are only visible far from city lights, in the deep north where the frozen eternal silence draws even more attention to this natural wonder. 

Above 230 feet from the surface of the earth, you can start to hear them! It’s called the Aurora noise and sounds like crackling lightning. 

Add to this, the unpredictability of the Northern Lights, and the lack of warning you may get when they appear, can make catching them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, especially if you don’t live near the north pole! 

I was out in Northern Montana, in Glacier National Park, and I saw on facebook my wife’s cousin, who reported sighting the northern lights.400 miles south of me in Idaho!

I figured if he could see them, I was in for a treat!

I hopped in my car with all my gear and headed for Glacier National Park, where it was dark, and where no artificial lights obstructed this natural wonder. Glacier has a no-light policy.

I sat in the desolate stillness of dark for 4.5 hours, until dawn and watched the dancing flames of the aurora borealis. They changed every second, and I was finally able to fulfill a life’s dream and capture the northern lights! 

This adventure brought me my best selling photograph of all time. 

I sell this in local galleries where I live on the Oregon coast, and I am now bringing them to you online!

If you’d like to support an independent artist and get a stunning northern lights portrait of nature up on your wall, select your size on the menu and get one shipped to you!

Contact me for custom sizes.