I would normally not think that -20°C is any temperature for outdoors activities. But these clear cloudless nights are so rare that I felt it was a shame to waste it, especially now that there was a little bit of moonlight (37% crescent). I was determined to do some starry sky photography and had a spot in mind, but then it turned out that it was also a good night for aurora. One look out the kitchen window and I was in such a hurry to get out that I forgot my reflex vest. Not that it mattered in the end, there was absolutely zero traffic… Anyway, it seems like once again I just missed the best show but at least the first frame I took turned out good unlike the missed focused first shots from Monday.

I was out for three hours and I’m surprised how the cold weather didn’t affect me at all. Well, a little bit, but I just occasionally rubbed my cheeks to get the blood going, and then when my fingers and toes felt cold, I moved to the next spot and got the warmth back while walking (with snowshoes = extra effort).

I even got to the spot I had first thought about, to shoot Orion above the trees (same spot where I took the sunburst shot in December). Ok so the spot wasn’t as good as I had hoped for, but who cares? I got some really nice aurora instead. They say that 2013/2014 is going to be great for auroras and I have to agree – this week alone has been amazing!