With the big solar eruption the other day, the forecast for aurora was good last night. I wish the weather forecast had been equally good, but there were some clouds which could ruin the whole thing. I decided to try it anyway, I mean if I got a break in the clouds then it would definitely be worth the while.

As I was packing, I realised that I had forgotten to recharge the batteries. That left me with one almost empty and one half charged battery, which is not a lot in the freezing temperatures but good for some frames anyway.

When I was halfway to my spot, I realised that I had forgotten to take a flashlight with me. On a moonless night, a less than ideal situation and I was reluctant to turn back to get it (especially when the next possible place to make a U-turn was actually that spot I was driving to). Then I remembered that I had one of those small key fob flashlights in my car keychain so I checked if it still lights up after all these years – it did! Better than nothing, because it was really dark – no moon, and almost no stars because of the clouds.

It was -17°C so a bit on the cold side to be standing still all evening and wait for something to happen. It’s possible it would’ve been less cold if I had chosen a higher spot, but I was standing by a lake. The foreground is such a big problem (I haven’t found anything I’m happy with) that this time I decided to eliminate it out of the equation and go for the best open view instead.

The clouds finally cleared and revealed the stars but the aurora was not the spectacle I had hoped for. There was no action going on, just a big green mist that was actually beginning to fade out. I decided to wait until either my extremities or the camera battery would freeze and as it turned out, it was my nose. So I’m still waiting for my first great aurora picture, but at least I got to drive my new car. I love that car!