Kevin Palmer

  • Portfolio
  • Time Lapse
  • About
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Links
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
32 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • A bitter wind blew across the icy mountainside in Björkliden, Sweden, while the moon illuminated the landscape below. I had heard about this overlook, but couldn’t find it in time to capture the first wave of auroras at 10PM. But since it was my last clear night in the Arctic, I waited until 1AM for the aurora to come back. A green stripe first appeared to the east, featureless and unmoving but slowly getting brighter. It was almost like a rubber band building up tension, until suddenly it released. Within seconds the northern lights filled the entire sky, moving and changing faster than I could possibly capture it. This is known as a substorm, and they occur several times a night when geomagnetic conditions are favorable. The solar wind piles up charged particles on the tail side of the magnetosphere. When the magnetic field line snaps, these particles are quickly funneled towards the Earth’s poles which causes a sudden expansion and brightening of the aurora. It’s not completely understood what triggers this ‘snap’. But the unpredictability is what makes the aurora so fascinating to watch, you never know what it's going to do next.
    The Second Substorm
  • For most of the night the northern lights glowed brightly to the north. But it was just a green band that didn't show much movement. Then at 2AM the sky exploded into color, with purple pillars reaching all the way up to the zenith. I've seen the northern lights dozens of times, but this was only the 3rd time I've seen them reach that high. Unfortunately 2AM is when I decided to change locations so I missed out on the best part of the show.
    Subsiding Substorm
  • Hunting for the aurora from the mid-latitudes can be a frustrating endeavor. For every night that I've clearly seen the northern lights, there are 2 more where I've gone out only to see the aurora quickly fade or clouds overtake the sky. But perfect nights like this one make it all worth it. After NOAA issued a geomagnetic storm warning, I headed for the Bighorn Mountains. The aurora was obvious as soon as I stepped out of my car. But it was just a green glow without any structure or movement. At 12:30AM, the lights began to grow brighter. Pillars topped with purple and red suddenly rose up and moved rapidly back and forth. This is called a substorm. Charged particles in the solar wind causes pressure to build up against Earth's magnetic field. The magnetic field will suddenly 'snap' and the release of energy makes the aurora intensify. Substorms are unpredictable and often last only minutes. In this frame I caught a Lyrid meteor burning up above Steamboat Point.
    Dawn of the North
  • Anyone who has tried chasing the aurora is familiar with disappointment. Especially in mid-latitudes, there can be months in a row with little to no activity. And when the sun does get more active, sometimes it feels like everything is working against you. Unpredictability is high. The timing is all wrong when the geomagnetic storm happens during the day, or on the cloudiest night of the week, or when the moon is so bright you can’t see it. But if you keep going out and watching, eventually you’ll catch a view like this. Last night I went up to an overlook in the Bighorn Mountains. For the first couple hours the aurora glowed but lacked any movement. Then at 10PM, a substorm broke out into these colorful pillars moving from right to left. Just half an hour later the moon was up and the show was over. Aurora activity will continue to increase as we head towards solar maximum.
    Highway 14 Aurora
  • After an auroral substorm, a corona formed at the zenith. A corona is a very fast moving type of aurora, where the rays appear to converge. But by the time I finished a time lapse and pointed my camera straight up, most of it was gone.
    At the Zenith
  • After shooting the aurora over Nuuk Fjord for hours, it moved more to the southern sky. So I setup my camera over this small pond which was in the process of freezing over. During the brightest bursts of aurora the ground turned green. Jupiter is seen in the center of the photo and reflected on the ice.
    Jovian Ice
  • For the 2nd night in a row, there was an active display of the northern lights in Abisko, Sweden. Starting off as a dull glow in the north after sunset, it quickly exploded with bright green spiral swirls filling the entire sky. Here above the Arctic Circle the aurora is ever present, encircling the Earth's poles in a zone called the auroral oval. Even during solar minimum when solar activity is quiet, the northern lights are visible on almost any clear night. And Abisko sees more clear nights than surrounding areas because the mountains to the west create a rain shadow effect. Visible beyond the forest of short birch trees, is Torneträsk, Sweden's 6th largest, and 2nd deepest lake.
    Green Cyclone
  • The sun had not even been down an hour yet when the first green curtains overspread the blue twilight sky. Why am I not on the summit already? As I hoofed it up a mountain in Greenland, I barely needed my headlamp as the lights above illuminated my way. Route finding can be tricky at night, but I had scouted out this peak the previous day so I knew where to go. Finally I reached the top, and all body heat generated from the strenuous climb was quickly stolen by the icy wind. Below stretched out the Nuuk Fjord, 2nd longest fjord system in the world. Rising nearly 4,000 feet above the sea is Sermitsiaq, the iconic island peak which dominates the skyline of Greenland's capital city. While Mars cast its reflection across the water, ribbons of green, purple, and red shimmered overhead. Oddly the northern lights seemed to prefer every part of the sky except north. For hours the show continued, in waves of varying intensity. It was a night I'll never forget.
    Nuuk Fjord Aurora
  • This aurora corona was mesmerizing to watch. It was moving and changing so fast, even a 1 second exposure was too long.
    The First Corona
  • I nearly gave up on seeing the aurora this night but I'm glad I didn't. The thick clouds parted for a brief time to the west as the northern lights brightened. One iceberg was stranded on the rocks while hundreds of others floated past in a blur.
    Lights of a Rising Tide
  • It was amazing watching the aurora reflected in both the icebergs and the calm tidepool.
    Tip of the Iceberg
  • While the aurora was still going strong I wandered down to Abisko Canyon to capture the lights here. There wasn't much space to set up my tripod next to the cliff's edge so I had to be careful. I shot a time lapse  as the aurora slowly faded away. Clouds would move in soon afterward, so I was glad the lights were so active early in the evening.
    Abisko Canyon Aurora
  • The aurora dances above an iceberg stranded on the beach at low tide.
    Ice and Tidepool
  • During the most intense part of the geomagnetic storm, I looked straight up and this is what I saw. It's known as a corona, and it looks like the aurora is radiating outward from a single point in the sky. This was the first time I've seen a corona and it didn't last long.
    Aurora Corona
  • Saskatchewan is called "Land of the Living Skies." I found out why on this night. These red and green pillars moved across the northern skies over Grasslands National Park. The passing clouds only added to the scene. The moonlight came and went across the prairie.
    Land of the Living Skies
  • The northern lights dance above Deadman's Basin Reservoir while a fireball meteor flies through the sky.
    Aurora and Fireball
  • With both clear skies and a geomagnetic storm in the forecast, I headed north of the border to Saskatchewan. Grasslands National Park is a long ways from anywhere. During the day the landscape seems stark and desolate, especially after a very dry summer. But the real beauty of this park comes after sunset. It is one of the darkest places on the continent. With no sources of light pollution at all, the stars appear the same as they did to the Plains Indians hundreds of years ago. The aurora was already bright and colorful earlier in the evening. But at midnight after the moon set, the northern lights went insane. I've never seen such rapid motion before. If you could imagine a campfire with the flames rising upward and flickering on and off, that's what it looked like. Except instead of orange, it was green, and instead of it being confined to a fire ring, it filled the entire sky. I don't think any camera could fully capture it, it just has to be experienced.
    Two Tipis
  • On this night I found myself in the Arctic wilderness of Abisko National Park in Swedish Lapland. After trekking for 9.5 miles I arrived in this stunning valley in the Scandinavian Mountains. The northern lights came out right away when night fell. But I had to wait for them to become more active and spread to the eastern sky over the 5,000' high peak named Kieron. That happened after 11:00, when bright auroral curtains shimmered across the sky, lighting up the snow and turning it green. The temperature hovered at -10°F and a stiff wind was blowing across the frozen Abiskojaure lake. But this captivating view was worth every step to get here and every moment of cold endured.
    Midnight Flare-Up
  • It was 2AM in the boreal forest outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. I had spent the last 6 hours waiting, driving around and dodging clouds. A faint green glow was visible in the far northern sky, but there was no movement. Still tired from my red eye flight, I was almost ready to call it a night. But patience pays off when aurora hunting. Finally the anticipated solar wind stream arrived. In a matter of minutes the aurora rapidly brightened as charged particles from the sun interacted with Earth’s magnetic field. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it, there’s nothing else like watching an active display of the northern lights. The pulsing, flickering motion was similar to a campfire, filling the entire sky. It came from every direction, lighting up the ground enough to see. At times the speed exceeded my ability to capture it. Even a 1/2 second shutter speed blurred the fine details. After taking thousands of pictures that night, eventually I had to put my camera down and just stare upward in awe.
    Twists of Green
  • The aurora dances over Nuuk Fjord as seen from Lille Malene (Quassussuaq).
    From Heaven Down
  • The aurora dances between the lingering twilight and the city lights of Nuuk. This view is from the top of Lille Malene (or Quassussuaq).
    The Lights of Nuuk
  • Every tidal cycle brought something different. An endless stream of icebergs floated down the fjord, stranding themselves in this small bay when the tide turned.  Earlier that morning there were so many pieces of ice that I couldn’t even walk across this beach. But by nightfall most were carried away and only a few remained. It was my last night in Nuuk and the forecast called for 80% clouds. I just had to wait for that 20% gap. Geomagnetic activity wasn’t particularly high either, but this far north it doesn’t take much. Greenland is located under the auroral oval, where shows like this may happen any time the sky is clear and dark enough. When fringes of purple or pink line the swirls of aurora, it’s often associated with bright, rapid movement. A still image doesn't even begin to show all that's happening in the sky. Rays of light pulse inward from every direction, converging overhead at the zenith. It’s mesmerizing to watch and hard to look away from, though part of me wished I had a second camera with me to capture it all.
    Energetic Swirls
  • All was quiet at 3AM in the pleasantly cool air. It felt like I was the only one awake. I was at my ‘lazy’ aurora watching spot, where I go when I don’t feel like driving far. For hours, a southward-oriented solar wind stream had been pouring energy into Earth's magnetic field. It's these conditions that eventually lead to a geomagnetic storm. Moonlight, as well as smoke from a new forest fire were conspiring to hide the glow. But after waiting for a bit the northern sky finally broke out into pillars. The colors could not be seen with the eye but the greens, reds, and purples showed up well on camera. Just when I was about to leave I heard the train horn. The crossing gate went down and soon I could feel the rumble and wind as the train cars rushed past me. I’ve never captured a moving train at night, but this was the perfect time to try. The empty train was heading north to pick up a load of coal from the mines. It turns out I wasn’t the only one awake.
    Northbound Train
  • In mid-latitudes I always consider bright moonlight as an obstacle to seeing the aurora. But in the Arctic the aurora is so bright that I can use a short exposure, and including the moon in the shot is not an issue.
    Snaking Aurora
  • With both clear skies and a geomagnetic storm in the forecast, I headed north of the border to Saskatchewan. Grasslands National Park is a long ways from anywhere. During the day the landscape seems stark and desolate, especially after a very dry summer. But the real beauty of this park comes after sunset. It is one of the darkest places on the continent. With no sources of light pollution at all, the stars appear the same as they did to the Plains Indians hundreds of years ago. The aurora was already bright and colorful earlier in the evening. But at midnight after the moon set, the northern lights went insane. I've never seen such rapid motion before. If you could imagine a campfire with the flames rising upward and flickering on and off, that's what it looked like. Except instead of orange, it was green, and instead of it being confined to a fire ring, it filled the entire sky. I don't think any camera could fully capture it, it just has to be experienced.
    Tipi Aurora
  • For most of the night the northern lights glowed brightly to the north. But it was just a green band that didn't show much movement. Then at 2AM the sky exploded into color, with purple pillars reaching all the way up to the zenith. I've seen the northern lights dozens of times, but this was only the 3rd time I've seen them reach that high. Unfortunately 2AM is when I decided to change locations so I missed out on the best part of the show.
    Bursting With Color
  • I nearly gave up on seeing the aurora this night but I'm glad I didn't. The thick clouds parted for a brief time to the west as the northern lights brightened. One iceberg was stranded on the rocks while hundreds of others floated past in a blur.
    Primarily Purple
  • The aurora was so bright that it made the mountains, snow, ice, and everything else turn green.
    When the Ground Turned Green
  • After shooting the milky way over Square Butte, I drove back south to shoot the aurora. It wasn't as active as the night before, but there was a short flare-up at 10:40PM.
    Short Substorm
  • It was nearly 11pm in southern Saskatchewan. I had just watched a bright auroral substorm send colorful arcs high into the northern sky, but it was starting to fade. Then I turned around, looking south, and this is what I saw. A bright pinkish strip of light stretched from east to west, while the crescent moon hung low on the horizon. It's one of the most unusual things I've ever seen in the night sky. This strange type of aurora is called Steve. The name started as a joke, but it stuck.  Steve was first captured last year by a group of aurora photographers in Alberta. After ESA flew a satellite through it earlier this year, it was discovered that it's comprised of very hot (10,800°F) ionized gases moving along at 4 miles per second. This ribbon of light is 16 miles wide and thousands of miles long. I watched as Steve started overhead nearly paralleling the US-Canada border, before slowly moving south. It turned into a green "picket fence" pattern before fading away. It was awesome to see such a mysterious phenomena which is still being studied by scientists.
    Steve and the Moon
  • It was nearly 11pm in southern Saskatchewan. I had just watched a bright auroral substorm send colorful arcs high into the northern sky, but it was starting to fade. Then I turned around, looking south, and this is what I saw. A bright pinkish strip of light stretched from east to west, while the crescent moon hung low on the horizon. It's one of the most unusual things I've ever seen in the night sky. This strange type of aurora is called Steve. The name started as a joke, but it stuck.  Steve was first captured last year by a group of aurora photographers in Alberta. After ESA flew a satellite through it earlier this year, it was discovered that it's comprised of very hot (10,800°F) ionized gases moving along at 4 miles per second. This ribbon of light is 16 miles wide and thousands of miles long. I watched as Steve started overhead nearly paralleling the US-Canada border, before slowly moving south. It turned into a green "picket fence" pattern before fading away. It was awesome to see such a mysterious phenomena which is still being studied by scientists.
    An Aurora Named Steve
  • Darkness could not come soon enough. Reports of the northern lights were coming in from across the eastern US. Standing on a cliff nearly 1,000 feet above Meadowlark Lake, this was a spot I’d been wanting to spend the night for a long time. The highest peaks of the Bighorn Mountains stood to the north, including Cloud Peak dead center. Aurora chasing mostly involves a whole lot of waiting. Waiting for the right space weather forecast, clear skies, moon phase, and for the sun to go down. Even when conditions seem perfect the aurora can come and go at the drop of a hat. When darkness arrived, so did the clouds, along with a brief rain shower. When the clouds faded, so did the northern lights. But finally just before 1AM the glow returned. A substorm sent red and purple pillars halfway to the North Star, reflected in the water far below. It did not last long before the moon rose and drowned out the lights. Even though the display wasn’t as good as it could have been, moments like this are always worth staying up for.
    Midnight at Meadowlark