Auroras over Lake Superior, with moonset-Marquette MI. Wow! Very large, bright arc with spikes that would come and go. Even some pink fringing on the bottom of the arc at times. Brightest I've seen in a long time. Canon 5dM2 14mm f2.8 Iso 800 Exp 15-30sec

Some friends had told me about seeing the aurora in the early morning hours of March 10th, but unfortunately I was already asleep and missed the activity. Last night, however, I noticed the telltale green glow in the Northern sky at 9:30 PM. I called a friend of mine and within 15 minutes we were both headed up into the woods to get away from any man-made lights. Just moments after we arrived in my planned shooting area the aurora intensified and really started to put on a show. By 11:00 PM the sky was bursting with dancing lights. At one point the lights filled about 50% of the entire sky. I would have needed a fisheye lens (which I unfortunately do not own) in order to capture the entire breadth of the the lights. We stood in awe at not only the movements but the colors we were seeing. Dominated by green, we also shades of red, purple and white. Rarely is the aurora seen this powerfully in Northern Minnesota. I was almost in a trance staring at this amazing show and I kept having to remind myself to keep taking pictures! These were all captured with a Canon 5D Mark II camera and Canon EF 17-40mm lens. Exposure times ranged from 15 to 30 seconds with ISO's from 1250 to 1600.

The Spaceweather Phone rang indicating there was a mild geomagnetic storm. I was expecting something later in the evening but I stepped outside and saw a subtle glow on the horizon. I grabbed my gear and captured my first aurora photos of the year.

The display was light to the eye, but the camera brought out all of the rich colors it had to offer. It was an amazing night to be out photographing and star gazing.

March is the best winter month in Alaska!

Green rays dancing rapidly. Nice to see them again after several years of low activity! Canon Rebel, 30 sec, ISO 1600.

Just after 11:15 P.M. CME sparked very bright Northern Lights over Minnesota. The aurora was just a green glow on the horizon until it looked like someone flipped a switch and turned on the lights to become bright enough to cast a shadow for a few minutes. The aurora went from mild to wild as it streaked upwards towards the north star for a few minutes. When we got home I found that the aurora peaked about the same time as the earth quake in Japan. I also shot video of this event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpZ2DgqeC7M