Nightscapes

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A Sea of Clouds

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The trail ahead disappeared into the fog barely a few yards in front of me. The moving clouds of mist clung to the slope, marring any views of the surrounding landscape even as I approached within striking distance of the fire lookout that was to be my abode for the next few hours.

I was ready to give up, turn back and go home, but I decided to wait the fog out. And barely an hour before sunset, the fog finally did give in, as it slowly dropped below the lookout, exposing a vista of endless clouds.

I waited until twilight to capture the serenity above the tumultuous clouds swirling all around.

Mt Rainier National Park

WA USA

Night Time Surprises

Sometimes the night sky can put up a show.

After 36 hours of watching nothing but grey clouds meandering slowly above the wilderness campsite in Garibaldi Provincial Park in British Columbia, I had given up hoping for a clear night sky. And hence, when the clouds finally parted revealing the beautiful night sky, I couldn't resist the opportunity to capture a timelapse. And While mild auroral activity was predicted, I wasn't confident I would capture it this far south. I was certainly surprised when one of the frames turned up a bright red display of colors that lasted ~30mins.

The northern arm of the Milky Way crosses the frame to the right of the North Star, with the bright disk of the Andromeda Galaxy in the upper right corner.

Garibaldi Provincial Park

BC Canada

The Way of the Night

Perhaps one of the rarest sights for someone living in the city is the arch of the Milky Way. With the light pollution that exists in cities, it takes effort to seek out those dark skies where one can catch sight of this. I remember every clear night I have spent in the backcountry waiting for my eyes to get dark just to tracing the line of stars arcing across from horizon to horizon, with a brilliant gaseous center straddling a multitude of galaxies and brilliant nebulae.

And so, when I was in Bryce Canyon National Park during a New Moon, I sacrificed sleep in order to stay out and watch the night sky turn from dark to bright under the brilliance of starlight.

Bryce Canyon National Park

UT USA

Through the wormhole

The glow in the night sky transcended reality: green shimmers and pink glimmers glinted and gleamed against a dark starscape. Eventually, thick bands swept their way over the mountains, across the fjord and onto the next valley deep in the Westfjords of Iceland, until one settled right atop me, albeit just for a moment.

Clear winter nights in the Pacific Northwest make me yearn for the Aurora spectacle that I had witnessed in the northern reaches of Iceland. And I hope to visit that magical display in the sky once again.

Flateyri

Westfjords, Iceland

Light of the Night - II

It was hoping for another night with a clear sky. I was eager to see another light of the night.

My body was still recovering from a lack of sleep from the previous night in northern Iceland, while my mind recovering from witnessing one of the best displays of the Northern Lights. I had been held in a trance by that display, unable to move from the camera even as the mercury dropped below freezing. My camera died before I did.

The second night, I was out by a village in the remote reaches of Westfjords, and was hoping I would be able to get a similar display tonight. And after dinnertime, I bee-lined out to one of the vista-points I had scouted earlier, parked my car, and waited for the clouds to part.

And the sky did not disappoint. The dance of this light of the night was ethereal, a scintillating display of auroral glow that I would never forget. It was dimmer, but still brilliant.

Flateyri

Westfjords, Iceland

Light of the Night

"As dark as the night sky": the fairly common phrase ran through my mind as the bright band of the Milky Way stretched from horizon to horizon. Thousands of dazzling specks of light illuminating a dark canvas, interrupted here and there by scintillating flashes of a meteor, the steady pulse of a transpacific flight and the long slow march of the communication satellites. The mercury continued to drop as night settled in deep in the heart of the Central Cascades of Washington, but I continued my obsession with the ethereal dark night sky.

The night sky is something we all take for granted. Only when you experience the light of the night and see the Milk Way traverse the sky, however, do you realize the importance of a wilderness where you can really feel that the earth is but a mere mote of dusk floating through the vastness of space. It is a treasure that helps you experience the cosmic perspective. And every few weeks, I yearn to return to such a wilderness.

Goat Rocks Wilderness

WA USA

The lights of the night

The last embers of the colorful sunset were slowly fading away, with the warm colors slowly dissolving to the deep blue of twilight. A savory dinner of pasta and bread, a luxury in a remote location like this, was settling in my stomach, a reward for the long late-summer day of hiking and exploring the unique landscapes of the Ring Road in northern Iceland.

As I lay soaking in a hot-tub in this remote corner of Iceland, I was ready to call it a night, when suddenly, the faint arc of the aurora appeared but for a fleeting instance. After two days of intense displays albeit above cloudy skies, I had all but lost hope of seeing this spectacle, but what I had witnessed over the next few hours lay forever engraved in memory, an ephemeral occurrence etched into permanence.

The dance of the aurora is spectacular, and its irresistable attraction lies in the seeing the slow but continuous transformation of this unique energy into shapes unimaginable: snake-like swirls change to wormhole vortices, to long arcs stretching to the horizon, to streaks of color and light against a dark skyscape. This is one such exposure of the aurora set against the hostel I was spending the night at

Saeberg
Iceland

The Cap on Concepcion

It was a long and weary day. Just 12 hours prior, I was scrambling on all fours up the slippery steep scree of the Concepcion Volcano, wondering if I could even make it down alive. But I did. And stayed up awake long enough to capture the night as it came alive under moonlight and starlight.

Even as my eyes were refusing to stay open after the tiring hike, I pursued with the objective of capturing the night sky. The cool breeze and the clear skies were encouraging, and the rise of the waning moon turned the night sky into day. Perhaps what captivated me most was the sombrero that formed atop the volcano, adding a unique dimension to the scene.

It certainly was a test of perseverence, doing hard work after getting tired of doing the hard work I already did. But it was worth it.

Ometepe
Nicaragua

 

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Blue Hour in Colmar

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The aptly named Little Venice in Colmar, was full of surprising delights. Turning around one corner, I found a small garden replete with a period fountain adorned with a statue, crumbling walls covered in vine, and a timber-frame house standing gallantly. Around another street, and I found rows of beautiful historical houses and structures carefully nurtured, a testament to the city council. If those timber-frame houses could speak, they would narrate oodles of tales from its long storied history.

They might have been residences, shops and tanneries during their glory years, but now they have been converted to souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants, serving the throngs of tourists exploring the heart of the Wine Route. As the sun sets and the light disappears, the tourist crowd dwindles, leaving behind fairly empty streets devoid of the energy and activity of the day. And while this may be forlorn, it is just perfect for photography, especially during the blue hour.

Colmar

Alsace, France