The nights and evenings here in Estonia are dark again, and this means the start of the northern lights season too. Just recently, on September 29 I got a notification of an ongoing solar storm which was not too strong. The sky was clear, and I wanted to go out to get at least some glow on my photos for the first time this season.
So I drove about 15 minutes from my home to a small port, which is located in a darker area than my home. Right away, I could notice the aurora arch over the northern sky. It doesn't cause a wow effect in me, but it was still the first time this season to see the lights, so I took some shots.
Pillars appeared on the horizon. The bigger light at the horizon is Helsinki's light pollution over the sea. It was cloudy there, and all the city lights reflected into the clouds.
Actually I took a lot of photos, but I'm not going to upload those because what followed next was amazing and these are more worthy of showing.
So I spent almost 2 hours there, taking photos, choosing nice backdrops and so on. I was ready to leave and go back home. I packed up my gear, got into the car, and started pulling out of the lot. Then, suddenly, I noticed a very bright spot appear in the sky. I got excited quickly, pulled out my camera again and in those 30 seconds it took me to set up the tripod and camera, half the sky was brightly lit up.
Took this shot right after. You can see the red light on the ground. This is my car's back light, I didn't have time to turn off the car even 😅
Needless to say, I didn't leave. I switched off the car and went to take new photos with this mesmerizing aurora in the skies that had suddenly appeared.
Panorama.
You can notice the red colors appeared too.
Red colored aurora didn't last too long, but intense greens stayed for a while.
Another Panorama
Most of the photos are taken with a 3-second exposure and 4000ISO, aperture f8.
A ring in the sky.
The patterns changed quickly in the sky, and it was a joy watching the lights dance.
A very bright pillar. My photos are only slightly processed to look brighter. These northern lights were very bright to watch with only the naked eye as well.
I'm so lucky that I didn't drive away a bit earlier, I would have missed the bright auroras. It was a GREAT start for the aurora season! A new opportunity might present itself tonight because I'm getting alerts of a minor solar storm going on. Our evening should be cloud-free, so if it seems worth it to me, I might go on another hunt tonight.
