Bob Kelley

Bob Kelley

This image was taken near 1:00am on the morning of March 1, 2017 in Delta Junction, Alaska. I had already been outside for several hours in the -20 F temperatures and aurora activity had waned so I decided to return to my B&B cabin. When I was removing my camera gear from the rented SUV, I noted that the northern lights had rapidly intensified. After a few quick photos, my primary camera ceased to function due to several hours of exposure to the cold. Hastily, I went inside my cabin to retrieve a back-up camera already preset with a wide-angle lens, in this case a Samyang 12mm. By now, the sky was exploding with movement and I witnessed an incredible display. I remember coaxing my frozen fingers to adjust the tripod head into position while noting the snow around me was glowing green. You can see this display covers the entire sky and it was a night I’ll never forget. Nikon D700, Samyang 12mm at f/2.8. ISO 3200, 4 seconds with frozen toes and fingers.