A lovely little aurora graced the southern skies over Tasmania last night. As luck would have it, I had a booking in place for a 1 on 1 session this evening so a family from the USA have left Tasmania with an unforgettable experience!

A very faint glow in the southern sky gradually coalesced into the unmistakable green arc of the aurora.

These shots were taken from South Arm between 9:30 and 10:00. On arriving at the beach, the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds looked amazing but there was no aurora to be seen. Early test shots sort of, kind of captured a little bit of an orangey glow but nothing to get too excited about. However, as the evening went on, the light over Betsey Island became slightly more intense and then all of a sudden we had a nice little procession of beams. Then, almost as soon as it had started it was over and most of the colour died down.

Lovely colours (in camera) and quite visible to the naked eye, this was the beginning of a short little dance of the southern aurora.

Again, the beautiful colour of the aurora along with a stunningly clear winter sky.

I generally shoot the aurora in landscape, but the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds were so nicely positioned that some portraits seemed in order tonight 🙂

The light show continues…

…and continues…

We even played around with a little light painting on the crashing waves

All shots were taken with the Pentax K1 and the Samyang 14mm 2.8. The settings were ISO 6400 at f2.8. The shutter speed for most of the night was 25 seconds.

A stunning night just watching the universe do its thing 🙂

If you are planning a trip to Tasmania and would like to try some night sky photography, all of my multi day tours include a night sky component. I am also available for one on one tuition but of course no guarantee or promise can be made with regards to the appearance of the aurora. Please feel free to look over my range of photographic workshops and to get in touch if you are interested in joining in!