This was a very special occasion – a major aurora occurred during a recent photography workshop at Corinna in Tasmania’s wild Tarkine region.

The Pieman River aurora was stunning. The red colour was clearly visible to the naked eye and at one point reached right up to the Southern Cross which was nearly 90 degrees above the horizon!

The Tarkine and the Aurora

The Tarkine isn’t typically associated with the aurora but the areas remoteness certainly provides opportunities for dark skies and astrophotography in general – indeed I have shot the Milky Way with many groups during stays in the region. And during last year’s Complete Tarkine photography workshop we were fortunate enough to shoot the major aurora of May 11 from our accommodation in Smithton.

This Pieman River aurora included brilliant reflections from our base at Corinna. The light show started right after dinner, and built up into a great display. The best part of the display lasted 20 minutes or so, but there was light in the sky clearly visible to the eye for a couple of hours.

I started out trying to capture a nice symmetrical reflection but pretty shortly the beams started reaching right out the top of the frame, and I switched to some portraits.

After this, there was some pulses which in the photos showed up as a blast of green above the main auroral display.

The Pieman River made a perfect setting for the aurora. The remoteness means zero light pollution which is becoming rarer and rarer these days, and then of course Corinna has all the accommodation and meal requirements covered – all just a short walk back to your cabins.