Any Way the (Solar) Wind Blows
I had just settled in to photograph the aurora when three young people showed up on the beach and parked themselves not very far from me - not a problem until they turned on some music. Normally I would have found this disturbance of the peace very annoying - but soon the sounds of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen came to my ears, and I found myself singing along, photographing the aurora, quite surreal!
This was quite a strong aurora, due to an interplanetary shock wave of solar particles that had just struck the earth - got a red alert from Glendale Skye Auroras for a strong geomagnetic storm, so I dashed out the door. Didn't see much for the first little while, then quite suddenly, a bright patch appeared on the horizon visible to the naked eye (this comes out as bright yellow on the camera which can capture the colours with a long exposure) so I knew the aurora was getting going. It was also possible to see the rays of the aurora at their brightest. Sadly, the young people on the shore would not have noticed anything at all except for a strange person waving a headtorch around and singing Bohemian Rhapsody.
The photo was taken standing over a tidal pool on the shore of Broadford Bay, Isle of Skye.
This image was recently selected for the feature 'Your Pictures of Scotland' on the BBC Scotland webpage.
Explored (Number 11) September 9, 2022.
Any Way the (Solar) Wind Blows
I had just settled in to photograph the aurora when three young people showed up on the beach and parked themselves not very far from me - not a problem until they turned on some music. Normally I would have found this disturbance of the peace very annoying - but soon the sounds of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen came to my ears, and I found myself singing along, photographing the aurora, quite surreal!
This was quite a strong aurora, due to an interplanetary shock wave of solar particles that had just struck the earth - got a red alert from Glendale Skye Auroras for a strong geomagnetic storm, so I dashed out the door. Didn't see much for the first little while, then quite suddenly, a bright patch appeared on the horizon visible to the naked eye (this comes out as bright yellow on the camera which can capture the colours with a long exposure) so I knew the aurora was getting going. It was also possible to see the rays of the aurora at their brightest. Sadly, the young people on the shore would not have noticed anything at all except for a strange person waving a headtorch around and singing Bohemian Rhapsody.
The photo was taken standing over a tidal pool on the shore of Broadford Bay, Isle of Skye.
This image was recently selected for the feature 'Your Pictures of Scotland' on the BBC Scotland webpage.
Explored (Number 11) September 9, 2022.