A Night to Remember

Written and Photography by Mont Ambassador Geoff Murray

Last night half of Australia would have been witness to a spectacular event in the skies above. This was one of the strongest Auroras that we have seen for a very long time ( the most powerful storm since 1989, when the Quebec power grid was taken out by the solar storm).

The previous morning was great but last night was exceptional.

I grabbed my camera bag, tripod and Mont Zero down jacket and headed out early to see if I could capture what was hopefully coming (you never really know until it happens) and also to try to find a place that wasn’t crowded with hopeful Aurora chasers.

Pulling up next to an old graveyard I could see a dim light moving about amongst the headstones, someone else had beaten me to it. As it turned out it was a photographer mate and we spent a couple of hours as shadowy shapes moving between the gravestones, capturing the light all around us.

We left for different viewpoints and I drove a couple of country roads looking for suitable foregrounds. I finally arrived at a spot that has some rather nice old trees, stark sentinels as they sat silently under the flickering waves of light.

This was an ethereal experience that I am unlikely to see again in my lifetime. A real honour to view Nature’s power at its finest.

Geoff Murray

Mont Ambassador