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After getting several notices on our phones the last few days that the Northern Lights might be out on Sunday night and early Monday morning, my dad picked me up from my new house in Ludington around 9pm. We drove to Point Betsie Lighthouse just north of Frankfort, Michigan. Shortly after getting on location and figuring out where we wanted to shoot, my dad and I noticed a large white pillar of light appearing to the left of the lighthouse. A few moments later, the colors of the Northern Lights appeared. Luckily, my camera was taking an almost three-minute exposure during this time. By the end of the long exposure, the pillars were gone and the colors faded quickly. My dad and I stayed until 2am hoping they would come back. Once the clouds rolled in, we headed home with giant smiles on our faces because we were pretty sure we each got at least one nice photograph!

Northern Lights Over Epworth

Solar Wind

Northern Lights At Big Sable by Brad Reed Photographing the Northern Lights at Big Sable Point Lighthouse has been towards the top of my bucket list for several years. After the light show on October 24, 2011, I can now cross that off my bucket list. The light show I experienced at 10:03 PM was mostly green and blue colors. Little did I know that 7 minutes later, my dad would see a very different light show in the Ludington harbor.

Often times while I am photographing an extraordinary light show, I ponder what our human ancestors must have felt when they witnessed similar sights thousands of years ago. On December 14, 2006, as I stood on a dune inside the Ludington State Park and photographed the Aurora Borealis and an incredible meteor shower, I was overcome by a rush of emotions. The light show was so intense that it evoked a sense of fear in me. I knew nothing horrible was actually happening, but the sky was so turbulent that it still made me feel a bit uneasy. I imagine that our ancestors might have felt true fear because they didn't have the knowledge of modern science to explain what they were seeing.

This is my third photo from early Saturday morning of the northern lights and the Milky Way from the Ludington State Park. Big Sable Point Lighthouse is in the distance and the Lake Michigan shoreline is reflecting the lights. D850. F2.8 at 97 seconds, ISO 800. 14-24mm lens at 24mm. On a tripod without a flash. March 20, 2021 at 6:23am.

As I could see the northern lights with my naked eyes dancing in the background, I knew they would be reflected in the strangely calm Sauble River near the outlet into Lake Michigan. The three minute exposure captured the beauty I was experiencing. Nikon D850. F2.8 at 188 seconds, ISO 400. 14-24mm lens at 24mm. On a tripod without a flash. March 20, 2021.

Northern Lights at First Curve

Legends Ranch

Northern Lights

Northern Lights

Mystic Phenomenon - Vertical

Mystic Phenomenon

Epworth Lights

Northern Reflections

Northern Reflections - Panoramic

Hamlin Lake Workshop and Northern Lights

Hamlin Lake Workshop and Northern Lights Panoramic

The Holiday Inn Express in Munising, Michigan has become our home away from home when we are photographing in the Upper Peninsula. Thanks to a Facebook alert on my cell phone, I knew the northern lights might appear in the middle of the night. Every hour I got out of bed and went out on the porch of our hotel room to check. At around 4:50 a.m., I could see the lights over Grand Island. I set up my camera and tripod and made this image. In a few short hours my dad and I would be hiking across the ice to photograph the caves on Grand Island.

After an incredibly long and hard day of hiking and shooting photographs on Isle Royale, at around 11:30 p.m., my dad and I decided to take a chance and make the short hike to Tobin Harbor to see if the northern lights were out. To our surprise, we could see them as soon as we got onto the seaplane docks. We needed to set up quickly to ensure we got good images before midnight so we could use them in our new Wednesdays book. I knew from past experience I needed a 15-minute exposure. Multiple loons and at least two moose were calling back and forth over the water.