The night we left Juneau Alaska, we were treated to a spectactular show of northern lights - a show this great crew members told us they hadn’t seen in 8 years of sailing Alaska cruise seasons. We were heading ~SSE through the Alaska Marine Highway.
Keep in mind, these are long photo exposures (15-25 seconds) taken from the fantail of a moving cruise ship!! Conditions had to be perfect for these to come out even half way decent. We lucked out with a pitch black super clear windless night, no moon, and glassy calm seas. This time of year, the earth’s magnetic pole is located further away from the north pole - more toward northern Canada - making the lights visible from our position. Other times of the year most likely not. The lights were bright enough to reflect off the trail left by the ship – which I think created a really attractive effect. These are lucky shots of a lifetime for me. I hope you enjoy them.