Image Spotlight: Geminids + Aurora
The Geminids are commonly hailed as the King of Meteor Showers. Coming in at a peak of 150 meteors per hour, this shower peaking annually on December 13 produces more than any other. They are less popular than the Perseids, which in August generally have much more agreeable weather. In Manitoba, mid-December temperatures can easily plunge to -30 degrees Celsius (and they did a few years back), which is why I have had Pine Point Rapids in mind for so long.
It's not only my favourite trail in the Whiteshell, but the hike is also relatively short and easy. There is a log ski cabin with a wood stove and often a stocked wood pile. I’ve been there at all times of the year: winter, spring, summer, and fall. I have hiked the trail more times than I can count, paddled the river and skied in. The Whiteshell River loops around next to the cabin with some rapids cascading down a few levels. The lower areas are nice in the summer, but the main drop is the attraction in the winter where I have never seen the rapids freeze.
For me, this location was ideal for a nighttime winter photoshoot. The interesting landscape, dark skies, and shelter to warm up come together nicely. This is the third year that I’ve wanted to get out there for the Geminid Meteor Shower, however the last two years have been completely cloudy and I didn’t get to see the shower at all. 2023 came together perfectly. There was a new moon the night before, the temperature was only around -1, and the skies (although forecast for minor clouds) were perfectly clear.
Hiking in at night was a wonderful experience. There was more snow than I expected. The path was lined with branches of trees and shrubs heavily laden with wet snow drooping overhead creating a canopy above me. It reminded me of scenes I have seen in photos of Lapland, Finland.
For a few years, I've seemed to have a 'new moon curse' where when I plan a specific photoshoot on a new moon, there is overhead aurora. Tough thing to complain about, I know. It has happened at the Spirit Sands, Ouimet Canyon, among other locations I have shot at. The light and color cast by the aurora prevented me from using my star tracker for photos to bring out some of the fainter details in the night sky. The aurora on this night was not strong enough to completely steal the show. It also wasn’t subtle enough that you could just ignore it. There was a soft pulsing arc of green across the northern sky all night. Ultimately, I had no choice but to make the aurora a main element in my final photo.
The meteor shower itself was quite impressive. Anecdotally, I remember seeing more meteors during the Perseids this year, however the Geminids produced some really great fireballs streaking across the sky. There were a few stand outs. There was one meteor that looked as if it was coming towards me, burning up in a ball of green and orange fire. There was another meteor where I saw a flash of light behind me and turned around to see a smoke trail dissipating. There were multiple others that were quite bright and large too.
For my final composition, I went with a sidelong view of the rapids looking downriver, pine trees reaching up towards the aurora filled sky. I took a frame with one massive meteor naturally in the frame then added a few smaller ones. While I did manage to capture over 100 meteors on camera throughout the night, I wanted to keep the image less busy to drive more focus to the main elements. A beautiful depiction of a perfect night.
A few months after publication, I was reviewing my photos from that evening and decided to add a few more aurora shots from that night.
