In September 2022 we took a photography trip to Yellowknife in search of the Aurora borealis. Booking flights with Air Canada we departed at 9 am in the morning and arrived some 2 hours later in Yellowknife.
Hotel check-in was not until 4 pm so we did grocery shopping for the week and putted around until we got our room.
On getting to our room, we checked all our equipment and double-checked that our equipment was clean and functional and that the batteries were all charged.
First Night
That night there was low cloud cover and it wasn’t very good weather. We were planning on driving about 2.5 hours west to see a clearing in the clouds for the Aurora. The cloud had cleared by 11 pm in Yellowknife and the KP4 started.
Our first Aurora photo of the trip was this one, I found myself about 1.5 hours away from Yellowknife on the highway and pulled into a strip of water that had lily pads. Finding the correct composition was interesting as it was dark except for the Northern lights.
I found that there were several beavers at this lake that seemed interested in scaring me by getting as close as possible and then slapping their tails on the water. I named this photo Beaver Pond Yellowknife.
After the first photo achievement, I got back to Yellowknife and met up with our guide for the trip. We then spent the rest of the night chasing the lights throughout Yellowknife.
The second day and night I didn’t do that much. I rested and processed the previous night’s photos while the rest of the group arrived.
Third Night
On the third night we suffered from the same weather problems and low clouds, however, we managed to find some decent spots open and took some great photos.
The River Bridge outside Yellowknife on the Ingraham Trail is our next photo.
Fourth Night
The fourth evening was a bust with bad weather. I left the group around midnight and went to bed. Just as I started to fall asleep I was woken up by text messages on the group chat. Our guide had found a clearing in the old town at the Bush Pilots Monument in Yellowknife.
The next photo was the monument with the Aurora.
Fifth Night
On the fifth night, we had clear skies on the Ingraham trail.
The reflection ponds on Ingraham trail are our next photo.
Our trip was for five nights and six days, which was too short. But after five nights of being awake, we were pretty exhausted. I traveled back to Calgary on the sixth day and then started processing and copying files.
On the trip, I took an old Canon 5D Mark III with me and had it taking time lapses. There will be at least one time-lapse added to the website video section from Yellowknife, possibly two. The River Bridge Aurora time-lapse was added to the video section of the website and to my youtube channel.
As always if any client would like to buy one of these prints you can contact me from our main page or from our contact page.