In the week preceding the 11 May 2024 the Australian Astrophotography Community was aware that a special event was on the way. As 2024 was already known as a 'solar max' year there was a buzz of excitement that something special was about to happen. An aurora was likely to be seen over 3 nights that was that of a 'G3' storm strength - a strength rarely seen before at Australian latitudes and predicted to be seen well up onto the Australian mainland.
The excitement grew and on the 10th May Tasmanians were witness to a lovely but not overly strong Auroral display. However the Space Weather predictions throughout the next day showed the Aurora on the other side of the world (in darkness) was getting stronger... and stronger... and stronger leading into the Australian night-time.
There was just one problem for this Aurora obsessed girl. Most of NSW was in 100% cloud cover and none of the magic would get through the rain clouds at any time overnight.
So a sneaky plan had to be hatched.
At 1pm on the Saturday I bought a plane ticket for the 3pm flight to Hobart. Leaving behind a Mother's day and husbands' Birthday lunch and armed with just 2 bodies,1 lens and a sleeping bag, this is the story of a girl who followed her gut instinct and went in search of some magic.
Join me in this story of a wild adventure and enjoy some of the 600 pictures on a night when a 'G5' - the strongest aurora storm of our lifetime challenged me to rethink - HOW EXACTLY DO I SHOOT THIS?
