Category: Free Roaming Photography

There’s been a lot more activity in the northern lights lately over Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park. Many believed the peak of the solar cycle was going to hit last year, which turned out to be a relatively quiet year. With all the activity lately however, some are beginning to question whether we might be hitting the peak now, later than expected.

Regardless, skies have been lighting up recently over the area, with even more on the way! If you’re wondering how to know if they’re out in your area or not, keep an eye on a website called SpaceWeatherLive.com. I check the data listed there every night to see if there’s any chance of seeing them where I live in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While all the data listed there plays some role, the two main sections that I pay the most attention to are the Direction of the IMF (Bz) and the Kp-Index. If we get a strong southern direction of the Bz pushing below -5.00, or preferably below -15.00, that’s a great indicator that Grand Teton National Park could be seeing auroras. Likewise, if the Bz is south as described and the Kp-Index is exceeding 5.0, then we’ll probably be seeing the northern lights here in Jackson Hole! Typically, the auroras won’t be visible here without a Kp-Index of at least 6.0, but with other factors playing helpful roles, they can be visible with a smaller value.

If you’re interested in seeing the auroras, this is a great website to be in the habit of checking frequently as it starts getting darker. Even if it’s quiet early in the evening, activity can jump up in just a matter of a couple of hours, so be sure to check it throughout the night.

The following two time-lapses were shot within just the last week, both in Grand Teton National Park. The first was shot as storms were rolling in over Antelope Flats, and the second came from a longer night at the Taggart Lake Trailhead.

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I knew Julie Pastrick, president and CEO of the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, would be a fun person to have on the film based on her email response: “We’d love to be part of the interview because this designation rocks…” The designation she’s referring to is of course being a certified Dark Sky City by the International Dark Sky Association. And not just any certified Dark Sky City, but the first International Dark Sky City, a sign I saw for the first time on the town’s limits nearly a decade ago that intrigued me, foreshadowing an involvement that I couldn’t have even begun to imagine. – Read more

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I had spent nearly a week on the road before even meeting my first interviewee, Peter Lipscomb. By the time I had gotten to Santa Fe to meet him, I had been camping in Dinosaur National Monument, the Moab area, and had even just discovered Bandelier National Monument. Though I had been filming plenty of desert scenery along the way, it was feeling less and less like a trip to film a documentary, causing me to question if I even had the skills or desire to even try.

I met Peter after spending a night in Santa Fe and poking around the area a bit. – Read more

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Heading to California while filming interviews about light pollution was never on the agenda. More than once though, Travis Longcore, based in USC, came up in conversation with other people I was interviewing. Plus, my girlfriend’s excitement at the prospect of catching up with old friends put Los Angeles on the itinerary with the main goal being to interview Travis since he’s considered the go-to person for ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. In fact, that’s the name of his book.

He and his wife, Catherine Rich, founded the Urban Wildlands Group to speak out against the often alarming effects light pollution has on the animal kingdom, from the smallest phytoplankton all the way up the food chain to apex predators, such as cougars and humans. – Read more

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