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Sunsets and Aurora
(part 1 of 4) (NB: this email is presented with a dark background to highlight the night photography) While a lot of people may think of Antarctica as a land of extremes with cold winds and a winter of constant dark, it is not until you experience a winter that you discover that complementing these extremes are an infinite level of subtleties of light and colour. The aspect of the winter that I have enjoyed and that I will remember the most are the evening / morning light and the magical swirling lights of the Aurora Australis. Heading into winter as the days get shorter the sun spends more and more time skirting the horizon. Each day for what seems almost like an eternity, the sky transitions through different states of twilight. The light from the sun travels through the earths atmosphere filtering out the harsh elements leaving a soft yellow and orange glow. Looking away from the sun the horizon develops a magic pink tinge and the blue plateau ice glows with a light pastel blue. On cloud free days looking up from the horizon towards the zenith the colour and intensity of the sky gradually fades and changes with seemingly infinite and subtle steps to a deep blue and the sun light on the horizon makes it look like the edge of the Earth is on fire.
For hours each day the glow on the horizon fades to a peaceful & cool deep blue. Looking out over East Bay - June 2000
Quite often the sky is ablaze with brilliant red East Bay sunrise with the moon - July 2000
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