October 2024 has proven to be an absolutely incredible month for spotting the elusive aurora borealis in California—a normally very rare occurrence! This blog covers the auroras we captured on camera along the Mendocino Coast on the nights of October 4/5, October 7/8, and October 10, 2024!
NIGHT 1:
OCTOBER 4th & 5th, 2024
I heard early on in October that the start to the month could offer some serious promise when it came to spotting the aurora borealis in parts of California—including the Mendocino Coast. Thus, I was promptly outside with my tripod and iPhone 15 late on the evening of Friday, October 4th, the second I heard that there was a high potential to spot the GREEN hues of the aurora!
I set my iPhone 15 and tripod out on my deck and used the 30-second exposure feature under the night setting to take some seriously mesmerizing shots.
WOW—the Milky Way appears to be sparkling and the green aurora glows right along with it... I don't know that I'll ever cease to be amazed by how incredibly phone cameras can perform these days!
The green seemed to hug the northern horizon more than any other area of the sky (as one might expect), but I couldn’t help but to take some shots "straight up" into the Milky Way while I was at it!
(Photographs taken between 10:27 PM and 12:43 AM on Friday, October 4th and Saturday, October 5th.)
NIGHT 2:
OCTOBER 7th & 8th, 2024
It was just past 11:00 PM on October 7th when a trusted local resource posted an alert on Facebook that the RED aurora borealis could be spotted in Mendocino County with the naked eye! I was very much in bed at the time, with a visit to Dreamland imminently scheduled, but I checked my web resources (linked at the end of this blog) and sure enough, conditions looked especially promising.
A 30-second test shot from our balcony was in order!...
"Let there be red, let there be red, let there be red..."
My test shot came back: RED.
Time to get some warm clothes on, grab the tripod and lantern, and head the heck outside!! A quick flurry and I was fully ready for the show.
Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I began to pick up what my camera was so clearly detecting: a definite red hue coating the northern half of the sky.
You already know I was up for another 3 joyous hours after that!
Shooting stars, the occasional pacific chorus frog "ribbit," and our galaxy putting on a full display... "absolutely incredible" doesn't begin to cover it! So endlessly grateful to live in this wildly wondrous and thoroughly miraculous place!
This was my favorite shot of them all.
(Photographs taken between 11:34 PM and 12:36 AM on Monday, October 7th and Tuesday, October 8th.)
NIGHT 3:
OCTOBER 10th, 2024
By night 3, I was dying for more. On October 8th, a solar flare was reported to have been belched from the sun and was on its way to Earth, and by the 10th, we were expected to be experiencing a "G4" geomagnetic storm.
Lucky for us, that forecast came true.
By 5pm, I was eagerly waiting for sunset, which was scheduled for 6:43pm. Having already received aurora photos from a dear cousin in Virginia and a friend in Massachusetts. California was nearly humming with promise, and I was so ready. At 7:50pm it was already quite dark (oh, how summer feels so far away already!), and I took a quick test shot from my balcony to see if we were in business. Sure enough, a band of PINK stretched across a starry north-facing sky.
Time to get in the car and head NORTH!
I had Lee in tow this time, and earlier in the day we'd decided that, if the aurora came out to play, we would try to find somewhere with a more unobstructed vantage point to photograph from—one that ideally overlooked the ocean. By the time we turned onto Highway 1 from our neighborhood, fog thick as pea soup had made itself a presence and was creeping silently across the roadway. Though in places it only partially erased the edges of Highway 1, in others it completely swallowed it up whole. Nonetheless, we were determined to find a spot...
Sure enough, we found the perfect location just below Westport on a large, elevated pull off from the winding coastal road. The fog hung low and a starry sky was wide open for all the world to see.
We parked, erupting out of the front seat like two bulls from a disturbed beehive, and quickly got to "work."
Can you even believe the colors?
Like someone spilled glitter paint all over the sky!
Night photography is an interesting experience... you really just aim in a promising direction and shoot into the dark. 30 seconds later and—WOW! You've got a cotton candy Milky Way.
Below is an example of what the experience is like. This is a screen recording that includes a visual of what my phone screen looks like during the last 7 seconds of a 30-second exposure. It's almost entirely black! You'll see the 30 seconds end, and then I pull up the photo that was taken during that timeframe from my camera roll. Auroras truly are elusive in these parts! Only a naked eye that's been well-adjusted to the dark will detect much of anything. Still, very cool. "Cotton candy Milky Way" really does fit, right?
We stayed in the same location for an hour, experimenting, capturing, happy dancing and marveling out loud.
A few "setting" photos from our location south of Westport...
Shot 1 looks west out into the fog over the Pacific Ocean.
Shot 2 looks northeast to a hillside opposite Highway 1.
Shot 3 looks north and captures late-night vehicles traversing Highway 1 to Westport.
After we thoroughly exhausted our trusty pull off, we headed back home to Inglenook to see if we could get any shots in our yard.
I'm so glad we tried!
Despite having encroached further inland since our departure, the fog somehow remained enough at bay that we were able to take some fun sentimental photos from home to preserve the memories!
I love taking photos that include hints of home. This wondrous wonderland that we are so lucky to live in is absolutely one of my life's greatest blessings and I jump at opportunities to capture it in a light magical enough to mirror my esteemed feelings of adoration, awe, pride and respect for it. The pink sparkles of the aurora borealis over our roof certainly qualifies!
We also finally got to take a couple's photo that I have admittedly been dreaming of taking together for several years now... my sweetie and me embracing with an aurora in the background!
What an incredible experience... I hope everyone is gifted the opportunity to capture the fabulous aurora borealis on camera at least once in life!
(Photographs taken between 7:56 PM and 10:26 PM on Thursday, October 10th.)
Have you ever spotted the aurora borealis?
Suggested web resources for aurora tracking:
Suggested web resources for taking night photography with cell phones:
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