Ever since I heard about the Aurora Borealis as a child, I wanted to see it.
Over the years, many drunken, and some sober, plans were made to go to the Arctic to see it, but none ever came to fruition.
So, when a friend rang and asked if I fancied trying to see it from only a few miles out the road, I had to take that chance. Mind you, I thought we'd absolutely no chance of seeing it, who ever heard of an Aurora Borealis sighting here? Not me!
We hit the road and drove the short 20 minutes to Ballynafagh Church out past Prosperous (Christy Moore fans will know that place!) and parked down a dark, tight country lane.
No need to hop fences or climb over gates in the dark of night thankfully, as there was a small entrance into what used to be church grounds. Pretty soon my camera was set up on the tripod and we were ankle deep in mud! Only then did I come to the realisation, I hadn't a clue what I was doing!
Thankfully there were a few other photographers there on the night and, after explaining my predicament, one kindly set me straight on the settings I needed.
The Aurora was visible to the naked eye and looked stunning, but through the camera lens it was even more impressive. Mind you, the longer we stood there looking at it, the colder we got. So with that in mind, I wasted no time in taking photos.
In total, I only took 9 different photos, after which we stared at the glorious site for a few minutes more before the decision to leave was made.
Are my photos any good? Meh... not really. I wanted the church in focus, but I just couldn't make that work, more practice will help with that.
I did get one photo I'm relatively happy with, and that's below. All in all, even if I hadn't taken any photos, just seeing the Northern Lights, from the middle of the bog in the county of Kildare was an incredible thrill.
Hopefully I get the chance to do it again.
