Ever since his first trip to the Northwest Territories two years ago, B.C.-resident Ryan Fisher says he’s been “addicted” to the northern lights.
That’s why the Kamloops-based nature photographer recently decided to pack up his camera gear and get another look.
“It was a last-minute kind of trip,” he told CBC News.
Fisher travelled more than 1,500 kilometres in four days to see them, and based on his images they were worth the drive.
He headed north with a very specific location in mind: Lady Evelyn Falls near Kakisa, Northwest Territories. When he first saw the falls, the northern lights above were shrouded in clouds. This time, however, he had no trouble capturing the striking beauty of the aurora borealis overtop the wide-stretching falls.
He was about to pack up to leave when he decided to climb up a snowbank next to the falls.
“That’s when it all went crazy,” he said.
The Northwest Territories, and the city of Yellowknife specifically, is consistently rated the best place to see the lights. That’s because the city, and most of the territory, is directly under the auroral oval. The landscape is also relatively flat and the region receives little precipitation, providing clear and unobstructed views of the lights above.
He told reporters that he has a tough time describing how beautiful the lights are, but he seems to know exactly how they make him feel.
“You’re outside and it’s -30, you’re actually frozen, and then this crazy show starts in the sky. You forget that you’re cold. You kind of almost forget where you are.
Everything just kind of eases. There’s no stress, no anything. It’s just watching this craziness go on in the sky.”
It’s almost like a full body experience, he says, and one that everyone should have on their bucket list.
