It as a two week Alaskan cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia that was preceded by a two night stayover in Seattle, Washington.

Along with pictures of whales, bears, glaciers, killer whales, and Alaskan crab, it was hoped that I would be able to capture images of the Northern lights. I watched many youtube videos about photographing the Northern Lights. I brought as very fast 24mm lens that would only be used for the Northern Lights, and I had to bring a tripod on the trip, which I never do when I travel. ( too much weight, for very little reward )

“Fortune favors the prepared mind” – Louis Pasteur

None of the videos I watched about photographing the Northern Lights mentioned doing it while on a ship moving at 10 knots that is extremely well lit so that passengers can see where they are going while moving about the ship. Turns out the best spot to view the Northern lights would be your cabin’s balcony if you were on the correct side of the ship. Our room was on the starboard side of the ship, which just happened to be facing North when we left Vancouver on the first night of the cruise. Around 10PM I went out on our balcony to see if the Northern Light were visible. We were about 50 miles North of Vancouver at the time.

At the point, I believe I was the only person on the ship that realized you could see the Northern Lights. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, they became more visible. So the next step would be to tell my wife about the lights and pull out the camera gear I brought to photograph it. A photo confirmed what my eyes were telling me. The Northern Lights were arcing across the sky. It isn’t enough to capture the Northern Lights, you need something in the foreground to make a good photograph. So after taking several photos from our cabin’s balcony, I headed outside to the observation deck (10th floor) to make photos with the ship in the foreground. Remember how I mentioned the ship was well lit? Well it was so well illuminated, the lights of the ship overpowered the Northern Lights. Back to the cabin and our dark balcony.

I took photos for the next 30 minutes trying every composition I could think of. By 11:00 I was done, and gave up for the night thinking there would be other chances as we got further North during the trip. Had I known the future, I would have got up at 4:30AM the next morning and taken more photos as we were closer to the Northern Lights. I didn’t. Turns out the first night of the cruise would be the only clear night for the next 14 days. Also the Northern Lights went into a extended two week period of very low visibility, so that even if there were some clouds, it would still not be visible.

Ice that has calved from the Columbia Glacier viewed from one of the Stan Stephens Glacier Cruises that we took from our stop in Valdez, Alaska.

Forty four pictures that capture the entire 17 day adventure in Alaska, Seattle, and British Columbia.
The photo is linked to a much larger version of the photo that will fill your screen and can be enlarged.
So just click on the photo.

Photo descriptions

Picture 1 – Bald Eagle missed feeding attempt
Picture 2 – Northern Lights seen from many hundreds of miles away – Level Kp: 7
Picture 3 – Brown Bear at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Picture 4 – Glacier Ice from the Columbia Glacier 40 miles boat ride from Valdez, Alaska
Picture 5 – Lions Gate Bridge Vancouver
Picture 6 – Sunset at Sea
Picture 7 – Turbo Prop Plane flying over Seattle to land
Picture 8 – Sunset over Holland America Noordam
Picture 9 – Sillouttes on 10th Floor (Observation deck) of MS Noordam
Picture 10 – Sea Otter on Glacier Ice
Picture 11 – Vancouver Downtown at Night
Picture 12 – Arctic Charm out of Nanaimo, BC Canada
Picture 13 – LIdo Deck of MS Noordam docked in Anchorage, Alaska
Picture 14 – Seattle International Airport – Waiting to cross the runway while Air France jet takes off
Picture 15 – Pulling into port – Juneau, Alaska – 6:23AM Alaska Daylight Time
Picture 16 – Maximilien Restaurant – Pike Place – Seattle, Washington
Picture 17 – Bloody Mary and Strawberry/Banana Smoothie on Balcony
Picture 18 – Humpback Whale “Barnacles” (SEAK-2070) lifts her tail to dive – She is mother to at least 3 calves
Picture 19 – Fresh crab pulled from pots
Picture 20 – Sunset view cabin balcony
Picture 21 – Rays of sunlight glimmer on the Lido Deck (9th floor MS Noordam)
Picture 22 – Kodiak Alaska Harbor
Picture 23 – Fresh fruit ( Raspberry – Blueberry )for sale at Pike Place in Seattle, Washington
Picture 24 – Porpoise escaping Killer Whates
Picture 25 – Between cars on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway
Picture 26 – View from Photo Point Trail Mendenhall Glacier
Picture 27 – Fourth cruise ship arrives at Skagway, Alaska – 6:17AM Alaska Daylight Time – Royal Princess – Noordam – Koningsdam – Norwegian Bliss
Picture 28 – Cloudy Sunset seen from room balcony
Picture 29 – Tender boat returning from Kodiak, Alaska to MS Noordam
Picture 30 – Cruising to Columbia Glacier in Valdez Straights
Picture 31 – Celebrity cruise ship Solstice passing under Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC
Picture 32 – Sea Lions enjoying the Sunlight
Picture 33 – Fog
Picture 34 – Cruise ship passengers watching the scenery from Deck 3
Picture 35 – The Misses
Picture 36 – Vancouver Container Port Centerm at Sunrise
Picture 37 – Mountains, Trees, Clouds and Sunrise
Picture 38 – Cruising the calm waters of Valdez Arm before docking at Valdez, Alaska
Picture 39 – Snow capped mountians in Alaska
Picture 40 – Whale watching
Picture 41 – Columbia Glacier
Picture 42 – Cloud Reflection
Picture 43 – White Pass and Yukon Railroad
Picture 44 – Southwest Airlines Flight into Oakland