Aurora Fail

May 15, 2024

If you read this post, then I’ll know you haven’t been reading simply because of the photography.

Let me briefly set the scene. It’s Friday evening, May 10, and my wife and I are camping as part of her Mother’s Day weekend. We were tired so we shut ourselves up in the camper before dark. I fell asleep early and woke to her stepping outside at midnight.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Out to see the colors. Lots of people are posting their pictures on Facebook.”

Now, I’d heard we were going to have a chance at seeing the aurora borealis in North Carolina, but frankly, I didn’t much believe it. As an amateur photographer I’ve chased things to photograph, and I was a little tired of staying up at night or driving long distances just to sit there waiting for something to happen and it not.

But I went online, and she was right. There were all these beautiful pictures from people I knew who lived a short distance from where we were.

So, I got dressed, grabbed my camera, and headed out to the lake. Pictures of the northern lights with their reflection shimmering off the lake were going to be awesome.

As you can see from this week’s image, they were not awesome.

My experience was more than frustrating.

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First off, I wasn’t prepared. At about ten minutes after midnight, I literally picked a lens, grabbed my camera and a small flashlight, and headed out. I should be okay since I’d read that the later in the night the better to see the lights.

We stood on the edge of the lake and scoured the skies. Nothing but what appeared to be light pollution from cities north of the campground. It pretty much looked the same any time we were there at night. I remembered that experts said you may not see them with your naked eye and long exposures were help, so I set my shutter speed to anywhere from 3 seconds to 30 seconds and took photo after photo.

Of course, I hadn’t planned on doing any of this, so I was having to use a park bench that was sloped front to back to rest my camera on and none of my pictures had an appropriate horizon (even though I tried propping the lens up on the lens cap and a paper towel I’d stuffed in my pocket earlier that day). I also hadn’t brought my glasses, so I was having trouble with my manual focus.

After about 30 minutes, I told my wife I was ready to head back in. I was getting more and more frustrated trying to get things to work and the multiple light photos I’d seen on Facebook were eluding me.

Once I got back in the camper, I downloaded my photos and was even more disappointed. The one I used for this week’s post was the best of the best and I had to manipulate it just to get it presentable.

I just wanted to get under the covers, go to sleep and forget I’d wasted my energy. (By the way, later I read that the lights came and went in waves, so I don’t know if I was out too late, or I’d just given up too soon). The bottom line is that I wasn’t prepared, didn’t have all the right equipment, wasn’t patient, and maybe failed because I was frustrated.

Here’s my point. Sometimes our lives are like me trying to get pictures of the aurora borealis.

We find ourselves in a situation where we want to be successful, but we’ve not prepared. We haven’t spent time in prayer or in God’s Word. The equipment we need to be successful was on the table gathering dust rather than opened daily. Our patience is thin. We want what we want on our schedule. But God’s schedule may require waiting. We get frustrated and give up.

Paul gave Timothy instructions for living a strong spiritual life. Look what he tells him here.

“…be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2, NIV)

If I had not been lazy when preparing for our camping trip, I may would have had better pictures. If I read my Bible regularly and seek God’s input in all things, I’m more likely to be ready at any time for what life throws at me, and not experience a failure that may be way more important than aurora pictures.