Captured on January 20, 2026, I had originally gone out that night to photograph the Saint Joseph Lighthouse at sunset after it had just received its first fresh coat of ice for the winter. It was a brutally cold day, in the single digits if I’m remembering correctly. One other photographer was with me on the North Pier for the sunset itself and a few more were across the way on the South Pier. As the sun left below the horizon most everyone followed suit save for me and one other photographer on the South Pier. I’m a bit stubborn so I decided to see if I could outlast the other guy in the cold, this gave me an opportunity to practice some “blue hour” photography (the hour after sunset where some sunlight is still reflected off the atmosphere on the Western Horizon, only really detectable in long exposure photography) and I was quite liking the results I was getting. I did this for awhile until I noticed that there was a faint purple tinge to the sky of my photos, I couldn’t believe it! Capturing the northern lights over the Saint Joseph Lighthouse while it’s frozen over has been a dream of mine and suddenly here it was! But immediately I had issues that are a bit technical to get into here (I may eventually make a blog post about it). It took me maybe a minute to get everything set up, but believe me it was the longest minute of my life and I’m sure the other photographer on the South Pier could hear me swearing. But finally I got my composition and took the shot! And what a shot it was! I took many more photos that night, but the first one has to be my favorite!
Printed on professional silver halide photographic paper (C-type) for exceptional tonal depth and archival longevity.
• Watermark is not included in the final print
• Frame and mat (passepartout) are not included
Captured on January 20, 2026, I had originally gone out that night to photograph the Saint Joseph Lighthouse at sunset after it had just received its first fresh coat of ice for the winter. It was a brutally cold day, in the single digits if I’m remembering correctly. One other photographer was with me on the North Pier for the sunset itself and a few more were across the way on the South Pier. As the sun left below the horizon most everyone followed suit save for me and one other photographer on the South Pier. I’m a bit stubborn so I decided to see if I could outlast the other guy in the cold, this gave me an opportunity to practice some “blue hour” photography (the hour after sunset where some sunlight is still reflected off the atmosphere on the Western Horizon, only really detectable in long exposure photography) and I was quite liking the results I was getting. I did this for awhile until I noticed that there was a faint purple tinge to the sky of my photos, I couldn’t believe it! Capturing the northern lights over the Saint Joseph Lighthouse while it’s frozen over has been a dream of mine and suddenly here it was! But immediately I had issues that are a bit technical to get into here (I may eventually make a blog post about it). It took me maybe a minute to get everything set up, but believe me it was the longest minute of my life and I’m sure the other photographer on the South Pier could hear me swearing. But finally I got my composition and took the shot! And what a shot it was! I took many more photos that night, but the first one has to be my favorite!
Printed on professional silver halide photographic paper (C-type) for exceptional tonal depth and archival longevity.
• Watermark is not included in the final print
• Frame and mat (passepartout) are not included
