THE STORY:
 
When you have seen more than 100 auroras the list of Top 5’s don’t change that often. But the aurora on February 26–27 2023 made it to that list. Here’s the story of the most red aurora I have ever seen.
A massive particle cloud that the sun had thrown out a couple of days ago hit the earth at 9:30 PM making the northern lights indexes rise dramatically. But the evening had been cloudy and I thought it would stay that way. Luckily, at 10:30 PM the clouds were gone and I saw the northern lights from my balcony. I hurried to get ready, taking all my clothes on, packing my gear into my bag and filling my thermos. The temperature was –5° Celsius (23° F) but it was expected to get colder during the night.
When I started driving I still hadn’t decided on a destination. I made up my mind as I drove out from the town. I went towards a place I have been to several times when the northern lights have been visible. There’s a long beach there, there are rocks and crooked pine trees, there’s a beautiful church on the rock. I wanted to capture the church with auroras decorating the sky above it.
I didn’t get far before had to stop for a photo shoot. I didn’t want to miss an extra active phase. I spent ten minutes of frantic photographing. So far this was the strongest aurora this season. But it would become even better!
I continued to drive, parked my car and walked through the untouched snow to the church. It’s a camp site church and it’s not in use during the winter. The aurora was big but somewhat pale and I captured it straight above the church. 
Then this fantastic thing happened—the sky suddenly turned red in the east. I have seen red auroras before but never this strong. 
The following photos I took were simply amazing and I worked intensely to capture as much of it as I could, with the church in the foreground from different angles. 
Then the moon gave me a pleasant surprise …
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THE COMPLETE STORY COMES WITH THE DELUXE PRINT.