The sky lights up for a show Thursday night. (Photos by Phoenix Da Costa-Ford)
A Wolf Mom, a camera, and the joy of achieving a lifelong dream.
Phoenix Da Costa-Ford, a talented artist and one of the best in the biz in running the clock at Coupeville sports event, brings us a glimpse into the heavens.
Her firsthand account:
Last night, I was determined to catch a glimpse at the northern lights since hearing about the forecast last week.
Besides being an artist, I’m a huge astrophysics nerd as well!
One thing since I was a kid that I had on the top of my bucket list was to see either aurora at least once in my life.
Being from Washington makes that a little difficult to do and going to them was financially out of reach for me. Nonetheless I was determined after seeing the news article.
When I saw the most recent article stating it wouldn’t be visible to western Washington, I was worried, but I still planned on heading out to Hidden Beach in Greenbank, just minutes from my house.
What’s the worst that could happen? I get really pretty shots of the stars?
So, at 10:30 PM last night, I calibrated my camera, packed my tripod and headed out in my anime Pj pants!
I waited for the sun’s last little light to go away while listening to the calming sounds of the water up against the shore.
Then, I searched the sky with my eyes, but saw nothing.
I was disappointed, but then remembered that my camera could catch the milky way across the sky without my naked eye ever seeing it!
I snapped the first picture and saw a little ribbon peaking back at me at the very edge of the photo. THIS WAS IT!
My heart started to flutter, and joy overcame my soul as I let out an audible “NO WAY!!”
So, I turned my camera more east (a lot more east than I had calculated) and started firing away.
The results left me gasping!
Even though my own eyes couldn’t see it, my camera didn’t fail me in showing me the very spectacle that I had dreamed about as a Neil Degrasse Tyson loving child!
I could’ve been out there forever, but needed to head back home so I could wake up with my kids in the morning without regret.
I wish I could’ve stayed out there longer in hopes of catching a sliver of light with my naked eye.
But for now, I sit proudly knowing I caught this wonderful force of nature with my own hands (and lens).
Coupeville Sports 