The Light in Darkness



The view of the stars from just outside my weather office. Note the lighter spots on the picture, this is caused by some ice crystals falling on the lens while the shutter was open.



The snow, torn by the wind, resembles the desert sand. The light box in the left of the picture is where we house the wet and dry bulb thermometers as well as the max and min. The red light is being reflected off the snow from the brake lights of my truck.



Invisible to the naked eye in darkness, the mountains lying beyond the horizon were visible to me today when I tried out some new settings on my camera. I raised the ISO value and left the shutter open for 11seconds to capture this photo. Again, the red lights is that of the brakes and the runway lighting illuminating the snow.



In these cold temperatures, your breath is always visible.



This is my view of the main station from my weather office. The view is lovely with the lights fading off in the distance.

 The stars today were spellbinding. Twinkling and sparkling throughout the afternoon. If it wasn't a cool -38 degrees Celsius I could have looked at them for hours but I had to settle for only a few minutes at a time. It's amazing how many things you can actually see in the darkness. I chased satellites and shooting stars for a few minutes, watching them dance across the tenebrous sky until the frost temporarily ceased my time outdoors.

I'm in a learning curve (aside from the climate adjustment / new job) with low-light photography, which has been burdened further by only being allowed to have my hands exposed for a few seconds. Without the pain of the icy air I'm sure I could learn more efficiently but as these photos were taken (and I'm happy with the outcome) it doesn't show me running inside 2 seconds after each shot was complete to warm my fingers. Arctic mitts aren't ideal for Cameras. But hot chocolate is ideal for the Arctic.

I feel like everyone is a present here. We are all wrapped up in so many layers it's almost hard to distinguish people from one another. After talking with some of the residents who have been here a lot longer than I, it shocked me that some literally only leave the main complex to get on the next plane to take them home. I go outside every hour... hardly fair.

I'm hoping that I will become immune to the bitter cold and learn to tolerate it a lot better. For now, I will continue to shiver with my frost bitten cheeks and absorb as much of the beauty I can find in the dark. So far, so good.