Dateline: May 5, 2008.

    In Roman mythology, Aurora is the beautiful goddess of dawn. She flies across the sky and opens the gates of heaven, announcing the arrival of her brother Sol, the sun god, who drives his chariot across the sky each morning.
    During winter months at far northern latitudes, Sol tends to rise lazily and late, and then only for an ephemeral appearance. Aurora enthusiastically compensates for her brother's procrastination by languidly waltzing across northern night skies, to the serenade of howling wolves and the applause of twinkling stars.

    The above comments nicely open Skagway photographer Michael Klensch's first book. Many residents of the North look at the aurora borealis as a gift, perhaps a reward from Mother Nature for living in this harsh climate. Some go to great lengths to see the aurora (also known as the Northern Lights) when a strong display is forecast, and Michael is clearly in that category. His passion for the Northern Lights and for the wonders of the natural world in general are apparent in the book, though the difficulty of capturing on film what he has seen in the night skies isn't.

    With one clearly-identified exception, none of the photographs (which were all taken on 35mm film) have been filtered or otherwise altered.

    The book closes with this comment: "The grandeur of snow-capped mountains, deep blue icy fjords, crystal clear alpine lakes, and star-filled auroral painted night skies continue to blow me away and stirs emotions that are hard to put into words. It is my sincere hope that my photos communicate where words fail." They do indeed, Michael.

Aurora's Winter Waltz: Yukon - Alaska - British Columbia Northern Lights Photography
By Michael Klensch
Published in 2006 by Alpenglow Photo, Skagway, Alaska.