A lot of spectacular things happen at night, and luckily there is someone to capture them while we’re sleeping tight in our beds. Photographer Timothy Joseph Elzinga was recently woken up by his 2-year-old boy Gibson at 1:30 a.m. when his son spotted beautiful color lights dancing in the sky. Timothy quickly picked up his camera and shot some amazing photos of what he later realized is a phenomenon, called “light pillars.”
“I thought it was The Northern Lights because we live in Canada,” Elzinga said. “It was a super clear night, you could see everything. These lights were [shooting] into the sky, blasting hundreds of feet in the air, and they were shimmering and moving.”
A light pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon, which is an interaction of light with ice crystals. When the temperature drops and these crystals position themselves horizontally as they fall through the air, they act as “vessels” for light, shooting it upwards. Bored Panda has collected more images of these gorgeous light pillars, so scroll down to enjoy Elzinga’s shots, plus other pictures!
More info: YouTube (h/t: petapixel, twistedsifter)
Watch the video below to see how he did it:
#1 Light Pillars In Nesbyen, Norway
Image source: Greg Tomaszewicz
#2 Light Pillars Over Alaska
Image source: Allisha Libby
#3 Light Pillars In Russia
Image source: Mike Reva
#4 Light Pillars In Russia
Image source: TheSunRise
#5 Light Pillars In Tampere, Finland
Image source: Atacan Ergin
#6 Light Pillars In Jackson, Wy
Image source: Tristan Greszko
#7 Light Pillars In Finland
Image source: Terho Mäkelä
#8 Light Pillars In Inari, Lapland, Finland
Image source: Rayann Elzein
#9 Light Pillars In Charlotte, Michigan
Image source: Vincent Brady
#10 Light Pillars In Tampere, Finland
Image source: Karoliina Kolehmainen
#11 Light Pillars In Xilinhot, China
Image source: Xinhua
#12 Light Pillars
Image source: Tatu Räty
#13 Light Pillars
#14 Light Pillars
Image source: A. Sipiläinen
#15 Light Pillars In Ontario
Image source: Jay Callaghan
#16 Light Pillars In Southern Finland
Image source: Jani Järvinen
#17 Golden Light Pillars
Image source: Tatu Räty
#18 Light Pillars
Image source: extremeinstability
#19 Light Pillars
#20 Light Pillars In Moscow, Russia
#21 Light Pillars In Minsk, Belarus
Image source: Alexander Tarasevich
#22 Light Pillars In Minsk, Belarus
Image source: Alexander Tarasevich
#23 Light Pillars In Tampere, Finland
Image source: Atacan Ergin
#24 Light Pillars In Aurora, Co
Image source: ChrisTopher DuKart
#25 Light Pillars In Minsk, Belarus
Image source: Alexander Tarasevich
#26 Light Pillars In Aftonbladet
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