Some of the nights in Auyuittuq national park on Baffin Island were beyond what I would call “exciting”. Let me paint you a picture. While drifting off the sleep after a long day of photography, I hear one of my hiking partners call out that sweet sweet sound: “there’s Aurora!” All at once, everyone with us snaps out of their sleep and races out into the night.
This is always a pivotal moment. I need to decide on everything I’ll need, and put it together as quickly as possible. If I forget items, I might find myself coming back to the tent to fix the issue. Wrong shoes? I might not be able to get where I want to get. Wrong clothes? I might get cold and call it a night early. Wrong or missing gear? I’ll be back soon. But if I take too long getting ready, I could miss the best of the show, or if I bring too much, I could get bogged down carrying a lot of things over uneven terrain. There’s no right answer here, just a guess at the best pathway to get me out into the night and capturing images like these.