PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Liron Gertsman | Under the Northern Lights

Name: Liron Gertsman
Picture title: Under the Northern Lights
Category: People’s Choice
Nationality: Born in Canada, and living in Canada
Occupation: Full-time photographer

Technical information
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art DG HSM Lens for Canon EF (with EF to RF adapter)
EXIF: 1.3 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 8000
Accessories: Gitzo Systematic tripod

Liron Gertsman says:

On the night of May 10, 2024, we witnessed something I never thought I’d ever experience from my hometown of Vancouver, Canada: the Northern Lights dancing across the sky all night long, from horizon to horizon! Vancouver is relatively far south for a Northern Lights viewing event, so this was a very rare occurrence. Knowing that a “geomagnetic storm” was expected, I began planning photo ideas for the coming night. I’d long dreamed of photographing birds with the Northern Lights, so that’s what I focused my attention on. Knowing that a wide-angle lens would be best for photographing the Northern Lights, I needed to find a bird that typically behaves indifferently toward human presence. I thought the city’s Canada geese would be the perfect birds to photograph, and I finally had some success photographing this pair of geese as the Northern Lights danced across the sky. In the background, during the 1.3-second exposure, you can see some lights from cars driving through the park. It was worth losing a night’s sleep! The geese are completely illuminated by the light from the nearby city buildings.