Shawnee County man continues cross-country road trips with 60-year hobby
24 April 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – On Sunday night, a Kansas photographer captured stunning images and video of the Aurora Borealis over Seneca Kansas.
Not often seen in Kansas, Colton Sturgeon used a long exposure time to capture the brilliant lights.
Video courtesy of Colton Sturgeon.
Sturgeon said he hopped in his car with a couple of friends and drove about an hour and a half north of Topeka. Around midnight he started scanning the skies. When he got to Seneca he saw a dim pulsing light.
Photo courtesy of Colton Sturgeon.
Photo courtesy of Colton Sturgeon.
“The moment we realized what we were looking at we pulled over and I set up my gear as quickly as possible,” Sturgeon said.
Sturgeon set up his Nikon z6 on the side of a country road and got to work. He shot a few thousand photos over about 20-30 minutes to produce a five-second video of the Aurora.
“The most incredible part is how unusually bright the lights started,” Sturgeon said. “And even more intriguing was how the Aurora exploded in a red tower and red being one of the rarest colors of the Aurora not mentioning being able to see it in Kansas makes this event so incredibly rare.”
If you’re interested in seeing more of Sturgeon’s photography work check out his professional website ColtonSturgeon.com.
The northern lights appeared over Kansas and Missouri last month as well. The appearance of the lights was attributed to unusually strong geomagnetic storm.