Fire in the sky- Stormy windmill sprites

Red sprites are a rarely captured upper atmospheric phenomena found above strong lightning strikes. They are a massive and intricately shaped breakdown of the upper atmosphere, colored red because of the fact that nitrogen is excited by the electrical energy. Since their discovery in 1989, we have slowly peeled away at their mystery with each new capture.

I have been hunting and shooting sprites since 2017, and this remains one of my favorite nights. The storm was silent from my location, but the outflow winds were causing the windmill to turn fast. This squealing hum added more drama to the visual as it seemed with each strong gust that the windmill may not survive the night. Above the storm, these vibrant red sprites fired in full frame, giving a glimpse of the powerful lightning within the tumultuous system. 

About my photography: All my images are real and are usually single shots. I don't swap skies or move objects around. This is a real scene. I use post-processing products to develop the shots afterward and various denoise processes.

  Real nature, rare nature.

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