They are part of the scenery in Iceland where visitors flock to observe them during the winter period. In France, the aurora borealis are on the other hand very rare. Some lucky people still managed to enjoy this incredible show for two nights in a row. After those observed Sunday evening in the four corners of France, new aurora borealis thus appeared Monday evening in the sky, draping it in sublime colors.
On the lookout like all amateur and professional astronomers, Mathieu Rivrin didn’t want to miss this magical moment for anything in the world. Living in Landerneau (Finistère), the photographer took the direction of Mont-Saint-Michel on Monday at the end of the afternoon. “There was a big cloud mass over Finistère and northern Brittany so I decided to head east,” he said. Arrived at the stroke of 8 p.m. at the foot of the Mont, Mathieu Rivrin then took out all his gear and patiently waited in the cold. “It was freezing because it was 0°C and it was windy,” he says.
Only a few seconds of show
The minutes then pass and the photographer, a little annoyed, still sees nothing appear in the Norman sky. “I had already put away some of my equipment when I suddenly saw the sky take on a red hue around 10 p.m.,” says the photographer. Panicked, he then rushed out his camera, performing the settings and focusing in a few seconds. “I have rarely panicked so much to take a photo because I knew that the phenomenon would last only a fraction of a second”, he continues.
Between 9:59 p.m. and 10:01 p.m., he finally managed to take about twenty shots of the aurora borealis overlooking the Marvel. “I couldn’t even enjoy it with the naked eye, it was so furtive, but at least the image remains,” he smiles. Shared this Tuesday on social networks, the two photos reveal the beauty of Mont-Saint-Michel magnified by an incredible sky tinged with pink and purple. “It’s less impressive than the aurora borealis that I was able to capture in Iceland, but it’s still a magical and unforgettable moment,” says the photographer.
At the beginning of 2021, the Breton photographer had already panicked the Web with his incredible images of storm Justine taken in Lesconil in Finistère. On one of them, we saw a face appear in the overpowering waves. It resembled to be mistaken that of Poseidon, the god of the sea emerging from the waves.