THESE incredible pictures show the Northern Lights illuminating the skies over Lewis on Wednesday night.
Local photographer Colin Cameron captured the stunning images of the green-streaked night sky of the Isle of Lewis between 9:00pm and midnight.
The 39-year-old chip-shop-manager-by-day used long exposures to capture the dramatic lights on Braighe beach, over the Callanish Stones and at other local landmarks.
In one he has even captured using fireworks to light up the foreground – whilst in other he has silhouetted himself against the sky in a beautiful and unique portrait.
Speaking about the portrait image, he said: “The side to side movement in the sky was so fast that it was pretty hard to capture it properly, I think this is one of the only ones I got with decent upward spikes.
“You definitely need to be quick off the mark because it starts out fast and then suddenly it fades.”
After growing up on Lewis, Colin studied photography at Clydebank College before returning to take over the family-run Cameron’s Chip Shop.
He said: “Here on the Isle of Lewis we are lucky enough to see the Northern Lights and chasing aurora has become a bit of an addiction.
“The countless beautiful beaches and places like the wonderful Callanish Standing Stones all make this a great place to be a photographer.”
In the next two weeks the chances of spectacular Aurora Borealis in the skies over Scotland will be greatly increased owing to the coincidence of two “space weather phenomena.”
High speed solar wind streams will buffet the atmosphere of the planet over the coming fortnight – disturbing the magnetic field.
Meanwhile – as the equinox approaches – the chances of more spectacular lights are improved, although science has yet to explain why.
