The Yarra Ranges was graced with dazzling reds, greens, purples, and blues last week, as the Aurora danced its way across the shire.
Coldstream local Ashlee Metcher had her camera poised and ready for the Aurora at her farm on Tuesday 20 January.
“I went outside at 10 pm, and there weren’t really any colours appearing in the photos, so I went back inside for a while and came back out at 10:45,” Ashlee said.
“That was when I captured my photos of the Aurora,” she said.
Ashlee is a nature and space enthusiast. Photographing the aurora was a big tick on her 2026 bucket list.
“I took the photos on my iPhone and set my exposure to +2.0 and set the night mode to 10 seconds,” Ashlee said.
“I was standing in one of our paddocks facing south when I took the photo,” she said.
On the Hills side, hordes of people flocked to well-known lookout points to give some Aurora photography a go.
Helena from the Hills went to John’s Hill to snap her pictures with her husband in tow.
“There were lots of people there,” she said.
Johns Hill Reserve Lookout is a beautiful spot, located in Kallista, which gives panoramic views of the Dandenong Ranges, Yarra Valley and the Kinglake National Park.
Capturing and sharing her shot across social media, Helena said she thinks the Aurora captures everyone’s attention because of the fun of it and their similarity to the Northern Lights.
“We don’t get them here,” she said.
Helena spent an hour or so experimenting on her phone and enjoyed capturing the beautiful colours on the image.
Across social media, a group called Aurora Australis is now 300 thousand followers strong, with photography enthusiasts sharing their efforts across Australia.
“Aurora Addiction Alert! Be warned: chasing the Southern Lights may lead to sleepless nights, zombie mornings, and uncontrollable FOMO (Fear of Missing Out),” warns the group’s page.
