Kim Bannerman was getting ready retire for the evening on a recent Sunday night.
Mother Nature had different plans.
“I was actually getting ready for bed, and a friend of mine made a comment on Facebook,” Bannerman says. “We (she and partner Shaun Pigott) both enjoy astronomy, and had filmed the northern lights in the past, but nothing quite so spectacular. So we saw it was a good night and we figured, ‘why go to bed? Let’s just head out to the lake and see what we can see.’”
Bannerman and Pigott, who co-own Fox & Bee Studio in Cumberland, set up their equipment at Cumberland Campsite on Comox Lake, aimed north, and started skywatching.
“We filmed from midnight until about 2:45, capturing different time-lapses. It was a very late night for us,” Bannerman quipped.
She said it was the best northern lights show she has ever seen.
“We’ve seen them once before, coming across the connector for the Coquihalla, coming from Kelowna to Vancouver one night, but that was really the only time I had seen them look quite as spectacular as this. It looked amazing… and no light pollution, so a really good view.”
Plan your adventures throughout the West Coast at and follow us on and @thewestcoasttraveller. And for the top West Coast Travel stories of the week delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our weekly !