Stan Maupin

Virginia's Aurora

Photography on Paper

12 x 18", Framed to 16 x 20 x 1"

$225

The Northern Lights seldom reach Virginia, but in 2024 the aurora borealis twice visited our skies. This shot was taken in Goochland County in October. It was taken on a farm, and I had the pleasure of talking to a woman who had lived on the farm since childhood and had last seen the lights from the spot where we were standing more than 60 years ago.

Artist's Statement:

I am a semi-professional photographer who was late in discovering that a tenacious drive to learn and a touch of creativity might lead to a career very different from my life-long work in business and politics. I spent most of my career as an entrepreneur creating and growing new businesses and organizations in industries as diverse as genetic microbiology and used auto parts, but I didn’t think of myself as creative until I re-discovered my interest in photography while working from home during the COVID isolation in 2020 and 2021.

I am definitely still a beginner, but I enjoy competing and exhibiting photos in several central Virginia galleries. My biggest "win" so far came when my photo of the Milky Way taken on a South Carolina beach won third place in the 2022 Washington Post Travel Contest. I also have an exhibit space at Crossroads Art Center and I welcome you to visit my website at stanmaupinphotography.com.

I specialize in photographing landscapes, animals & people in places and situations where most people can't, or won't, go. For instance, I am willing to roam deserted locations in the middle of the night to shoot the Milky Way and will sit for hours in the summer sun to catch the "prisms" created by the wings of a hummingbird backlit by the sun's rays   

My strategy for finding and photographing interesting subjects is simple...... "If it rains, look for a rainbow. If it's dark, look for the stars."