November 11, 2025 10:04 PM | Essex, MA

Aurora Over Motif #2: Chasing the Northern Lights to an Essex, Massachusetts Icon

I have photographed this iconic Essex landmark, known to locals and artists alike as Motif #2, many times. Sunrises, still-water reflections, even a SAR arc are all part of my collection from this one spot along the marsh. But there was one shot I had never checked off my list…a full-on aurora over Motif #2. That kind of shot was going to take more than a decent storm. It was going to take a mega storm strong enough to punch through the light pollution north of Essex. On 11/11/25, that storm finally arrived.

What Is Motif #2?

If you’ve spent any time along Eastern Avenue (Route 133) in Essex, Massachusetts, you’ve probably driven past this gray house on the marsh at Ebben’s Creek without knowing its nickname. It’s believed to date to around 1810, originally built as Ebenezer Burnham’s boat shop for the once-thriving Burnham shipyard, back when Essex was one of America’s great shipbuilding towns. As that era faded in the early 20th century, the old boat shop was converted into the private residence photographers know today.

Painters and photographers have been drawn to it for generations, and locals often call it Motif #2, a nod to the fact that it’s considered the second most painted scene in Massachusetts, right behind Rockport’s famous red fishing shack, Motif #1. Where Motif #1 sits on a working harbor, Motif #2 sits quietly on a tidal salt marsh, framed by grasses and creek water that turn gold at sunrise and silver under a full moon. Still privately owned, it remains one of the North Shore’s most photographed and painted landmarks.

A Once-in-a-Solar-Cycle Opportunity

Aurora photography in Massachusetts is never a sure thing. Most nights, even a strong geomagnetic storm barely clears the light pollution in the area. To get real color and structure in the sky over Motif #2, I needed something rare…a severe storm, ideally G4 or better, with the kind of solar wind speed and magnetic alignment that turns an ordinary night into a jaw dropping event.

November 11, 2025 delivered exactly that. The sun had thrown off a series of powerful coronal mass ejections in the days prior, and the resulting geomagnetic storm data was off the charts. A severe G4 event, among the strongest of the current solar cycle, that pushed the aurora borealis as far south as Alabama and northern California was upon us. For once, the forecast wasn’t the problem. The clouds were. Nearly everywhere else in New England was socked in that night, and I fully expected to miss the show entirely.

Checking a Bucket List Shot Off the List

But the sky over Essex had other plans, and it ended up clearing right when I needed it to. With a mega geomagnetic storm overhead and a rare clear window on the Massachusetts coast, I knew this was my chance to finally pair the aurora with Motif #2…a combination I had been chasing. I packed up my gear and headed straight for the marsh.

Standing there watching color spread across the sky over a 200-year-old marsh house was something I won’t forget. Aurora displays this far south, and this vivid, don’t come around often and most photographers along the East Coast wait years, sometimes decades, for a night like this one. Between the history of the location and the rarity of the sky, this is easily one of the most meaningful images in my collection, and a bucket list shot I can finally call complete.

Shot on location in Essex, Massachusetts, at Motif #2 on Eastern Avenue (Route 133), overlooking the marsh at Ebben’s Creek, during the severe G4 geomagnetic storm and aurora borealis display of November 11, 2025.