Andrea, I don't know all that much about Northerns for the simple reason that I can't get ANYWHERE near one, so consider yourself lucky...lol. I'm originally from west-central pennsylvania (I think it says Erie on here, which is where I'm living now, but anyway...) and we have a few different color variations around here too. I saw one a few years back that I don't know whether it was an albino, but it was definately very very very light. It swam past me when I was fishing and was too far out to get to so I didn't have a chance to see it up close. Most of ours are the variation you see below. Dark, but still lighter than the other shot that was posted earlier in the thread.This shot is also a testament to the typical attitude ours have around here. this one bit me, bit and musked my cousin, and bit my lens in the course of about 2 minutes when I tried to get this shot.
