As noted in the prior post, we spent four nights in Saariselkä, near the northern tip of Finland. We stayed at the “Northern Lights Village,” which we all hoped was eponymously named! Guests are housed in individual little cabins, called “aurora cabins,” which have glass across half their roof, and a special in-room tablet computer that rings a gentle alarm whenever the Northern Lights are visible. We were all hopeful to see the aurora borealis, at least once. We did! Read on, and check out the photo gallery!
Our first evening included an after-dark snowshoe hike up a gentle trail to the top of a hill next to the hotel, with the idea of seeing the Northern Lights from there. It was not far, but snowshoeing (in the dark!) was a new experience for many in our group. It had snowed for much of the afternoon, and the skies were still cloudy, so there were no Northern Lights for us to see this evening. Instead, our guides built a pleasant fire inside a kota, a teepee-style tent, and shared snacks and hot drinks. I found it fun to explore the photographic opportunities outside.
The second night was also cloudy, with light snow. We were beginning to be concerned we might miss out on the Northern Lights!
The third night, the skies were mostly clear so a couple of us snowshoed back up to the hilltop to see what we might find. Aha! we were treated to a delightful auroral display of greens and purples, while laying on our backs in deep powdery snow to enjoy the scenery above.
The fourth night was even more clear – and even more cold, about 5ºF (minus 15ºC), so we stayed close to home. This night’s show was even more brilliant, and I enjoyed photographing the lights for an hour or more. Below is just one shot, as a teaser for the others in the gallery.
It was hard to capture their scale and beauty, because they often spanned the entire width of the sky, and fluctuated slowly. They would come and go in different parts of the sky, so I moved around to try photography from different angles. For more photos, check out the photo gallery!
Below is an attempt at a timelapse, on the third night. The aurora was moving around the sky, so I slowly panned my camera between images. This gif does not do it justice, because the gif format compresses the colors far too much!
Photography notes:
I used my Canon R5 (on a tripod) with my 24-105 lens at 24mm and f/4, but wished I had a 16mm lens. Most of the exposures are 6-10 seconds at ISO 500 or 640. I also used my iPhone 14 Pro and I must say it did a remarkably good job; it would have been better if I had a tripod for it as well, and if I’d put it in Raw mode. The photo gallery (a small subset of my photos) includes 8 Canon shots and 4 iPhone shots.
I found the following resources helpful in preparation.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIAtlHdqM0Y
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEQxzmzeRvQ
- https://www.davemorrowphotography.com/2014/10/how-to-photograph-northern-lights.html
- https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/8-questions-about-photographing-the-aurora-with-gabe-biderman
David Kotz 
2 thoughts on “Northern Lights”