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Northern Lights
This is part of our holiday of Scotland, Norway and Amsterdam, and seeing the remarkable Northern Lights.
We’re incredibly lucky having seen the Northern Lights in Finland back in 2019/20 over the Christmas and New Year period.
On our recent trip to Norway, we were resigned to the fact we probably wouldn’t see them. The planets may have been aligning (it was predicted that this year would be one of the best ever for the lights) but cloudy conditions would mean we would probably miss out.
However we were blown away.
On our first night, in Tromso, we were booked in for a northern lights chasing tour. The others on the trip had cancelled and we were considering it too, mainly because of the cloudy skies we were seeing.
But we pushed on and decided to go ahead, driving for hours towards the border with Finland.
We did see the lights. Even if it was just a glimmer on the horizon that turned up well in photos but was hard to see with the naked eye.
It was a wild night, especially the drive back through the snow!
Our second night was also somewhat cloudy so our expectations weren’t high.
However my Aurora app was telling me it could take off.
Early in the evening, I opened up the door to our Air BNB and simple said, “yep, they’re on!”.
From Tromso it was on to the Lofoten Islands, which is famous for its lights.
We had booked in another lights tour but having a hire car meant we could head out ourselves – and I’m glad we did.
On our first night in Ballstad, the lights were lighting up the sky right outside our room.
Over the next few nights we drove out to the beaches around Lofoten where we braved the cold wind but were blessed with an incredible display.
On our final night of lights chasing, my app was telling me of high activity being forecast.
After several nights of northern lights chasing, we weren’t entirely sure of heading out but so glad we did.
The sky was alight, this time with shades of red as well.
And on our drive back, as we emerged from a road tunnel, the sky before us was a vivid green.
This was the best display yet.
Northern Lights tips
I did plenty of research on the northern lights before this trip to make sure we were well placed and well equipped.
I found a lot of content online with tips and tricks. Here are my top tips.
Have a good camera
Yes, you may be able to see them with your eyes. And yes, you may be able to see them with an iPhone.
But a good quality, high resolution camera, where you can control the settings will help.
Especially manual focus (as you will struggle to get focus when it’s so dark), and a good quality lens. Ideally you need a lens that can go down to an aperture of f/2.8.
My lens had a minimum of f/4.0, so I had to push the settings a little bit further.
Forecasts
At the end of the day, weather forecasts are predictions but the aurora forecasts are pretty reliable.
I used the Aurora Guide app. It requires a subscription but gives you hour by hour forecasts for your location, including cloud cover. It will notify you when the conditions are right.
I also relied on Windy to see when and where it was likely to be cloudy, helping you to avoid one of the enemies of the lights.
Locations
There are plenty of tours you can go on and the tour guides are great at chasing the lights.
They will keep an eye on the cloud movements and aurora activity and know the backroads. They’ll also help with your camera settings and take some shots of you.
However most of the time you’re pulling over into public areas on the sides of the road, which are accessible to everyone. And the guides often work together so don’t be surprised if there are other cars and buses when you stop.
It’s easy to find good locations online. In the Lofoten Islands we went to Haulkland and Vik Beach, as well as Vikten Beach.
We were told to look for beaches with a north-westerly outlook, as the lights do move throughout the night.
Wherever you go, rug up! It does get cold.
Settings
Here are the settings I relied on:
- Aperture of f/2.8 is best – but push your camera as low as it will go.
- Shutter speed of around 10s. Any longer and you will get star blur.
- ISO of about 1600 or 2000.
- Set your white balance to 3500K.
- Turn off auto focus. Put your camera on infinite focus if you can but beware anything in the foreground won’t be sharp (important to remember if you’re trying to take photos of people with the lights – and you will need a flash for crisp light).
- Shoot with a little bit of moonlight if you can but ideally at your back. It will light up landscapes like beaches and mountains.
It takes a lot of trial and error, so play around with the settings on your camera.
And perhaps most importantly, a solid tripod is a must.