These Photos Of The Stunning Northern Lights Captured By The Winners Of A Contest Will Amaze You

British Columbia, Canada “Even though we did our best to find a good location as the Lights came out, we missed most of the show. However, when we ran to the lake edge, we managed to see the magic. Such amazing experiences make me remember that I should just stop and enjoy what’s in front of me sometimes.” On their website, they write: “We came up with the idea for this contest 3 years ago with the purpose of inspiring others to discover and know more about this amazing phenomenon. Lots of people want to see and photograph the Northern Lights, and for many of them, it’s a lifetime experience. But, this can be very challenging considering the conditions you need for seeing the Aurora, such as traveling to high latitude, standing in the cold and freezing temperatures, and being lucky with the clouds. After three contests, we have managed to reach and become an inspiration for a lot of people to ‘chase’ and enjoy this magical experience. Nowadays, our collection is a reference for the night and Northern Lights photographers. The quality of the photo must be excellent, but also the history behind the shot. The level is getting better and better with every new edition, and more photographers want to participate every year. It’s also inspiring and helpful for other aspiring photographers who want to learn more about this difficult type of photography.”

Tasmania, Australia “I have had the unbelievable chance to witness the Southern Lights twice during two photography trips to Tasmania. You can see a trifecta of astronomical phenomena in this picture, that made for some of the best astrophotography conditions one can see in Australia, namely, the setting Milky Way galactic core, zodiacal light, and of course, the difficult to catch Aurora Australis. In addition to this, a sparkling display of oceanic bioluminescence embellished the crashing waves, adding the cherry on top to what was already a mind-blowing experience. Having been out of reception, and civilization for more than a day, my friend, who is also a photographer named Luke Tscharke, and I had no idea the aurora would strike on this night. We’d only heard a couple of people talking about a potential solar storm. We could hardly contain our excitement when the lights first showed up on our camera’s screen. We later noticed we were in the best place on the whole continent to see this rare phenomenon, with Lion Rock being on the southernmost cape of Tasmania and much more cloud-free than the rest of the place at that time. Our cameras managed to pick up the amazing colors, too. Instead of the usual green, the display ranged from yellow and orange to pink and purple. When I’d taken enough photos that I was happy with, I just stood by my camera with my head tilted towards the sky, occasionally swirling my hand around in the sparkling water by my feet. I’m forever thankful for moments in nature like this as they make us see the true wonders of our planet.”

Lofoten Islands, Norway “I discovered this unknown place on the Lofoten Islands when I was moving around the Gimsoya Islands. It was an extremely cold night, with temperatures reaching -20C. It was just amazing to watch and be able to photograph the Northern Lights. Because, in a place like this, it’s not really easy to find something new with such an incredible foreground and the kp5/kp6 Northern Lights dancing all night long. For this picture, I did a focus-stacking of three shots, two for the foreground at f/8, 10s, ISO 400, and one for the sky at f/4, 2s, and ISO 640.”

Tromso, Norway “This photo was taken on April 10th, 2019 at the very end of the aurora season in the Arctic. A lot of photographers had given up on auroras by that date, but I decided not to do so just yet. I have been after the Northern Lights for 10+ years now, and I’m aware that they can be pretty unpredictable. But, some of my best Aurora photos have indeed resulted from unexpected events or uncertain forecasts. That night was also one of those and the forecast was uncertain, but I wanted to go to this amazing location named Ersfjordbotn, which is a 20-minute drive from the City of Tromso, and I was so happy that I did it. A spectacular display took place over my head after an hour of waiting. I managed to capture lots of different photos, but this one stretching all over the sky with me standing on the rock in the foreground depicts very well how incredible and large the auroras can be. The Aurora Borealis for me is one of the things you absolutely must see in the world. It’s the most wonderful celestial and astronomical observation we can make with our eyes. Even though most Northern Lights move slowly, or appear static, if you are as lucky as I was on that night, you can have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I think seeing them should be on everyone’s bucket list. It’s absolutely something that you should see and experience with your own eyes.”

Finnish Lapland “After spending lots of hours waiting in the freezing forest of Ruka, Finland, at -36C, and without any visible aurora activity, we gave up and decided to go back to our cars. When we were walking down the trail, I saw something and on my left side and told my friend to stop and wait. All of a sudden, the aurora started to ‘dance’ and I had to just jump in the snow, get my camera ready and start taking pictures! I couldn’t even make any planning or I didn’t have time to focus on composition before the shoot. In about 5 minutes, the Northern Lights disappeared, however it was an amazing night for us.”

Iceland “I managed to capture this picture on my first trip to Iceland in September 2019 on a trip that I had been planning for months with 5 of my best friends. We were fortunate enough to see a G1 solar storm with a Kp4 index and some Kp6 peaks. The first experience of witnessing the Northern Lights was brilliant. Just like I do in the rest of my night pictures, I shot the foreground during blue hour and waited for the show to happen; thus, I can achieve the best quality in my photographs. This time, the Northern Lights were truly exceptional so I had to use a shutter speed down to 1 second to capture all the textures of the Aurora, forcing me to use pretty high ISO ranges between 8000 and 12800. I captured this image at the top of the Skogafoss waterfall, a composition that I hadn’t got to see before and that sums up that incredible night.” “What I love about photography the most is to have the chance to spend time in nature and to discover new places, cultures, and people. I’ve met so many amazing people thanks to this hobby. I can’t really come up with a ‘least favorite part,’ but if I had to say something, it could be cleaning the tripod after a photography session on the beach! (I’m sure a lot of photographers will understand and agree with me.) There are lots of hardships such as waking up for sunrise, driving long distances, not eating for extremely long hours...but all of these pay off once you manage to capture a unique moment.”

Jökulsarlon, Iceland “It was around the end of September 2020, and at last, the perfect conditions for the Northern Lights came together; +Kp6 converged with extraordinarily calm weather and the moon illuminating the ice of the most well-known glacier lagoon in Iceland. It was an intense and peaceful night to remember.”

Saskatchewan, Canada “I managed to take this photo during a surprise aurora storm that came out of nowhere towards the end of May in the boreal forest of Saskatchewan, Canada. The clouds were illuminated by the moonlight and the Northern Lights extended overhead. It was a truly spectacular moment! The show was intense, and the lights were visible in every direction at its peak, which is not something that can be commonly seen at my latitude. I managed to stay close to home, watching in awe as the lights reached further south. It was a spring evening and the weather wasn’t so cold and I took the photos of the Lights dancing right until the morning light, a night I’ll never forget!” When asked about his inspirations behind this Northern Lights competition, Dan has this to say: “After managing to photograph the Northern Lights in Canada for the first time, it became one of my passions, and ever since then, I haven’t stopped following and shooting the aurora borealis all around the world. However, shooting the Aurora isn’t as easy as it seems; you need to make a plan beforehand, use the best settings, you need to practice a lot, and also you need to have inspiration. Our purpose is to inspire as many people as possible to know more about this gorgeous phenomenon and to encourage them to travel and take photos of it, so we created this Northern Lights photography collection to feature the best 25 Northern Lights photos captured around the world.”

Iceland “I captured this image during my second trip to Iceland. On my first trip, I wasn’t able to see this unique location, but on my second time, this place was at the top of my list! When I finally got to see this location, it left me absolutely fascinated: an imposing mountain lying on a volcanic black sand beach, surrounded by huge dunes created by the wind. It was a concentration of gorgeous natural elements that truly made an impact on me. After spending the entire afternoon exploring the place, I chose the photo composition that I liked the best. The sunset was absolutely disappointing. To be honest, the weather conditions were bad, and it rained intermittently, however, I continued to wait, hoping that at night, the conditions would improve and the Northern Lights would show themselves in all their beauty. And that finally happened! After spending a couple of hours looking at the sky, around 1 am, the clouds moved away, and the sky was already covered by the Northern Lights. Full of ecstasy and joy, I went to the exact location I liked and took a series of pictures of this unique natural show! It was a mind-blowing experience, really, where I got the chance to test all my night photography skills.”

Yukon, Canada “Observing the spot, seasons, and angles for roughly three years, I researched the flawless shoot that I had in my mind. I absolutely loved this composition in Northern Canada. The day I managed to capture this image, the weather was terribly difficult; the temperature was twenty degrees below zero, and the strong wind just added to that situation. I had a very specific vision of the image I wanted, and due to the extreme weather, I had to build the photo in stages. Taking a lot of photographs in different stages of the Aurora rising gave me a good chance to get the final image you see here. The dazzling feeling of seeing the stunning phenomenon for the first time and racing against time and cold to capture the photo was such a thrill that I want to experience again.” Dan also stated that this competition is a little different from others and photographers don’t have to apply. “The Northern Lights photographer of the year is unique amongst other photography contests. Photographers don’t need to apply but they’re chosen following different criteria such as the quality of the photo, the shooting conditions, the originality of the composition, and the uniqueness of the spot. Both Ascen and I choose the images throughout the year, looking not only for photographs taken by some of the most talented photographers in the world but also from new talents that are working hard to get these mind-blowing pictures. We also have another competition named ‘The Milky Way photographer of the Year,’ which is a similar collection but showing the most stunning images of our galaxy captured during the Milky Way season. This collection of photos is published in June, the same time as the peak season to shoot the Milky Way. We don’t have any other plans for future competitions for now.”

Finnish Lapland “It was early winter, the weather was calm, and there was a reflection and reddish Aurora; a pretty rare combination! A lot of times, when the winter comes, the water freezes before the first snowfall. To take the photo of the reflection of the sky you need open water with no snow, but this October, the snow came first. October 23rd (2020) was an extremely cloudy day, which is terrible for the great Northern Lights displays. In the afternoon, I managed to see the solar wind and the magnetic field had started to show higher activity! I understood that there would be an amazing Northern Lights show in the evening if I managed to find a location with clear skies. After inspecting the area a little bit and calling other friends who live in the regions to ask them about the weather, I decided to drive to the south from Rovaniemi to find cloudless skies. I was fortunate enough to achieve that, and very soon, the magic started to happen in the sky, as I had predicted! I was baffled by the great amount of red color that my camera captured and the broad variety of colors that were visible, even to the naked eye! I put my camera on a tiny bridge facing north over the calm river, right in the best location to see the Aurora dancing in the sky. One thing to keep in mind when you’re chasing the Aurora is that it’s different each and every time! And photographing them isn’t as easy as it seems...perfect timing and spot matter!”

Upper Michigan Peninsula, USA “Unforeseeable. Crazy. Fascinating. The Aurora touches a specific part of your soul: the part that transcends everyday life and enters into the nearly supernatural. This is how it feels to chase the Aurora. I can’t even describe the exact feeling of it, to be honest. Not a lot of people realize that the Northern Lights can be seen almost regularly from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula! Despite the fact that they are confined to the horizon at that latitude, for the most part, a good display is very much visible to the naked eye. In this photo, I was out on this cove trying to capture the Milky Way. It’s one of my favorite locations on Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It’s a roughly 2-mile hike through the forest to reach this place, so I didn’t think I would be able to catch the Aurora here since I usually pre-plan my Aurora shootings. When I took a look at the Northern Lights forecasts the day before, nothing stood in terms of the likelihood of them happening, so when they appeared about 11 pm, I was baffled. These are one of those magical moments in the life of a night sky chaser. The Northern Lights danced for a couple of hours this night. The ribbons sparkling and fluidly moving across the horizon left me dumbstruck. To get the most from this experience, I took a combination of shots; a 2-min exposure of the foreground and a 15-second exposure of the sky. Therefore, you’re able to see more detail in the foreground while retaining the detail in the Northern Lights.”

Kola Peninsula, Russia “I’ve been looking for landscapes and Northern Lights on Russia’s Kola Peninsula for a couple of years and I still explore new locations. I discovered this stone beach on the coast of the Barents Sea several years ago. At the time, I was fascinated by the shape of the boulders, which moved by the rumble of the ocean waves, along with the steep mountains rising from the sea. I tried to capture the Aurora here for quite some time, and one day, I got lucky and managed to take this photo. The photo is very plain and consists of two shoots; one short exposure to freezing the movement of the Aurore in the sky, and another relatively long exposure for the rocks.” “I truly recommend everyone to go out in nature and take photos; even if it’s with your mobile phone, there’s something really satisfying when you’re expressing yourself creating new images. I hope you found this collection of Northern Lights photos inspiring and if you want to learn with us and join a community of enthusiastic and like-minded photographers, please consider visiting us at Capturetheatlas.com!”

Finnish Lapland “I took this photo in the Pallas-Yllas National Park in Finnish Lapland. According to the satellite data, there were going to be strong solar winds in the evening, and ı decided to drive to Pallas Fell, where the landscape was perfect, with fresh snow on the trees. I mostly focus on one composition per night, but this time, the aurora storm was unusually long, covering the entire sky, and I was able to get a couple of photos with various foregrounds. It was extremely cold, but flames like these make you forget about the cold weather.”

Lyngen Alps, Norway “A couple of years ago, I realized how spoiled I am. On an ordinary Tuesday night, I can head out, if the weather is alright, and take photos of one of the most sought-after phenomena in the world: the Northern Lights. This picture came from a night just like that in the spectacular Lyngen Alps, which are always a wonderful background when the Northern Lights come out to play. It was a cloudless night in February, and the Northern Lights started moving very slowly, but they kept building up, so when I checked what was happening on my LCD screen, the Northern Lights looked as if they were erupting from the mountain. Because of the moonlight coming from the left (south), the landscape was beautifully illuminated and I got a nice balance with the impressive display of the Aurora Borealis. One thing that I’ve managed to learn over the years taking pictures of the Aurora is that, if you wait for 100% clear skies before going out, you will miss out on a lot of awesome Northern Lights displays. This is just a piece of advice if you are in a part of the world where the Northern Lights are visible at night.”