Have you ever wanted to see the Northern Lights? Was it images in a magazine (or online) that portrayed colorful waves of dancing lights across a starlit sky that drew you in? Maybe it was something you loosely thought about until the crazy cool Aurora show was able to be seen in so many states earlier this year - and now you want to learn more about them? No matter what sparked your interest, it's something worth pursuing and not all that difficult to arrange.
Several years ago, I got it in my head that this was going to be on my bucket list. It got me thinking about them - where does someone actually SEE the Northern Lights??? Of course, my Google search provided all kinds of answers. During my search, though, there was a pop-up that lead me to a website for a photography trip to see the Aurora borealis in the Faroe Islands - hosted by Capture The Atlas. I didn't even realize there were tours designed specifically for photographers! I'm not a person who usually gravitates towards group tours, but this concept really appealed to me. I am not great at nighttime photography, and for an event like seeing the Aurora I liked the idea of someone telling me what to do to capture the best images. But the tours that appealed to me are not cheap trips, so it was something that needed planning. In 2021 I booked that tour I originally discovered - to the Faroe Islands (Kingdom of Denmark) in February 2022. I was stoked!
Because of the uncertainty in the world during the time when they needed to start booking lodging and transportation, by August 2021 Capture the Atlas made the decision to cancel the 2022 tour. Obviously, I was devastated. I had been so excited to finally see the Northern Lights, and I wasn't willing to let that dream go. Time to research other options...
Instead of going on an organized tour, I decided to plan something closer to home on my own. In my search for information, I learned that the best chances to see the Northern Lights is going to be up in the Arctic Circle under the "Auroral Oval". And that the Aurora can potentially be seen from August to April (when you have the best chances for dark skies). After a bit of research, I learned that Fairbanks, Alaska claims to have the most clear nights during the Aurora season. This also had the current benefit of not being outside of the US and offered an easier chance of me being able to travel there in the near future. So, I started planning a trip to Fairbanks.
Once I had an idea of what my self-guided adventure would look like, I decided to invite a girlfriend to join me on this crazy trip. We scheduled it for the end of January-early February 2022, during the new moon. And it ended up being one of the most epic vacations I've ever had! The trip was 7 days in duration. We left Bozeman, MT on an early flight to Fairbanks, arriving at 3:00pm - just before it got dark. For the first three nights we stayed near the airport, at Pikes Waterfront Lodge. It was a perfect place to begin! The rooms were cozy, breakfast was delicious and hearty, there was a sauna and steam room down the hall, and it had the perfect Alaska vibe. The hotel also had the added benefit of being on the "free pickup" list to our first tour. I wanted to get out to Chena Hot Springs, but it was a 60 mile drive and we didn't get a rental car. So, I found a tour package that picked us up at the hotel in the afternoon and brought us out there. It included a tour of the ice museum (which was a lot cooler than one might think), a soak in the hot springs, and an Aurora viewing.
The Aurora viewing consisted of a ride up the side of the mountain in a SUSV people hauler to a heated yurt where we got to spend the next four hours. It was incredible to be up amongst the millions of stars in the sky, with no light pollution. The temperature was cold (-10F at the beginning of the evening) and breezy. It was slow to start/late to arrive, but eventually, we did get to see the dancing green light of Lady Aurora. I was able to capture a few blurry cellphone images, but couldn't get my camera to do what I wanted (I later learned what went wrong). As a couple of girls living in Montana, we thought we were prepared for the cold - we weren't as prepared as we thought. I think the hardest part was the standing around instead of being on the move (which is usually what I do outside in winter).
It took us all of Sunday to recover from our night out. I felt hung over and sluggish. It was the strangest feeling. Luckily, we had some great comfort food for breakfast, and made sure we used the sauna and steam rooms a couple times throughout the day. We were able to have DoorDash deliver some incredible Thai food to the hotel, and lounged around watching movies. It was a fabulous recovery day! On Monday, we checked out of the lodge and switched to the Westmark Hotel downtown Fairbanks. It was a fun change, because we were ready for a "lighter" environment. We found a juice bar nearby, treated ourselves to an amazing sushi dinner, and bought more layers for our next adventure (scheduled for Tuesday night).
I was really excited about our next tour, as it was with The Aurora Chasers and provided photography instruction. It was the most expensive tour we were doing, but well worth the price as they kept the group small, picked us up in a Sprinter van (so we had plenty of room to move in and out of the vehicle with our gear), had in-van video about the Northern Lights and showed us how to photograph them, took time to help us all set up our cameras, provided hot chocolate, assisted us in getting the best angles for pictures, and took a "souvenir" picture of us individually in front of Lady Aurora. It was cold (predicted to be -32F in Fairbanks that night - not sure what it actually was where we ended up going) and really windy. This made for challenging set-up and we couldn't leave our tripods unattended if we stepped back into the van to warm up. While we didn't get much of a "dancing" Aurora (until we were driving away at 3:00am) we saw some great color. I also learned so much and gained some confidence in night photography with this tour.
Because of the education and experience provided by The Aurora Chasers, we weren't quite ready to end the trip. We hadn't had anything planned for our last couple of days in Fairbanks, so instead of just puttering around town we decided to book one more tour. Not sure where to look, we checked out Viator (Trip Advisor's tour app). Turns out there was an inexpensive Aurora tour available for Wednesday night. It was rough to plan two consecutive nights to be up all night, but it was well worth it! This was a lot less formal than the other two, and kind of felt like a college field trip. We were picked up in an old van at the hotel and drove out to a house in the hills above Fairbanks. Originally used as a musher's cabin (a base camp to train for the Iditarod), they now use it to host Northern Lights tours and the group had full access: wrap around deck, wood stove and snacks inside - and it was perfect. Lady Aurora put on an all-night show, dancing all over the whole sky above us. I was fortunate that I figured out how to use my fish eye (12mm) lens with my camera, so I was able to capture everything! Fingers crossed that the images actually turned out (they did!), I spent most of the evening wrapped up in the colors - I barely felt the cold. Because of that tour, our trip ended on such a high! Flying home the next night we were exhausted but happy.
The strangest thing happened with this trip. I had a huge problem reacclimating to "normal" life again. I had just conquered the cold and my fears, executed a magical trip that allowed me to see the Northern Lights three nights...and I had to go back to work, walking the dog and planning dinners. It was such a strange feeling!
A few months later, Capture The Atlas announced their Northern Lights tour to the Lofoten Islands was going to happen in February 2023. I told myself that I had no business booking such a big trip after just getting back from Alaska, so I put it out of my mind. But the idea was still there...lingering...taunting me with potential adventures. In August 2022, I was scoping out their website and saw that there might be an opening left for that tour. What if...?! Maybe it was really meant to be. So I reached out to Dan to check availability. Unfortunately, the tour was booked but I could be added to the waitlist. Sure, why not - figuring it was a very slim chance. In October I received an email from Capture The Atlas, saying they were going to add another week in Norway since there was such interest! How could I not go?! So I booked it - 7 days in the Lofoten Islands to learn about photography, chase the Aurora and see someplace I had never been (honestly, I had never even heard of this region before the tour information found its way to me).
I am not someone who chooses group tours - I would much rather explore an area on my own terms and timeline. This was going to be such a new adventure for me, on so many levels! How does one pack/plan for a trip that you haven't created? What does a day look like? When do we eat...what about bathroom breaks? Over the next four months, all I had to do was figure out how to get myself to Leknes Airport by noon on February 10th, and then find my way back home when it was complete on the 17th. Capture The Atlas would make all of the arrangements for me in the Lofoten Islands - from lodging and transportation to photo sites. It makes a trip of that scope easier in many ways. For me, though, it created a new kind of challenge - I felt disconnected from the actual adventure. People would ask if I was excited about the trip, and my reply would be that I was looking forward to seeing Norway. I had no clue what I was actually going to be doing or where I was traveling within the islands.
Booking flights sounded easy enough, but was a lot more complex than I anticipated. When you start planning a travel itinerary backwards, it feels like a lot of work to get there. Dan recommended arriving in Leknes the day before, in case of weather delays (which turned out to be a great suggestion since a few people had challenges making that last connection). There are only so many flights into that tiny (1 gate) airport per day, so you had to time your previous connections to make that work. When all was said and done, I left Bozeman on February 7th. Flew to Salt Lake City, Amsterdam and then to Oslo.
I had a bonus Northern Lights experience on my way from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam! It was around midnight (according to my watch) and the little plane on the flight tracker said we were just south of Greenland. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. With everyone else on the flight quiet, I decided to peek out the window. I was looking beyond the wing and noticed these shimmery clouds that seemed to move. Sometimes your eyes aren't able to see the colors of the Aurora, but your camera can. I pulled up my "NightCap" app (night sky photography) on my phone and took a picture through the glass...and saw a swirling green light show up in the image! That was such a cool experience to see the Northern Lights from the sky.
I had a hotel in Oslo for the night of February 8th - the Quality Hotel Expo. I hadn't realized how far it was from the airport when I booked it, but it was worth the Uber drive. I had a wonderful, quiet room and there was a restaurant on site. Dinner was magic, and the breakfast buffet was unlike anything I had experienced before (they had so many incredible offerings!). The next morning had me returning to Oslo airport to catch a flight to Bodo then on to Leknes. In Bodo, I had to collect my luggage and then check it on to the next flight (different airlines). Somehow, none of the baggage from other airlines made it onto that Wideroe flight - and that included mine. I was very concerned when it didn't show up in Leknes. The weather was cold, snowy and windy and I was wearing clothes for traveling. All of my winter gear, hiking boots and tripod were in my checked bag. (It did arrive within 24 hours - just before we headed out to our second photo shoot of the tour, to catch the Aurora.)
We had two guides for this tour, with a group of ten people. This allowed for plenty of interactions and guidance in the field, to help us all capture the images we desired. After the group gathered on the first day, we were brought to our lodging for the next few nights. We had three cute cabins on a fjord, with four of us per cabin. They were spacious and beautiful - a great place to settle in and get familiar with the various personalities in our group. That first afternoon we headed out to capture the sunset light on a beach. It was brutally windy and cold, even more so since I didn't have any of my gear yet and was still wearing jeans, Sorel wedges, a thin shirt, Sitka Ambient jacket and a Goretex shell. Luckily, I had a thin pair of gloves and Capture The Atlas gifted us with wool knit caps. We stood on that beach for a good 45 minutes, trying to capture the light coming between the storm clouds...reflecting on the water and mountains surrounding us. This was kind of a "do your own thing" as far as composition and setup - or maybe I got that impression because I wasn't prepared to do much more than hand-hold my camera and stay near the road. I think I was pretty frozen by the end of this session!
After dinner, we had to swing by the airport to pick up someone else's luggage. It was a miracle - my suitcase had just showed up! I quickly grabbed my appropriate winter clothes and changed in the airport bathroom, as we were heading out to see if the Aurora was visible. It didn't register at the time, but we went to a windy beach overlook (that we later revisited in daylight). I have to say, the process was a little chaotic that first night. We grabbed our gear, set up our tripods and selected camera settings in the dark, in the wind, and on the fly. The guides came by to check our settings periodically, but it felt a little hurried. I'm lucky that I had some knowledge of what settings I needed, from my Alaska trip. We were fortunate to see Lady Aurora dance between the clouds.
It felt very foreign to me, this environment that we were in. So very different from my previous experiences. There were so many people, headlights, headlamps, town lights and movement. What I captured, in retrospect, was a fascinating series of images that look like I'm on another planet. Little did we know, that would be the only time we got to see the Northern Lights until our last night in the Lofoten Islands.
My approach to photography has alway been with the desire to show people the amazing places in the world they may never have the opportunity to see themselves - or inspire them to travel to these places. I always have my camera with me when I'm hiking and exploring. My images are usually captured while I'm on the go, and I never spend more than a few minutes in any location. The first thing I learned on this tour was that the epic shots usually take a lot more time and effort. The second thing I learned is that my lens of choice isn't necessarily the one I should always be using, and it takes a lot of work to break habits.
The next morning had us heading out to catch "sunrise" on a nearby beach. This one was rocky, with little tide pools that reflected the morning glow. It was a moody, overcast day with a little of the sunrise glow peeking through the clouds. It was a fun spot to be, and the guides made sure we had the right lenses and settings as well as provided composition suggestions. I wasn't prepared (mentally) to spend an hour in the location. Anytime I wasn't taking pictures, it was almost like the guides got annoyed at me for not taking advantage of the time and working on my composition.
When we went back to the cabins, there was an educational session where we discussed composition and what makes for a striking image - on that draws the viewer further into the picture. I've heard many of the concepts before, but with actual photos taken by Capture The Atlas guides it helped to make things click in my mind. Over the next few days we would also get classes on camera settings, how to photograph the Northern Lights, and editing. I especially appreciated the editing information as I am just starting to use Lightroom and hadn't used Photoshop at all. I've really enjoyed going through some of my older images and applying my new editing knowledge since being home!
The weather really didn't improve for the rest of the trip. The first couple of days were snowy, windy and cold. The remainder were rainy, windy and in the 40s. Most of the snow melted, the ground was squishy and muddy, and the ocean was angry. All of this makes for some amazing moody photos...but it gets old after a while. We would go out in the morning, to shoot on a beach or to capture one of the cute fishing villages. There would then be time at the cabin for editing or education, with help from the Capture The Atlas crew. Another adventure out in the afternoons and then group dinners at some incredible local restaurants. On the two nights it was clear enough, we kept our eyes on the skies ( and the charts), praying for Lady Aurora to make an appearance. Another advantage of being part of a photography group was that the guides let us go to bed while they stayed up to watch for the Northern Lights to show, on the last night we were there. Around 1:00am they came knocking on our doors, yelling "Aurora". We all jumped up and went outside (where we were fortunate enough to have a spot to take pictures with minimal light pollution and a fjord to reflect the Lights and mountains). Lady Aurora didn't necessarily dance that night, but she provided some cool shimmers - and the fjord allowed for reflections of buildings, mountains and the Northern Lights. It really was a perfect end to the trip.
Technically, we had half a day on the 17th but the weather was too moody (I can't remember now if it was rain or snow) so we just took our time wrapping up and packing to head home. Some people chose to stay in the Lofoten Islands longer, another spent a few days in Bodo, and some of us took advantage of time in Oslo before starting the long journey home.
When planning the whole trip, I hadn't wanted to just return to Bozeman without exploring Oslo some. Who knows if I will ever make it back up to Norway again. I also had a feeling that I might want a little pampering after playing in the elements for a week. So, I spent two nights in the most incredible, bougie hotel - Hotel Bristol. The hotel upgraded me to a room with a little balcony, overlooking a courtyard - the space was everything I wanted! I spent the day on the 18th wandering around Oslo and doing a little shopping. I really wish I could have spent a couple more days in the area to really take in the sights and foods of the region, but I'm grateful for the time I had.
Returning home wasn't as much of a reacclimation as it was after my trip to Alaska. But I still missed the adventure, the newness of seeing a region I've never been. It has me mentally planning for the next time I might be able to chase Lady Aurora. Funny thing, though - in the months following that trip I started paying some attention to the Aurora apps (that provide indicators on when you might be able to see the Northern Lights in your area). There were a few nights where the numbers said we should be able to see something in the Bozeman area, but there was always too many clouds. Until the night of March 23rd. I had been seeing that the numbers looked really good to get a show in Bozeman. I was excited about the potential, but it was a work night and I get up early. In the end, I decided that it was worth being tired the next day - we had to check it out! I convinced my husband to take a drive with me, and we left the house around 8:30pm. I had seen a post from someone earlier that day that he had been up taking pictures of the Milky Way and caught a slight Aurora glow, so we headed to where he had been. I honestly didn't think we would see them. In my experience, it has been later at night that the lights show up and I knew I couldn't stay out all night. Instead, we parked the truck not long after it got full-dark and Lady Aurora was already dancing! I hurried to gather my gear and find a spot to start taking pictures. The colors I saw in my camera were phenomenal!
We only stayed for 45 minutes, but it was the best night I had all winter. Sometimes, you don't have to travel far. Sometimes you just need to take a chance and break your routine. Sometimes you can surprise yourself with the adventures you find. That doesn't mean I'm done looking for the Northern Lights - it actually amplified my desire to chase a little more. And it increased my desire to share this magic with others. I will always keep an eye out wherever I am...
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