Viewing the Northern Lights in Lapland, Finland: Tips & Tricks

Aurora borealis (Latin) — “the northerly light of dawn.”

I worked in Lapland, Finland, from November 22 - December 29, 2023.

Viewing the northern lights feels like a dream come true. All the better because they’re a completely natural phenomenon.

Funnily enough, I didn’t realize that aurora borealis refers only to the northern hemisphere lights until my trip to the Finnish Arctic Circle. The southern lights are called aurora australis, and together they are the “polar lights” (Norrsken main page (irf.se)).

After several weeks of waiting, I was treated to a few faint shows and one beautiful spectacle that had me giggling and shrieking with delight.

I learned a few tips and tricks along the way to see these wondrous lights:

Use an app

Aurora and Aurora Now are both popular light-tracking apps.

I found their interfaces a little messy, but deep-divers can get into the statistics of it. All you need to watch out for is the percentage chance of seeing the lights in your area. A higher KP Index means higher chances. The best areas are highlighted in green on the map.

From personal experience, a 20% chance seems low but is actually great potential for seeing the lights. Although, when I was there, this usually happened around 1 or 2 AM, so be prepared to pull an all-nighter if you’re dead-set. Earlier times can be around 11 PM.

Pre-set your camera settings

The human eye can’t see the full range of the polar lights unless they’re extremely bright, clear, or dancing. Otherwise, they’ll look like a grey cloud. Weather conditions, distance, and visibility levels affect this too. Instead, point your camera up to the sky, click away, and look at the results.

Phones have pretty good night mode settings nowadays. I’ve heard great things about the Google Pixel and other Android brands. Whether you use an iPhone, Android, or DSLR, there are some main things you should do (if applicable):

Select “night mode” on your phone.
“Focus to infinity” — set your focus to the farthest possible point.
Use the lowest possible f-stop (wider aperture).
Use a low shutter speed to let more light in and adjust if the polar lights start moving faster.
Hike your exposure settings up to the max.
Use a high ISO value, suited for darker environments.

Source: Best camera settings to capture the Northern Lights - Adobe

Here’s a great article: How to Photo Shoot The Northern Lights With Your iPhone - Aurora Borealis - Travelfoss

Be in a dark space

The darker, the better. Avoid any streetlamps, buildings, and tall trees. If you’re near an empty field away from civilization, great! Just confirm the field isn’t actually a frozen lake.

If you need a dark spot in a pinch, the shadow of a large vehicle does wonders. My friend and I found this out for ourselves when the lights showed up near our hotel, and there was a parked tractor truck nearby. Be mindful the vehicle isn’t actually in use.

Rivers and lakesides are also optimal places to hang out. You’ll increase the chances of seeing dancing lights here.

This is what they might look like if there’s too much light pollution:

Wear warm gloves

I had to take my mittens off to operate my camera, and my gloves were too bulky to use. My fingers felt like they’d freeze and fall off.

If you have special photography gloves, try them out. If not, you can bear the cold, but know your limits and when to stop. Frostbite is a nasty condition. If not treated properly, it can be a lifetime nuisance.

Look out for different-coloured lights

Familiar colours for aurora include purple, green, and red/pink, but aurora can come in many different colours and shapes, static or dancing.

The below image is technically also of the northern lights, though poor zoom quality on my phone and a narrow frame of view without capturing obstructions made for a rather limited range.

Edit in post

All the master photographers out there will say to get it right in the shot — which is a good rule of thumb — but sometimes you need editing in post if your equipment is lacking, or, like I said, your fingers are in danger of falling off.

There are editors now that can reduce noise quality (especially if you’re using “night mode” on phones) and allegedly fix image quality too. I used the Meitu app’s AI Enhancer (with a paid subscription), and while I don’t think it changed much, it at least got rid of the noise.

Those of you who are more advanced can use Photoshop, Lightroom, or whatever else suits your fancy.

I kept the lights as raw as possible in post because they’re plenty pretty already. All I did was noise reduction; the colours are all original.

Your camera lens will change how the images come out unfiltered, but with the tips described above, you can capture great aurora with just a single smartphone.

Be patient

Unless you hit a geostorm, you’ll likely be sitting on your hands a lot in the search for the lights. Patience is the key here. Frequency of the lights will change with the seasons, and certain areas of the world will offer better chances.

Make the most of your trip by engaging with everything else your location has to offer. It’ll make the wait a lot more fun.

Conclusion

A local friend I made told me the locals don’t give so much thought to the northern lights. They’ll be walking their dog, see the lights, and go, “Oh, the lights!” — and keep walking.

Whereas if they went to Hawaii, they’d go ballistics over seeing a palm tree.

It’s so interesting to hear what people around the world view as unique. Regardless, the polar lights are a beautiful sensorial experience, and it’s definitely worth it to see the magic at least once in your life.

Here’s one more photo, just ‘cause:

Happy chasing :)

All photos by Lonely Girl, Lonely World unless otherwise stated.