You’ll never know when Lady Aurora will appear. Most times she’s a little shy, catching only a glimpse of her shadow when she briefly appears. But at times she’s really bold and puts up a spectacular show that will leave you amazed and hungering for more.
I’m talking about the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, also known affectionately as Lady Aurora. I have been really lucky to witness the Northern Lights on my two visits to Iceland, especially during my recent trip in November 2023. Solar activity has been increasing in recent years as our Sun nears its solar maximum (estimated to be from July 2024 to January 2025). We have been dazzled in 2024 by spectacular Aurora displays, the latest in May when both northern and southern hemispheres saw their night skies lit up in green, red and pink colours.
Although my trip to Iceland was towards the end of 2023, solar activity was already building up and a precursor of what was to come. Here are some photos from the trip.
We went out in the night to a dark area with our guide. Along the way I could see the faint outline of the Northern Lights starting to form in the sky, and I knew that tonight’s show was going to be a good one.We were in an open field of frost covered grass near the town of Selfoss. I couldn’t find any interesting foreground subjects except to zoom in on these street lights. Overall, I think this picture turned out quite well. The column of white light in the lower left of the photo is actually the light beam from the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik which is 50 km away.Lady Aurora’s dance changes every time. Sometimes, its a slow waltz and sometimes a fast tango. But each movement is a beauty and wonder of nature.Stronger displays of red colour started to come in, indicating higher solar activity.
The appearance of the Northern Lights is not guaranteed. You will need the perfect alignment of clear weather and solar activity to have a good chance to see it. In fact, we were lucky to see the Northern Lights in the first 3 nights of our trip, and we never saw Lady Aurora after that…
On our second night somewhere on the South Coast of Iceland, we were treated to several hours of Aurora display.The intensity and brightness of the Aurora that night was incredible. You can see that it’s as bright as the foreground which was lit by lights from our lodgings.On our third night, the displays were getting less intense, but still bright enough to cause wonder.
Lady Aurora saved her best show for last just as we were walking back to our hotel after dinner. I didn’t have my DSLR with me, but the display was bright enough to be captured by my smartphone’s camera. We never saw her again after that night.
Here is a link to my previous blog on the Northern Lights. It’s a longer read and contains more technical information like preparation and how to photograph the Northern Lights.
