Living in darkness… But with northern lights!

I was lying in my bed yesterday evening, making Snapchat videos where I complained (in Finnish so no one would understand) about the constant darkness and how difficult it has been to deal with. Then I happened to check my Facebook and saw updates about the northern lights being visible! I got up, took my camera and biked to Nydalasjön, which is a lake in Umeå and not too far from where I live. I had only seen northern lights once before, so I knew this would be my chance to take pictures before traveling to Finland for the holidays.

I chose a few good pictures here to share with you, hoping to get more in the future. And a few tips I wanted to share at the end of this post!

Nydalasjön is far enough from the city lights for taking pictures of the northern lights, but there’s still artificial light around. I’d love to go once somewhere further away, where the night sky would be the only source of light. Though I was pretty happy when I got home and noticed I had managed to capture a meteor in the picture above!

I also tried shooting a short time-lapse video, but I had the exposure time on my camera too long and the movement wasn’t quite clear… But if you’re interested to take a look, I posted it on Instagram @studyinsweden account. When taking pictures of new things you always learn something and that’s the only way to get better.

3 must haves for watching / shooting northern lights:

1. Darkness. Try to get away from the city lights, you’ll be able to see so much more.

2. Warm clothes. I was sweating when I got to Nydalasjön, but couldn’t feel my fingers when I got home, even though I was wearing my warmest gloves.

3. A tripod when taking pictures. I don’t know anyone who’d be able to hold a camera stable for several seconds.

And if someone’s planning to travel to Northern Sweden to shoot the northern lights or something else, let me know and I’ll join! 😉