Yesterday was a perfectly sunny day in Tromsø, but as a geeky photographer I decided to wait for the prettiest light around sunset. I chose Nattmålsfjellet as my goal for the evening/night: quite appropriate as the name means night-goal-mountain it’s only 297 m high, but it has a fantastic view in all directions. I’ve been there once before, but that was in summer. I reached the top just after sunset (which was at 20:40!), with great views…

Especially the view towards Ersfjorden is beautiful. In the other direction you can see part of Tromsø island. The top was partly bare, partly covered in windblown snow ridges.

A couple of reindeer kept me company for a while, and they didn’t seem bothered by my presence. They would sometimes look up when my camera was beeping, but they seemed too busy with their dinner to walk away. When I turned around, the lights had suddenly turned on in the city, what a view!

Towards Ersfjorden the moon was sinking and reflected in the fjord… I could hear the call of ptarmigans all around me – they have a very special sound which made the evening even more magical.

I was there for a couple of hours, enjoying the solitude and the views, taking lots of photos. Suddenly I heard voices… “Where is the top, where that man is?” “Yes, a scary man with a chainsaw!”. Erm? It turned out to be 3 British tourists with a guide, all on snowshoes. As soon as they reached the top, the guide made them dress in bright orange sleeping bags with only their heads and feet sticking out – they looked like Tibetan monks My solitude was broken, especially when they got out their iPhone and read aloud who liked their latest photo on Facebook… sigh.

Just like the tourists and their guide, I was hoping for the northern lights to show up. A big show was expected that evening, and I figured it would be one of the last nights where it’s dark enough to see them – especially since the weather forecast for next week is rain, rain, rain. But when it got to half past midnight, without a single sign of the northern lights (quite rare!) I gave up and walked down. When I was almost back at the car, I suddenly noticed something green in the corner of my eye…

It didn’t last long, and most of it was very weak, but it was a nice ending to my night hike. When I got home at 02:30 in the morning, dawn was breaking already… We’re approaching the midnight sun season rapidly, and even though that means no aurora for about 4 months, it’s so exciting. We still have a lot of snow, but spring is in the air and summer is on the way – I can’t wait (yes I know we are still far from summer but I always get impatient this time of year )

Last Friday I was invited for very tasty snert at Eelke and Roy’s. It was a clear night, and the aurora forecast was looking good, so I brought my camera and tripod along – just in case And yes, after dinner the auroras were dancing and we decided to go for a walk near their house. The first photo was taken from a nearby (frozen) lake, the snow was so deep there that we didn’t venture very far! The second photo is taken from a nice lookout over Hamna, a neighbourhood in Tromsø.

I also took this panorama (consisting of 2 images) of the impressive northern lights over Hamna…

After a while, the activity decreased and we went back for a nice cup of hot chocolate

Last Wednesday we had a very clear night in Tromsø, and I was hoping the northern lights would show up. The activity was very low though, so when it got late at night I gave up hope. But just before midnight, they showed up after all. I jumped in the car and drove to a nearby small lighthouse. A very nice foreground for photos, next time I have to bring someone who can climb the ladder and stand on top! I tried with the self-timer, but climbing the icy ladders with my big Arctic boots – and in a hurry – was just a bit too scary.

After a while, I suddenly noticed glimpse of blue lights in the water. Bioluminescent organisms! My knowledge of biology is very poor, so I have no idea whether this is plankton or something else, but it’s so pretty. I have seen it once before in Tromsø, but I didn’t manage to get a picture of it then.

It was magical to have the northern lights dancing above, and little blue lights below

The aurora wasn’t very spectacular, but every now and then it flared up a bit…

After an hour at the beach, the lights got weaker and I got colder, and it was time to go home

The days are very very short now, and when you have to work during the day, night photography is the way to go Last Thursday I went out with my photography workshop group, hoping for northern lights and the Geminid meteor shower. The evening started very promising, with northern lights dancing above Vengsøya…

We saw a few shooting stars, and decided to move to a different place to get a better view. But then the clouds rolled in… At first you could still see the stars through the thin clouds, but soon there was nothing left. Only to the west, some aurora was visible underneath the clouds… Oh well!

Last night, it was very clear and the aurora was active. We went to Skulsfjord, where we found some very dark skies and LOTS of stars. Even the Milky Way was visible I didn’t see any meteors, though Paul did see one. I did hear whales though, breathing out nearby. Magic!

We caught the end of the show, as it soon calmed down and all that was left was a green band that didn’t move very much.

It was windy and cold, so after a while we gave up and drove home to warm up