Chasing the Northern Lights VR – Lofoten Island Norway 360º

Traveling to the Arctic Circle in winter is a unique experience.

Unpredictable and ever-changing weather produces a wide variety of lighting conditions. It is the best time of the year to photograph its incredible mountains and frozen lakes. But above all, it is the best time to capture the elusive and capricious Northern Lights.

Here we leave you some tips for shooting in all its splendor these wonders created by nature:

#1 Always in winter: Auroras are generally visible from October to March, but not all times of the year are equally propitious. They are easier to see in the last and first months of the year, because the temperatures on those days are lower.

#2 Find the best time: The hours around midnight are usually the busiest, so if you don't want to spend a lot of time outside, you can schedule a two- or three-hour window between 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. This is when the auroras are more intense and have more interesting shapes.

#3 Tune in to the N.A.S.A.: Solar storms or phases of high solar activity that can affect the Earth can be predicted. The auroras visible at these times are much more impressive. Solar wind particles (which produce the northern lights) take two days to reach Earth.
Solar activity on various websites, such as the N.A.S.A. can be accessed (http://www.nasa.gov/)

#4 Seek North: The Northern Lights are known as the Northern Light for a reason. Even at latitudes very close to the North Pole, use a compass to orient yourself and look in the right direction. Try to have a clear horizon in that direction.

#5 Long Exposures: the auroras are not as impressive and colorful as we are used to seeing in photographs. You're going to need a really long exposure time (at least 20 seconds) to capture the colors in all their glory.

#6 Avoid light sources: As in any night photography, get as far away from light sources as possible. This far north there is no problem with light pollution, but you may have a small town or streetlight nearby. Any light source will be quite distracting in your photography.

#7 Pay attention to temperature changes: going from your warm room to the cold outside, with a difference of about 50 degrees, may not be very good for the health of your camera. It is best to avoid sudden changes in temperature, as well as keep the camera away from the body or hot objects when we are outside to prevent the lens or viewfinder from fogging up.

#8 Do not use the maximum ISO of your camera: ISO higher than 1600 together with an exposure of more than 20s produces considerable lens aberrations and noise.

#9 Battery charged and plenty of spares: It seems obvious, but low temperatures greatly affect the performance of batteries, which discharge very quickly.

#10 When in doubt, shoot: the camera can pick up much more detail than the human eye, especially if you take photos with long exposures.
What appears to be a cloud may turn out to be a colorful green aurora.