Lofoten - the land of Northern Light


More than one month ago we returned  from one of the most amazing holidays of our life: a week in Lofoten islands, an archipelago belonging to Norway and located above arctic pole. We opted for a private photo tour with Alex Conu , who moved a year ago in the Nordic archipelago.

Lofoten is located above arctic circle, offering perfect location for observing (and shooting) Northern lights, the fantastic visual phenomenon caused by solar activity. We decided to go in the middle of March, for a milder temperature, quite large day time and of course high chances of aurora due to the equinox.



Reaching to Lofoten it takes changing three planes from Copenhagen, even if the map distance is not that big. Wideroe  are the only ones flying till there (Leknes airport) and we had stopovers in Trondheim and Bodø (respectively Bodø and Oslo on the way back). Flying with the small  turboprop airplanes gave us a strange feeling of returning in time to a place were nature is still in full control and only those people that accepted this are welcomed. And nature was really the queen there, showing us her full strength: sunny days, strong winds, rain, snow showers, hail and beautiful aurora in 5 nights out of 7.


We got the chance to see aurora for the first time in our lives in our first day there. It didn’t meter that we left our home in Copenhagen around 5am and we were dead tired. We were excited to stay out and enjoy the show. Green arch over the sky, followed by a dance of patterns and colours. Finally the child dream came true. Shooting it was quite difficult in the beginning due to our lack of experience in doing night photography, but by the end of the trip we got pretty decent technique and we started to enjoy it.


During the day we visited the idyllic villages of Lofoten with their colourful houses and the wild beaches, providing great foreground for the mountains in background. We were not lucky to get fantastic sunsets, but we got amazing lights during the day between snow showers episodes. It was a real pleasure to shoot the beautiful landscape of Lofoten but also to be in the middle of a nature that was not yet affected by the people destructive touch.

The location we stayed was in the very scenic village of Hamnøya, and a great view over the fjord surrounded by mountains was enchanting our eyes when we waked up in the morning. The private tour included everything: accommodation, three meals and many hours of guidance during the day and night.


Coming back from such a nature paradise in a big city is a somehow sad experience. Even though both Carmen and I agreed that is pretty tough to live in a place like Lofoten with cold and capricious weather, there were still a lot of regrets when the trip ended and a strong wish to return one day. And aurora gave us some kind of addiction, a strong wish to meet with her again. As result we started to arrange a trip in Iceland for next year, in almost same period 🙂


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