Abisko Auroras

Abisko, Sweden. Population 93. One hundred miles inside the Arctic Circle. The heart of Swedish Lapland. Home of the indigenous, reindeer-herding Sámi people. And one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights.

I was extremely fortunate and blessed to see the Lights six nights out of the seven I spent in Abisko. How to describe Auroras in words? The closest I can come is a Joshua Light Show without the petri dishes. With real stars twinkling behind the Lights. 

Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right. Robert Hunter

 If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. William Blake

I arrived via flights from Fort Lauderdale to Newark to Copenhagen to Kiruna, and finally a bus ride even further north to Abisko. The first night I had rendjur rumpa and kaka for dinner. Who knew reindeer ass goes good with cake? Not me!

My daily routine settled into three photo outings: first light (which is more like twilight since the sun never rises above the horizon in January) around 8-9 AM, last light around 1:30-2:30 PM, and Aurora seeking from 8 PM until after midnight. The rest of the time was spent putting on and taking off myriad layers of clothes.

Chad Blakely was my guide. Chad’s forgotten more about Aurora photography than I will ever know. You can see Chad’s incredible work here.

It was an honor to witness the Lights. I hope you enjoy my images of them. Thanks.