Northern lights chase- #Tromsø Safari

With drizzle in the air and cloudy weathers, the expectations of seeing Mother natures Aurora Borealis AKA the Northern lights was dim. Even so, this was our only chance we had. Staying only for the weekend in Tromsø and having already booked a better dinner for saturday night. Friday was it. The weather forecast told us to be patient though. If correct the clouds would clear up.

By chance we choose to book the Northern Lights safari/chase with Tromsø Safari. Much because they keep an office in the lobby of our hotel SAS Radisson, and because  they would offer a 5 hour trip and not a 9 hour one. Some of my company did not want to stay up all night.

There is a big selection of tour companies that offer the Northern lights experience and with a 98% chance warranty it is only Mother Nature that can stop us in the viewing. Bad weather can not be controlled as we learned. The previews week had not been a good one and I learned of a couple that had gone chasing for the whole week and had to go disappointed back home to the US.

Before leaving for this weekend trip I tried to reach out to the local tourist office, Visit Tromso, for recommendation and tips on what to do – disappointingly though they didn’t bother replying to my request. We booked the trip the same day as we arrived, but trips are filling up so if you want a warranty of attending one a pre booking can be in place.

Tromsø Safari have four base stations and they check them all hourly to find out the absolute best location for spotting the Northern lights. Fridays choice landed on Summer Island further out at the coast. With icy roads approximate 1 1/2 hours drive. Here in the comforts of a warm shelter and warm drinks – don’t forget the exotic lefse (a Norwegian snack) we awaited the weather to clear up.

Tromsø Safari offers to loan a few tripods but I highly recommend bringing your own, or renting one down in the city centre. I saw many of the offices with rentals on these, 100 NOK for the night. I am very glad I had my own because if you want really good pictures your are absolutely dependent on a tripod. And with 100-200 people there is going to be a high demand for one. I for sure don’t want to be standing there without one when the Northern lights appear.

Night shooting for me is still something I need to tackle. I find it difficult to focus and had to test shoot a couple of times to see if the focus was right. On one of these tests I lined the camera up toward something that looked like a small cloud formation that were just a bit brighter than the other clouds, out toward the sea, and bam – there it was a small something green light – the Aurora Borealis had appeared. With some excitement I told Mr. Grumpy to go get the others and just to confirmed my findings a big shout from one of my travel companions excitingly screams – I´ve got it, YES – the northern lights.

An important last note, find yourself an secludes place to place your tripod, people will come and go and most of them will not bother to check who is behind them. We all hunt for that killer photo.