Photographer Tori Harp didn’t expect the amazing direction captured in the top photo: a bright aurora, a cold cave, and the silhouette of a single hiker. After eight months of exploring Aoraki / Mount Park National Park, Harp initially thought of setting his friend against the New Zealand sky at night when the auroras emit a brilliant pink, on the contrary, a sweet shade of blue in the snow caves.
Harp’s photo is one of the 25 winners of the northern lights photographer of the year competition, held by the Travel Blog Capture the Atlas to honor the beauty of the north. And what a year, with the sun, now in its solar phase, the geomagnetic storms were lighting up the sky with brilliant reflections.
You can see the full gallery here, but here are some of our favorites from the list.
“Snowy silence under the lights”
The world seems to have stood still in this photo by Nikki, who took the photo in Riisitunturi National Park in Finland. The snowy landscape reflects the light of the blue sky, making the whole area glow in blue.
“Photographing the northern lights requires patience and persistence,” born “says the statement. “But when they finally appear, time stands still, and nature reminds you of how our world can be.”
“Aurora Comet Lemmon”
Every October in late October, the lemmoni actress was bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. Up in the north, the steaking tail of the comet was accompanied by bright auroras.
“Luckily, I had my camera with me!” Petr Harálek remembered. “The comet and the aurora seemed to have a kind of dance, giving us an amazing show that I will remember forever.”
“Fiordland Aurora and Lupins”
The sky and lupine flowers shine in the same test of this amazing panorama by Douglas Thorne, who put together six photos he took at Cascade Creek in New Zealand in New Zealand in New Zealand in New Zealand in New Zealand.
“I spent some time walking down this area to get this shape, and in the end, it was worth it,” Thorne said.
“Crown of the North”
Mari Jääskeläinen had a clear image of a bright, green light rising above the trees near her home in Pyhäjärvi shor, Finland. That said, he didn’t expect nature to provide that exact image. Unless it does.
“During the active night, I always follow the actual solar wind data for the forecast to come,” he said. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when the aurol arc began to take the exact form I had been dreaming of for so long!”
“Arctic Rain”
This picture by Vincent Beudez makes you feel like you are standing inside a kaleidoscope. To capture this image, Beudez waited patiently as a green and red veil formed in the sky above Tromso, Norway, breaking into choppy pieces as it passed.
“Corona Blast Aurora Geomagnetic Storm”
A coronal mass ejection on March 21 caused a G2 Geomagnetic storm, and caused a small burst of blooming in the sky above KirkJufell, Iceland. Photographer Roi Lev created the panorama by shooting 21 frames.
“This image was captured during the March Equinox, as the structure of geomagnetic storms brought a bright light show,” explains Lev. “With KirkJufellsSOSS WAMPLESS on the front, this picture is a powerful sign of the aeping corona.”
“Alone Under the Dancing Sky”
This year’s winning images show a great mix of staged and creative images. Nikola Vukotić’s entry, a photo of Skagsanden Beach, Lofoten Islands, near the Arctic Circle, was in the last category. Vukotić and his friends naturally meet the lights from the beach.
“Moments like these remind us that nature doesn’t always follow our plans,” he says, saying that the best photos happen when we simply wonder, look at the world, and let the world surprise us.
