Snowflake trails and northern lights

Hello from Hetta, Lapland. I’ve been here a few days before I continue to my new base camp for the next group. Last night I went out with snowshoes to explore the area under Northern lights. It’s so special to walk around and have that glow on the sky, it’s hard to describe but it feels like being home.

After a while, thin clouds appeared and it started to snow! Feeling the snowflakes in my face and seeing the stars and auroras is quite a ‘cool’ mix.

Not what I wanted

Then the happy ‘accident’ happened, I tried to take a photo of the animal tracks I found. On my first try I saw snowflakes being lit up in my photo, ruining the shot I planned. So I took another one. Here are both:

The animal tracks were easy to see and no distracting snow flakes. But wait a minute… Snowflake trails are actually cool! Usually I shoot star trails with auroras but now I can do something – at least for me – totally new: Snowflake trails, woohoo!

Let’s go with that tonight

I felt that boost inside me, that urge to try something new and I told myself: forget the nice trees, forget the animal tracks, forget the shape of auroras. Let’s go with snowflake trails. I took, ehm, ‘several’ photos trying to hold the flashlight higher, lower, to the side, stronger beam, short burst, etc. It was like playing with Legos the first time and learning by doing. Can’t wait for the next chance to shoot snowflake trails!

Here are some more photos plus also the one without the flashlight. Which is your favourite?