Monday, May 26, 2014

Aurora hunters: Chad Blakley at Abisko

Lights over Lapland: aurora photo hunting


In search of an unforgettable experience while staying at Abisko? Participate in a most interesting and instructive activity: go aurora hunting with top photographer Chad Blakley!

Chad Blakley AbiskoChad is bound to help you greatly improve your skills for creating tangible memories.
If you spot the northern lights, you will bring home amazing pictures, for sure.
Chad, an outgoing American with a great personality was drawn to Lapland in pursuit of his charming wife Linnea. Together they run the specialized agency “Lights over Lapland”, offering their customers top-notch expertise during an excursion focusing on one goal: capturing the Aurora.
Chad furnishes you with the perfect tools for this mission: a professional, digital SLR camera and a tripod. Insert your own SD memory card and take your treasure pics home with you.
The Northern Lights excursion is organized daily from November till the end of March in small groups of maximum 10 people. Don’t worry about the freezing winter cold. You can borrow a warm outdoor jacket.
Bradt travel guide calls Abisko “probably the best place in Scandinavia to see the Northern lights”.
Chad Blakley AbiskoAt the large frozen Törnetrask lake surrounded by a vast mountain range, you can enjoy clearer nights than elsewhere in Lapland.
Xplore the North offers unique trips to Abisko, a wide range from active to relaxing programmes, according to your preferences.
For more information: check out the Chad & Linnea’s website: Lights over Lapland.


Or book a full Abisko stay including Lights over Lapland phototrip.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

When and where to go for northern lights

Everybody wants to see the magical northern lights, yet everybody wonders: what is the best time and place to see the northern lights?

Abisko aurora borealisA basic rule:  always keep in mind that the northern lights are a natural phenomenon and can never be guaranteed. However, that’s what makes aurora hunting so magical, you never know when and where exactly they will appear, but finding them gives you all the more joy.

There is northern lights activity between October and April. Basically, this entire period offers great chances for spotting the aurora. It depends on the intensity of the solar wind bouncing off the earth’s magnetic field, to determine whether or not you’ll observe the lights on a certain night. Generally, it is said that the lights are seen best when there is low lunar light. For example when there is no moon. From


experience we know that it should not be the overriding reason determining the timing of your visit. A northern lights show by full moon is incredibly fascinating. Being in the right spot, is proven to be even more important, the one with the highest chances of a clear night. This spot being Abisko, high above the polar circle in the north of Sweden. 


Abisko northern lights


In Abisko the percentage of nights between October and April when the lights are viewed register highest. The spectacle of seeing them from up the mountains in the Aurora Sky Station is unimaginable. You should see it for yourself.  The highest chances of actually viewing the northern lights in combination with the stunning mountain setting of Abisko, in the middle of a National Park, makes this destination your logical choice for a northern lights trip.

It’s easy to conclude that spotting the northern lights just comes down to ‘location location location’.