For most of the nighttime photographers coming to Greenland, the northern lights are an obvious draw, particularly in destinations around the Arctic Circle – like Tasiilaq, Nuuk, Maniitsoq, Sisimiut, and Kangerlussuaq. But the darkness offers a whole host of other adventures, both natural and scenic, which give the northern lights perspective and dynamism.
The stars, the Milky Way, and the carefully delineated landscapes are all part of the night’s experiences. Photos of the northern lights are ultimately pictures of landscapes – with mountains, the ocean, a city or other landscape features set in a world where the stars and the northern lights reign supreme.
So even though those tiny electrically charged particles that tumble into the earth’s upper atmosphere tend to steal the show and bring the wow factor, images of the northern lights without context, without landscape, and without a frame, tend to provide photos with a less exciting narrative.
