Behold Vestrahorn

“I was staying overnight in Hofn en route to the north, the wind blew strongly outside, it snowed. I came there well before sunrise and was alone. The dunes looked like waves on a rough sea and the heavy snow storm washed out the mountain range so that I could only occasionally see some parts of it coming out and disappearing like ghosts. The snow was running fast on the frozen grounds, creating charming patterns that were immediately decomposed by the wind. The place felt vast, empty, naked and otherworldly.”

“Settled on the beach facing it, the weather didn’t lie: not a cloud in sight. Cameras were out, we photographed the sunset, and then night fell. Still no auroras... The location was spectacular, so I decided to shoot a night panorama just to have something to take home. Yet, there was still no sign of light. Meanwhile, the wind picked up significantly, making it feel much colder. Strong gusts whipped sand everywhere into our faces, our eyes, and the equipment (one intervalometer completely ruined, another half-broken, and an autofocus ring that’s been crunchy ever since). At 9 PM, still nothing. We decided to stop the time-lapses that had been running for almost two hours and packed up the gear. On the way back to the van, we gave one last glance north, just to be sure—and then… surprise! Lights erupted above the mountain! Chaos ensued—shouting, running back to our spot, pure panic. The sky was exploding with color, and I had no idea what to do—start a time-lapse? A panorama?”

“I wanted to go a bit further down the road to try and capture the whole of the Vestrahorn mountain with what I hoped would be Northern Lights over it. I was creeping along when all of a sudden I felt the road texture change, from rocky gravel to really soft sand. For those of you who haven’t driven on a beach, really soft sand can be incredibly difficult to navigate, especially when you’re not expecting it. I tried to give the car some gas, but before I knew it I was effectively stuck. [...] I left the car where it was stuck and went up on a slight hill. The aurora was really low in the sky but I loved how it created a sort of “glow” around the mountain and the incredible dynamic range of the Sony allowed me to capture some detail in the mountain too!”