Booked hereAurora hunt by van
From Saariselkä
- Photos
- Pro camera, included
- Duration
- 3 hours
- Price
- from $160
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Guide · Aurora photos
Best camera for Lapland, and how to shoot the aurora
A phone with night mode, a camera on a tripod or a guide who photographs you: each works under the Lapland sky. Here is what to pack, how to set up in the cold and which tours around Saariselkä include photos.
Check availabilityfrom $160 · free cancellation possible
Editorial team, saariselkanorthernlights.comUpdated October 19, 2026Reading time about 7 minutes28 sources
Quick answer
- 01The basics
- Visit Finland suggests a tripod and a camera or phone set to night mode.1
- 02Where to aim
- Find an open view at least toward the northern horizon, FMI advises.2
- 03When
- Displays are typical around midnight, give or take a couple of hours.3
- 04The cold
- Lapland winters average -14 °C, with dips to -30 °C.4
- 05No camera?
- The hunt sold here includes photography with a professional camera.
Phone, compact or system camera
The best camera for Lapland is the one you can work with in the dark, with gloves on, while your breath fogs the screen. A recent phone with a night mode can record an aurora that looks brighter than what your eyes see. Visit Finland says a tripod and a camera or phone set to night mode might capture more than the naked eye alone.1 For many trips, a phone and a small tripod are a sensible start.
A system camera with interchangeable lenses gives you more control. A wide lens with a large aperture lets in a lot of light and fits a whole arc across the sky, and full manual control means the camera does not fight you by hunting for focus or brightening the snow. If you already own such a camera, bring it; if you do not, a holiday is a costly time to learn a new one in the dark at a frozen roadside.
Whatever you carry, practice before you fly. Learn where manual focus, exposure time and sensitivity live on your camera, and how to switch off the flash and the focus-assist lamp. Try a few frames on a dark evening at home, at night on a balcony or in a park. On the night itself in Lapland you will want to change settings by touch, with gloves on, not by reading a menu by torchlight.
At the spot
From arrival to the first sharp frame
-
Before leaving
Charge and pack spares
Lapland winters average -14 °C; keep spare batteries close to your body.4
-
On arrival
Let your eyes adapt
FMI advises about half an hour in the dark for night vision.5
-
Setting up
Tripod facing north
Auroras are most often seen on the northern sky, FMI says.2
-
First frames
Focus at infinity, test
A test frame shows whether a pale band is aurora or cloud; green is the most common color.6
-
Around midnight
Shoot the peak
FMI says displays are typical at midnight and a couple of hours either side.3
-
Back inside
Bag the camera
Let it warm slowly in a sealed bag to keep condensation off the lens.
Setting up when the lights appear
Put the camera on a tripod and set it to manual. Set focus to infinity, check it against a bright star or a far-off lamp, then tape or lock the ring once it is sharp. Start with a long exposure, a wide-open aperture and a raised sensitivity, take one frame and judge it on the screen: if the sky is a smear, shorten the exposure; if it is dark and grainy, lengthen it or open up. Shoot in RAW if your camera allows it.
Point toward the north first. FMI notes that auroras are most often seen on the northern sky and advises an unrestricted view at least toward the northern horizon.2 Include something on the ground, a snow-loaded spruce, a frozen lake shore or your friends, to give the picture a sense of place. When the display moves overhead, turn the camera upward and let the arcs fill the frame.
Keep your own eyes ready too. FMI says human night vision is not very good and advises staying in the dark for about half an hour while the eye adapts.5 Dim the camera screen and avoid white torchlight; a red headlamp or a phone at its lowest brightness keeps your night vision and does not spoil other people's photos. Some tours ban flash and flashlights outright. Check the rules before you set off.
Guest ratings
Ratings of photo-minded aurora tours
rating out of 5
Kit list
What to pack for an aurora shoot
| Item | What it does | Lapland tip |
|---|---|---|
| Tripod | Holds long exposures steady | Extend the legs before your fingers get cold |
| Wide, bright lens | Fits a whole arc, gathers light | Set focus at infinity and lock it |
| Spare batteries | Cold drains them fast | Carry them in an inside pocket |
| Phone with night mode | Light, quick, easy | Rest it on a small tripod or a mitten |
| Red headlamp | Lights the controls softly | Protects your night vision and others' photos |
| Liner gloves | Lets you press small buttons | Wear them under warm mittens |
General kit advice; Visit Finland names a tripod and a camera or phone in night mode, and winters average -14 °C.14
Let someone else shoot
Three tours with photography built in
Booked here
Learn to shootHunt with a lesson
From Inari or Ivalo
- Photos
- Short photo lesson
- Duration
- 4 hours
- Price
- from $153
Most in depthHunt with a workshop
From Ivalo
- Photos
- Guides' photos, workshop
- Duration
- 4 hours
- Price
- from $206
Decision helper
Your camera, a lesson, or the guide's photos?
Match the option to how much you want to shoot yourself
Phone on a small tripod
Visit Finland says a phone in night mode on a tripod might capture more than the eye.1
The hunt sold here
Photography with a professional camera is included.
A hunt with a lesson
The Inari and Ivalo hunt by car includes a short photography lesson.
The Ivalo workshop
It covers science, forecasting and photography of the aurora.
Ask for photo tips
The snowmobile hunt's guide shares tips and the listing encourages your own camera.
If you want to photograph what you see, a tripod and a camera or phone set to night mode might capture more than the naked eye alone.
The colors you will capture
Green dominates. Visit Finland says green is by far the most common aurora color, produced around 100-300 kilometres up.6 NOAA traces the pale green to atomic oxygen, at a wavelength of 557.7 nm.7 Cameras often record this green more strongly than the eye, and a faint grey glow can turn bright on the screen. Use that to your advantage: a test frame shows you whether a dim band is aurora or just cloud.
Other colors are rarer. Visit Finland says pink and violet appear during stronger activity, while red is rarer still and forms higher in the atmosphere.6 NOAA places red aurora from oxygen above 300 km, and explains that the purplish lower border sometimes seen comes from molecular nitrogen.89 A short exposure during a fast display keeps that pink fringe crisp instead of washing it into the green.
White balance changes the mood more than you might expect. A warm setting turns the sky muddy, while a cooler one keeps the snow white and the aurora clean. Shoot RAW and you can decide later at home. Resist the urge to push the saturation hard in editing; a natural green next to blue snow and dark spruce looks more convincing than a neon sky, and it stays closer to what you actually saw.
Map
Where the aurora places of Finnish Lapland lie
Saariselkä next to the other aurora bases of Finnish Lapland, then a closer look at the fells, the airport and Lake Inari north of the village.
1Saariselkä2Ivalo3Inari4Utsjoki5Kilpisjärvi6Levi7Rovaniemi
8Kaunispää9Kiilopää10Kakslauttanen11Ivalo Airport2Ivalo3Inari12Lake Inari
- 1Saariselkä
FMI counts Saariselkä among the Lapland resorts where aurora shows on roughly 50 % of dark, cloudless nights.10
In Google Maps ↗ - 2Ivalo
Home of the northernmost airport in Finland and the EU.11 Some aurora hunts start from here.
In Google Maps ↗ - 3Inari
A village on Lake Inari, in a municipality where three Sámi languages are in official use.12
In Google Maps ↗ - 4Utsjoki
On the northern border: FMI statistics give auroras on three nights out of four here, and the polar night lasts almost two months.1314
In Google Maps ↗ - 5Kilpisjärvi
FMI's highest figure for Finland: aurora on about 75 % of dark, cloudless nights.15
In Google Maps ↗ - 6Levi
About 170 km north of the Arctic Circle and 15 km from Kittilä Airport.1617
In Google Maps ↗ - 7Rovaniemi
On the Arctic Circle itself, with auroras from late August to the end of March or early April.1819
In Google Maps ↗ - 8Kaunispää
Saariselkä's own fell, 438 metres, reached on foot, on skis, by car or by ski lift.20
In Google Maps ↗ - 9Kiilopää
A 546-metre fell at a gate of Urho Kekkonen National Park.21
In Google Maps ↗ - 10Kakslauttanen
The glass igloo resort, which places itself 250 km above the Arctic Circle.22
In Google Maps ↗ - 11Ivalo Airport
Only 7 kilometres from Ivalo village, with daily flights.23
In Google Maps ↗ - 12Lake Inari
Finland's third largest lake, with some 3,318 islands.24
In Google Maps ↗
Checklist
Camera bag for a night out
01
Camera gear
- Tripod with legs you can open in mittens
- Wide lens with a large aperture
- Spare batteries and memory cards
- Dry cloth for the front glass
02
For you
- Thin liner gloves under mittens
- Red headlamp, not a white torch
- Warm hat and winter boots
03
Before you go
- Practice manual focus at home
- Read the tour's flash and torch rules
- Plan to stay out around midnight
Cost calculator
Price a photo night for your group
Starting totals for your group on tours that include photos or tips.
People
Total from$320
each from $160
Check availabilityfree cancellationTotals start from each listing's lowest per-person price on GetYourGuide, turned into your currency at the ECB rate; the booking screen shows the exact sum.
Video
How to Photograph the NORTHERN LIGHTS | Part 2: Camera Gear and Settings
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Cold, batteries and condensation
Cold is the real test of your gear. Visit Finland gives the average winter temperature in Finnish Lapland as -14 °C, with occasional dips to -30 °C.4 NOAA normals for Saariselkä put the average January low at -15.6 °C.25 Batteries drain fast in that cold. Carry spares in an inside pocket close to your body and swap them as soon as the camera complains, then warm the tired one again.
Moving between cold and warm air causes trouble too. When you step from a frozen night into a heated car or hotel, moisture condenses on a cold camera and can freeze again later on the lens. Seal the camera in a bag before you go indoors and let it warm slowly. In the field, keep lens caps handy, check the front glass for frost every few frames and wipe it with a dry cloth, never with your breath.
Dress for standing still, not for walking. Photography means long minutes at a tripod, and fingers suffer first. Liner gloves inside warm mittens let you work small buttons, then retreat into the warmth. Lapland North warns that winter weather can plunge below -30°C and that dressing properly matters.26 The hunt sold here offers warm clothes on request, and its record asks you to bring a hat and gloves.
Photo spots and the right hours
Good aurora pictures need a dark foreground and an open northern sky. When people ask about northern lights photo spots around Saariselkä, the answer is usually a place without street lights: a fell top, the shore of a frozen lake or a clearing in the forest. Kaunispää, whose peak stands at 438 metres, rises above the village and can be reached by car or ski lift, and Kiilopää is a 546-metre fell at a gate of Urho Kekkonen National Park.2021
Timing matters as much as the place. FMI gives the typical time for displays as midnight and a couple of hours before and after, Visit Finland names 9pm to 2am, and NOAA says between 10 PM and 2 AM local time.32728 Set up early, take test frames of the empty sky and stay patient. A quiet sky can light up within minutes, and the strongest bursts are often brief.
On a guided hunt the guide chooses the spot for you. The hunt sold here lists transportation and knowledge of the best locations among its inclusions, and the guide plans the evening around clear skies. That frees you to think only about the camera. If you prefer to go alone, never walk onto lake ice you do not know, keep away from road edges and let someone know where you are going.
Tours that take the photos for you
If the camera side sounds like too much, several tours from Saariselkä and Ivalo build photography in. The 3-hour hunt booked through this site includes photography with a professional camera, rates 4.74 from 415 reviews and starts from $160. You can still shoot with your own phone while the guide takes care of the pictures of you under the sky.
Other listings go further into teaching. An Inari and Ivalo hunt by car includes a short photography lesson and rates 4.83, from $153. A 4-hour hunt from Ivalo adds a northern lights workshop covering science, forecasting and photography, from $206. In Muotkatunturi, a sledge trip includes practical tips for taking photos.
Snowmobile and van tours handle photos differently. The guide on the snowmobile hunt shares tips on photographing the lights, and the listing encourages you to bring your own camera. A photo tour by car from Saariselkä includes an online link with tour photos, from $138. Read each listing's inclusions before you book, and compare the ratings in the chart on this page.
Plan your night
A guide, a minivan and a camera for the dark
Claim a seat in the minivan now, pay nearer the night, and back out free until 24 hours before.
You ask,we answer.
Is a phone good enough for the aurora?
Often, yes. Visit Finland says a tripod and a camera or phone set to night mode might capture more than the naked eye alone.1
Do I need a tripod?
For sharp pictures, yes. Long exposures blur in the hand; Visit Finland names a tripod alongside a camera or phone in night mode.1
Which way should I point the camera?
North first. FMI says auroras are most often seen on the northern sky and suggests an open view toward the northern horizon.2
Why does the camera show more green than my eyes?
The sensor collects light over time. The pale green comes from atomic oxygen at 557.7 nm, and a long exposure gathers more of it than the eye can.7
How do I keep batteries alive in the cold?
Keep spares warm. Winter averages -14 °C in Finnish Lapland, with dips to -30 °C; carry spare batteries in an inside pocket.4
Does the tour sold here take photos?
Yes. Photography with a professional camera is included in the 3-hour hunt from Saariselkä.
Can I use a flash?
Not on every tour. The reindeer sledding tour from Saariselkä does not allow flash photography or flashlights.
Sources
The sources for this guide
- 1Visit FinlandNorthern Lights in Finland↩
- 2Finnish Meteorological InstituteAuroras in Finland↩
- 3Finnish Meteorological InstituteAuroras in Finland↩
- 4Visit FinlandWhat to wear in Finland during winter↩
- 5Finnish Meteorological InstituteRevontulet↩
- 6Visit FinlandNorthern Lights in Finland↩
- 7NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterAurora Tutorial↩
- 8NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterAurora Tutorial↩
- 9NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterAurora Tutorial↩
- 10Finnish Meteorological InstituteAuroras in Finland↩
- 11Lapland North Destinations (Visit Inari, official tourism region; inarisaariselka.fi redirects here)Ivalo↩
- 12Municipality of InariInformation about Inari municipality↩
- 13Finnish Meteorological InstituteRevontulet↩
- 14Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (thisisFINLAND)When the sun doesn’t rise in northern Finland↩
- 15Finnish Meteorological InstituteAuroras in Finland↩
- 16Visit Levi (levi.fi)Levi Info | Useful Information about Levi↩
- 17FinaviaKittilä Airport↩
- 18Visit RovaniemiArctic Circle in Lapland Finland↩
- 19Visit RovaniemiNorthern Lights in Rovaniemi↩
- 20Visit FinlandKaunispää Fell↩
- 21Lapland North Destinations (Visit Inari, official tourism region; inarisaariselka.fi redirects here)Kiilopää↩
- 22Kakslauttanen Arctic ResortFAQ↩
- 23Lapland North Destinations (Visit Inari, official tourism region; inarisaariselka.fi redirects here)Ivalo↩
- 24Visit FinlandLake Inari↩
- 25↩
- 26Lapland North Destinations (Visit Inari, official tourism region; inarisaariselka.fi redirects here)Travel safety↩
- 27Visit FinlandHow to see Northern Lights in Finland↩
- 28NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterTips on Viewing the Aurora↩
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