Kevin Palmer

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  • Even though the moon was bright, the aurora had no problem shining through. And the moonlight made for better pictures as it lit up the landscape.
    Above the Shaking Trees
  • The mountain Nuolja is seen through birch trees on top of a hill.
    Through the Birch Trees
  • For the 2nd night in a row, there was an active display of the northern lights in Abisko, Sweden. Starting off as a dull glow in the north after sunset, it quickly exploded with bright green spiral swirls filling the entire sky. Here above the Arctic Circle the aurora is ever present, encircling the Earth's poles in a zone called the auroral oval. Even during solar minimum when solar activity is quiet, the northern lights are visible on almost any clear night. And Abisko sees more clear nights than surrounding areas because the mountains to the west create a rain shadow effect. Visible beyond the forest of short birch trees, is Torneträsk, Sweden's 6th largest, and 2nd deepest lake.
    Green Cyclone
  • After trekking for 10 miles into the wilderness of Abisko National Park in Swedish Lapland, I was relieved to reach my destination. The last couple miles were the toughest, crossing a frozen lake fully exposed to the wind. My face was getting numb and the last of my water was now a block of ice. After warming up a bit I went back out to capture the mountain Kieron glowing in the evening sunlight. High peaks surround this scenic valley in the Scandinavian Mountains. The vegetation at the edge of tree line mostly consists of short birches, with everything else buried under a meter of snow. This was the first segment of the Kungsleden, a popular 270 mile long hiking and skiing trail. Ski season doesn’t start until the 2nd half of winter, the first half is much too dark. Mountain cabins are spaced about a day’s journey apart. They lack electricity or running water. But chopping firewood and collecting water from a hole cut in the ice keeps guests busy. The facilities included a small store, caretaker’s cabin, bunkhouse, and of course a sauna.
    Birches and Kieron
  • In the far northwest corner of Finland is the tiny village of Kilpisjärvi. This is the only part of the country that touches the Scandinavian Mountains, and it's near Finland's highest point. The elevation and close proximity to the Arctic Ocean makes this the snowiest place in the country, and the snow here had a different quality than any other I've seen. It was so light and fluffy it could be blown off the windshield with my breath, and footprints in the deep snow pack left behind aqua-blue holes. I climbed halfway up one of the mountains, Saana, to obtain this view as the sun struggled to emerge. On the other side of the frozen lake is Sweden, with Norway to the right. This far above the Arctic Circle, trees can not grow above 600m. After this I tried climbing higher, but the route became icy, and visibility was nearing whiteout  so I was forced to turn back.
    View From Saana
  • It snowed almost the whole time while I was in Finland, and there was only a hint of color as the sun set. I captured it from a small island on Lake Kilpisjärvi, where there were a few trees growing. The mountain in the background is in Sweden.
    Hint of Color
  • Iceland has no shortage of scenic waterfalls. This one is called Hraunfossar (meaning Lava Falls) and it's located near Húsafell in the western interior. The water splits into numerous cascades as it trickles through the mossy lava field and flows into the Hvítá River. Volcanic activity still heats the many hot springs found in this valley, which includes the most powerful one in Europe. The river is fed by the Langjökull Glacier, the 2nd largest in Iceland. Glacial silt suspended in the water gives it the beautiful turquoise color. A forest of short but colorful birch trees grew around the river, an unusual sight in this mostly treeless country.
    Hraunfossar
  • Iceland has no shortage of scenic waterfalls. This one is called Hraunfossar (meaning Lava Falls) and it's located near Húsafell in the western interior. The water splits into numerous cascades as it trickles through the mossy lava field and flows into the Hvítá River. Volcanic activity still heats the many hot springs found in this valley, which includes the most powerful one in Europe. The river is fed by the Langjökull Glacier, the 2nd largest in Iceland. Glacial silt suspended in the water gives it the beautiful turquoise color. A forest of short but colorful birch trees grew around the river, an unusual sight in this mostly treeless country.
    Lava Falls
  • It was a very colorful sunset above the fall foliage on Cement Ridge in the Black Hills. The birch trees were knocked over by a tornado in June of 2018.
    Black Hills Foliage Sunset
  • After an auroral substorm, a corona formed at the zenith. A corona is a very fast moving type of aurora, where the rays appear to converge. But by the time I finished a time lapse and pointed my camera straight up, most of it was gone.
    At the Zenith
  • The buildings of the Abisko Science Station looked especially photogenic with the mountains behind them in the late evening sunlight.
    Abisko Science Station
  • I came back to shoot these icefalls in Abisko Canyon again since the light was better than the day before.
    Icefalls of Abisko
  • In mid-latitudes I always consider bright moonlight as an obstacle to seeing the aurora. But in the Arctic the aurora is so bright that I can use a short exposure, and including the moon in the shot is not an issue.
    Snaking Aurora
  • A vivid alpenglow shines on the mountains on the other side of the frozen lake Torneträsk in Swedish Lapland. Lingering snow showers were swirling around the highest peaks. The native Sami people recognize 8 seasons here instead of 4, and "spring-winter" occurs in March and April. The snow hasn't started melting yet, but temperatures do moderate a bit when the sun returns after being absent for over a month. The hours of daylight increase significantly from day to day as the nights grow ever shorter. In early April the sky no longer gets completely dark (marking the end of aurora season) and by the latter part of May the sun will stay up 24/7. Spring-winter is the favorite season of many residents since it's the best time of year for skiing, snowmobiling, and dog sledding.
    Altastjarro Sunset
  • While the aurora was still going strong I wandered down to Abisko Canyon to capture the lights here. There wasn't much space to set up my tripod next to the cliff's edge so I had to be careful. I shot a time lapse  as the aurora slowly faded away. Clouds would move in soon afterward, so I was glad the lights were so active early in the evening.
    Abisko Canyon Aurora
  • This aurora corona was mesmerizing to watch. It was moving and changing so fast, even a 1 second exposure was too long.
    The First Corona
  • Since I didn't have time to hike anywhere this evening, I wandered around Nikkaluokta instead. This little village claims to be the coldest in all of Sweden. I really liked this chapel on the top of a hill. The bright red paint was a stark contrast to the bleak cloudy weather.
    Red Chapel of Nikkaluokta
  • A bitter wind blew across the icy mountainside in Björkliden, Sweden, while the moon illuminated the landscape below. I had heard about this overlook, but couldn’t find it in time to capture the first wave of auroras at 10PM. But since it was my last clear night in the Arctic, I waited until 1AM for the aurora to come back. A green stripe first appeared to the east, featureless and unmoving but slowly getting brighter. It was almost like a rubber band building up tension, until suddenly it released. Within seconds the northern lights filled the entire sky, moving and changing faster than I could possibly capture it. This is known as a substorm, and they occur several times a night when geomagnetic conditions are favorable. The solar wind piles up charged particles on the tail side of the magnetosphere. When the magnetic field line snaps, these particles are quickly funneled towards the Earth’s poles which causes a sudden expansion and brightening of the aurora. It’s not completely understood what triggers this ‘snap’. But the unpredictability is what makes the aurora so fascinating to watch, you never know what it's going to do next.
    The Second Substorm
  • On my last night in Alaska I went to Chena Lake for a couple hours. I'm sure the aurora would have kept getting better, but I had to leave early since I'd be waking up at 4AM to catch my flight.
    Chena Birches Aurora
  • The snow was very deep on this part of the Abisko River near the top of the canyon in Swedish Lapland.
    Upper Abisko Canyon