Tired of the usual locations, I drove towards the border to Sweden for the night's auroras. I was rewarded with some of the best displays for a long time: Fast moving streamers, stunning coronas and more colour than I've seen in a while. The best part of the show occurred between 20:30 and 22:00, local time. Sadly clouds cut the evening short.

Photo details: Nikon D300 w/Sigma 20mm f/1.8, 500 ISO, 10-25s exposure at f/2.8.

The openings in the clouds in between rain showers did not last long so I was glad to manage to snap a few photos. Today was a rare day in Reykjavík with bright rainbows, lightning strikes and northern lights to top off the evening.

Photo details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM at 17mm. ISO 640, f/4, 14s.

The auroras were extremely bright and intense at times; fast moving curtains ranged in color from green to bright red (and possibly purple). The displays became visible just after sunset (~6 pm) and filled up to 80% of the sky. These photos were taken between 10 and 11 pm (after the moon had set).

Photo details: Canon 5D and an EF 17-40 f/4 lens at f/4 for ~2-10s at ISO-1600.

It was cloudy and rainy all day, but suddenly the sky cleared up and the northern lights danced for us!

Although the Lights were visable most of the night, they were generally just a static band across the northern sky from east to west. However at 6am on the 20th, they were quite active, although not very bright. They were also visable overhead and to the south. The pink glow is from the lights of Fairbanks, approximately 20 miles away.

Photo details: Nikon D3, 17-28mm and 16 mm @f2.8 10-15 secs ISO 1600