A rare and special view: Photos of the Northern Lights visible over Copenhagen
When I moved to Copenhagen and asked about the Aurora Borealis and if they were visible, most people shrugged and said no. A few said they occasionally could be viewed from the far northern tip of Jutland some 160 miles north-west. But, Copenhagen proper? That received a patient smile and chuckle. That – I was often told, was something you’d need to make your way to Norway, Sweden, Finland or Iceland for.
In fact, even as I was taking the photos in this blog post, I mentioned to a group of tourists who happened to be out late that they could see the northern lights. As I did the group of local guys sitting nearby overheard, laughed, and said I surely must be lying. Luckily, the proof was already there – a magical mixture of color and beauty ready to be shared on the back of my camera and painted in the nearby sky above.
I’d headed out in the hope of getting an image of the Perseid Meteor shower. It was August 12th and they were set to peak. We also had a rare thing in Denmark – a clear cloudless sky at night. Despite it being Monday evening with work in the morning, I figured it too rare a combo not to give it a go. I traded texts with my photo buddy Juan about the meteor shower, and we discussed the possibility of aurora I had little hope of seeing anything from the city. He was off to the northern part of the island, which with the increased level of solar activity has dark skies, long views, and during a strong solar period can deliver brilliant views. But, for me, it was into the city.
I’m so glad I opted to take the risk and roll the dice. Out of it, I’ve gotten some of the most unique photos of Copenhagen I think I’ve ever seen. Between the latitude, the strength of a solar storm required, the challenges with sea fog along the coast, urban light noise, clouds, and everything inbetween – managing an image of the northern lights in Copenhagen with a foreground is the great white stag of Copenhagen photography.
I set up to photograph one of my favorite spots in Copenhagen – the fountain of the Norse Goddess Gefion. As the myth goes, she was offered as much land as she could plow free from Sweden. So she turned her four sons into giant oxen, and then ploughed a huge swath of land free creating the island of Zealand where Copenhagen sits today. Sure enough, even as I set up I noticed the distinct green glow – ever so gently visible to the naked eye but radiant when viewed through a camera.
I sprang into action, with the aurora you never know how long they’ll last. They quite literally dance through the sky like giant sea serpents. So, I switched my settings, and started making images. It was only as they stayed with me ebbing and flowing for 30 minutes, then an hour, that I had the chance to really dial in on compositions and settings. All while hoping for a meteor or two in the mix – because, hey? Why not – it was what brought me out initially after all!
Eventually I made the decision to risk moving and sprinted to the nearby Ivar Huitfeldt Column with a winged Victory on top. Surrounded by cherry blossom trees, it’s most famous for the photos in spring and early summer. But, on this night, it served as a wonderful point of focus viewable from an elevated vantage point letting me include more of the aurora.
From there, it was a quick sprint down to see if the Little Mermaid might also be possible. Though to my distress, she’s fully lit at night by two giant floodlights. After the previous conversation with the tourists and local kids, I sprinted back and finished the evening with a few more of the fountain. By the time I finished it was close to 1AM with a 45 minute walk home and work at 9 but it was worth it. And even more wild, outside a few passing tourists, and a couple locals hanging out, there wasn’t another photographer to be seen in the full 3 hour period.
It’s been a few days now and I am still grinning ear to ear. What a special evening. One that will now forever be a treasured core part of my Copenhagen experience. With the aurora cycle continuing to be extremely strong through the next few months there’s more potential for northern lights visible in Copenhagen. Keep an eye out and turned to the north-east and a camera turned to the sky =)
I also want to give a shout-out to one of the most talented, humble, and knowledgeable aurora photographers in the world. Adrien who is on IG at Nightlightsfilms now lives in Norway, but spent some time in Denmark and was the first one to tip me off that Northern Lights could be seen from the Copenhagen suburbs and “as far south as Køge” sometimes. Ontop of his work, he also posts and updates about the aurora regularly and does a ton of educational work and misinformation busting. In addition to Juan and Adrien, also give Anders’ work a glance for some more beautiful imagery of the evening.
As always you can find my full albums and photography on flickr. Find the albums here and the northern lights images here. All images in this post are single exposures. Edits are minimal and largely focus on white balance, luminance, contrast, and localized saturation controls, with a bit of noise removal. Images are made on an Sony A7RV.
