December 28th, 2024 until January 4th, 2025
Just like we had done in Kenya in 2021/2022, we wanted to spend New Year’s Eve with our friends Andrea and Harry again. This time, however, the destination was completely different:
Curious about the experience of the polar night and hoping to see the northern lights again, this time we went north of the Arctic Circle to Tromsø in northern Norway for a week around New Year’s Eve.
After our first trip to the far north to Greenland in 2023, we have also discovered our love for the Arctic. We also now have plenty of “Arctic Outfit”, which could now be used again. We were particularly curious to experience the polar night.
Polar night
During the almost two-month-long polar night in Tromsø, the sun always remains below the horizon. Fortunately, however, it is not completely dark. For about 3 to 4 hours - around midday - there is a very special twilight and a very photogenic light atmosphere.
However, due to the low light and the cold, photography was very challenging this time. Unfortunately, the sky was mostly cloudy during our trip and it snowed at times. Nevertheless, I am quite satisfied with the photographic results. If you are only interested in the best pictures from our trip: You can find some of them here. Many of the pictures were again taken with my drone.
Let’s start with some information about our destination this time:
Tromsø
Tromsø, also known as “the gateway to the Arctic”, lies 344 km north of the Arctic Circle. This corresponds to the latitude of northern Alaska.
Polar circles are the special latitude circles of the earth at 66° 33′ 55″ (66.565°) north and south latitude, on which the sun no longer rises or sets on the two days of the solstice.
The Norwegian municipality of Tromsø has a total of 78,745 inhabitants (as of January 1st, 2024). The administration is based in the city of Tromsø, which is also the largest city in the north of the country. The Tromsø County Council is based here, as is the Arctic Council.
The area of the municipality of Tromsø extends far beyond the city of the same name. It includes the islands of Tromsøya and Kvaløya, the southern part of the islands of Ringvassøya and Rebbenesøya, an area on the Norwegian mainland and other smaller islands.
The actual city center of Tromsø is located on the island of Tromsøya, which is separated from the mainland and the districts there by Tromsøysund and from the island of Kvalsøya to the northwest by Sandnessund. Both are accessible via large bridges. There is also a long tunnel leading to the mainland.
Tromsø is not only home to the northernmost university, but also to the world’s northernmost cathedral, the famous Arctic Cathedral.
As always, for me this was another trip to take plenty of photos. As always, I thought long and hard about what equipment to take with me. This has now become far too extensive to take everything with me. Here is the result of my thoughts for this specific trip:
Equipment
The photographic equipment this time included
Two camera bodies:
- Canon EOS R5 Mark II as main body
- Canon EOS 5DSR as a replacement, I actually only took 6 shots with it
Because of the expected low light conditions in the polar night, I had deliberately limited myself to faster lenses this time:
- Samyang 14mm f/2.8 AF
- Sigma 20mm f/1.4
- Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM II
- Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM II
- Canon Extender 1.4x and 2x (both were not used)
Drone:
- DJI Air 3s
And I was very glad to have had the drone with me. The use of drones directly on the main island of Tromsøya (and the immediate surroundings) is strictly prohibited because of the airport on the island, and this was explicitly and drastically pointed out at the baggage reclaim carousel at the airport:
But outside Tromsø there were plenty of opportunities to fly the drone and I was very glad that I had it with me.
I also had my iPhone 15 Pro, a tripod and my laptop with me.
Equipment tips
After extensive research, I purchased three more items for this trip, which also proved to be very useful this time:
These can be charged via USB-C and then give off a pleasant warmth for several hours in the pockets
If only we had known this back in Greenland in 2023: the ice spikes can be easily strapped under normal boots and provide an incredibly secure grip on the always slippery icy ground in the far north. No more trips to the north without them!
This cuff can be placed around a lens with Velcro and heated in three stages via a USB-C power bank. This prevents the front lens from fogging up during long night shots when the temperature falls below the dew point.
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