March 9 // 9:56PM
Leknes- Lofoten // Norway
I was told again and again that I would have to see it in person. That I would never capture a photograph that would do it justice. I had flown into Oslo from Amsterdam, and over the next several hours progressed north in smaller and smaller planes. I found myself at a 400sqft, one room airport 350 miles north of the arctic circle at 9:45PM.
The one guy that staffed the one-room airport the size of a living room was heading home and I was the only one there, outside, waiting on a guy to pick me up with a van I would be camping in. I put my pack down in the snow, looked up, and saw this. I quickly threw open my pack and started assembling my tripod and camera.
I didn’t come with any expectations. I wasn’t there for the aurora. I know how elusive it can be, and if that’s your only reason to be there, and you have limited time, then you’re just going to get heartbroken. But, here it was. My first 5 minutes in Norway was the perfect welcome. I wouldn’t get another glimpse at the aurora again until the last night.