Karthik Rangappa

Recently, a colleague of mine insisted that I watch Ben Stiller’s 2013 movie ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty‘. I don’t know how I missed watching the movie all these years, but in a way, I’m glad I did. Had I watched it earlier, I would have passed it of as ‘nice flick, ok for 1 time watch’. But now that I love photography, the movie kind of struck a chord.

There is a scene in the movie where Sean Penn (photographer in the movie), is in the mountains of Afghanistan, searching for Snow Leopards. He wants to photograph them. After several days of tracking, he finally gets his moment, has a snow leopard in his line of sight, his camera is set, but when the moment arrives, he refuses to press the shutter button. He does not photograph it.

Instead, he just enjoys the moment. It is a beautiful scene, you can watch it here.

From time to time, the same thing happens to me. But there is a twist to it. My travel has led me to some incredible moments, be it gazing at the stunning milky way arch across the horizon in crystal clear skies or watching a breathtaking waterfall thumping the ground with grace, or to watch an old man blissfully puff his bidi, reading the morning newspaper, in the golden hour light, completely cut off from the surrounding urban chaos.

I’ve let these moments pass, without pressing the shutter, although I had my camera with me. Here comes the twist – I let them pass, not because I was philosophical at that moment, but rather the sheer frustration of not knowing how to dial the right exposure on my camera to capture the moment! You see, I’m yet to evolve as a photographer 😅.

Oh, and I let several of these moments pass during my recent trip to Iceland. But there were few that I captured.

Iceland trip was in October 2024 with family and friends, but the trip planning started in June 2024. Iceland trip’s main agenda was to experience the Northern Lights. As you’d expect, a whatsapp group was formed to discuss the trip details, and the funny part is that 90% of our discussion was centered around jackets and thermals! Afterall, this was our very first trip to the Artic region.

100s of jackets and thermal conversations later, we finally landed in Reykjavik. We picked up our self drive cars, my wife and a my friend were designated drivers for our respective cars. My wife is a far better driver than me, at least outside India 😬.

It was our first night in Iceland, and I dint really expect to see the Northern Lights. Reykjavik, like any other city is light polluted. But at dinner, the hotel guy suggested we head out to Grota, at the edge of Reykjavik to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

I was of course excited to see the Aurora. For my wife and I, this was a big bucket list item, and I dint want to give up the opportunity, even though it was our very first night in Iceland. Luckily, the others in the group (including the kids) agreed. Post dinner, we all huddled in our rental car, and headed out of Reykjavik.

As we approached Grota, my head was half outside the car window, trying to see the Aurora, but all I could see was a series of cars lined up with headlights and tail lights flashing brighter than any Northern light. I was disappointed. We manged to find parking, and we stepped out to look at the sky. After about 5-8 mins of staring at the sky, straining our necks, my wife poked me from behind and asked if the faint green glow in the sky was indeed the Aurora.

The aurora we had been dreaming to see all these years. The aurora that we had spoken about all these years. The aurora that had captured our imagination all these years.

And it was that aurora, faintly glowing and dancing in the cold Reykjavik sky 😇.

We stood there, comprehending the moment. It took a while, but after several minutes, we finally started processing it all. It was unlike what I had expected. The aurora was there, without a doubt, but it was not what I had seen on Instagram 🤷🏽‍♂️.

We pulled out our phones to take a picture, and bham! The colours were so saturated and nice! And it was at that moment, I felt scammed! I mean, I had seen hundreds of photos of Aurora, watched several videos, but NO ONE ever mentioned this.

The naked eye aurora paled in comparison to what our phones were able to capture (and process). Was this it? Are all the images of aurora ultra processed? I was quite let down.

And not just that, I felt super guilty for convincing my friend to do this once in a life time, epic ‘Northern Lights Iceland road trip’, and all that jazz. Reluctantly, I pulled out my camera gear, set up my tripod, dialed in the settings, and took my first shot of the Norther Lights.

I paid zero attention to composition or framing. I just dialed my settings and took my shot. As we drove back, I was thinking about the next 8 nights. I just hoped the aurora had some other magic to weave and not what we witnessed at Grotta.

The next day, we set out to Vik, a small coastal town along the southern coast of Iceland. The drive as you can imagine was stunning, we stopped over multiple places, visited a few gorgeous waterfalls, got drenched in a few, and had a great time, although my nose and ears felt like icicles.

Despite all the travel, driving, and exhaustion, we were all quite kicked to watch the night sky. Again, the hotel guy suggested we drive 20 kms away from Vik, towards Gígjagjá, and head to Yoda Cave. Yoda Cave, because the cave’s entrance resembles Yoda, from Star Wars. The idea was to drive a little away from Vik’s light pollution, although Vik was not as light polluted as Reykjavík.

The 20 kms drive had two parts to it. Part 1 was about 16kms drive on the isolated coastal highway, and part 2 involved a 4kms detour, cutting through an unpaved, pebbled drive away, with not a single source of light or human being in sight. It was pitch dark, there was no aurora, and as we cautiously drove deeper inside, we had to keep reminding ourselves of how safe Iceland as a country is.

Google Maps suggested we were 900 meters away from Yoda Cave, but the fear of being in an isolated location, in pitch dark, freezing cold was real. We unanimously decided to turn around, but just then, someone in the car spotted a blinking light at a distance. It looked like someone else was there at Yoda Cave. Mustering some courage, we drove towards the blinking light.

As we moved closer, we could see a few silhouettes. By now we were both fearful and hopeful. As we approached the blinking lights, I saw a camera mounted on a tripod, with the camera pointed towards the sky. Beaming in joy, I rolled down the window to say hello to fellow photographers.

And of course, they had to be Indians. What else would you expect – after-all we are nearly 1/4th of the world’s population!

Anyway, few customary small talks later, I got straight to point and asked them if they spotted the Aurora. The clouds were heavy and we could see a faint green glow bordering the dense dark clouds. But there was no Northern Lights as we imagined. Fellow Indians had already spent an hour or so at Yoda Caves, but with no luck. Meanwhile, one of them got a call informing them that the Northern Lights was in full display right at Vik, middle of the town, right next to our hotel.

We all rushed back to Vik, near the church, hoping to catch the Aurora. Of course, the sky dint light up, clouds were heavy, and everyone gave up. The cold was unbearable, kids were super sleepy, and general fatigue had set in. Most called it a day, but I decided to stay back. I wanted to be there for some more time.

And that was a good call. In a matter of few minutes, the clouds cleared, and the sky lit up. The show was on 🤘🏽.

There were streaks of Aurora zipping through the sky. The formations were crazy, and I could not figure where to look, and what to focus on. This time, I wanted to try a few composition, unlike what I did the previous night at Grotta. The most obvious composition was to keep the church in frame.

Then at the distance, I saw the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, with its 3 distinct Reynisdrangar sea stacks. It was pretty hard for me to frame this, but I did give it a try.

Notice, the Reynisdrangar sea stacks? No? But trust me, once you see it, you cant unsee it 😐.

But the big win for me was not the fact that I could attempt to frame the aurora, or the fact that I decided to stay back near the church to see the aurora. But rather the fact that I actually saw the aurora and its colors by naked eye. I dint need to click an image to see its vibrant colors.

As these thoughts were sinking in and wrapping up my gear, something beautiful happened. The northern lights decided to do a ‘blitz ballet’ culminating into an aurora corona right above me. A sight that I wont forget for a very long time.

Before we set out the next day, we stopped by Vik’s church to see how it looks in day light.

By the way, that’s pretty much all of Vik. After the daylight view, I kicked myself for not thinking through all the beautiful compositions that would have been possible.

From Vik, we were headed to Selfoss. Our hotel was a little away from the Selfoss town. As usual the drive included stops across multiple places. We had planned to stay in Selfoss for a few nights, so I kind of had some time to recce for compositions. Selfoss is a beautiful little village/town in Iceland. It has a few local eateries and bars . Include it in your Iceland itinerary if possible. If not for anything, at least for the proximity to Iceland’s Golden Circle attractions.

If you are in Iceland, specifically for Northern Lights, then you’ll have to constantly check the Icelandic weather site. The thing to look for is the aurora forecast, and see if the clouds are clear, and if the Kp index reads above 3. Anything above 3 or 4 on Kp index means a good probability of a bright aurora.

The first night at Selfoss was not so great on Kp index, plus the clouds were thick. I dint even bother to keep myself awake and I crashed right after dinner. But then at mid night, my wife woke me up to look outside the window, up in the sky. That, was another moment for us. Quickly we woke up our kids in the other room and stepped outside for a beautiful display of the northern lights.

That night was cute. We huddled as a family, and enjoyed what the nature had to offer. And the next day morning too was super special. It snowed all night, and we woke up to an amazing sunrise.

During the next two days, as we traversed through the Golden Circle, I was dropping pins at interesting locations to get back at night and frame my shots. My dear friend, with whom I was traveling was kind enough to accompany me to these pinned locations at the dead of night.

Things were getting interesting, Aurora was getting brighter, and it was no longer just the green aurora that was visible. The colors were clearly naked eye visible.

The next day morning i.e on 10th Oct 2024, as I was curling under the warmth of a fluffy duvet, my phone buzzed. I received a text message from a dear friend – Kp at 8, have a blast. It took a few seconds to process that. Kp hardly goes beyond 3 or 4, so you can imagine what Kp 8 means. That message was like the fast charge you’d want for your phone – it instantly transformed me from a deep state of slumber, to a fully charged particle.

I threw myself out of the duvet, woke everyone up, forced everyone to get ready, grabbed some breakfast and set out. While we did have a plan for the day, what I was essentially doing was gauging the distance from our hotel to interesting locations for night shoots. I was dropping pins along the way, and hoping my friend would tag along 😬.

And it was all worth it –

I don’t think my pictures can do justice to what I witnessed. The show was spectacular, it felt unreal, like as if I was in a mega iMax.

It was about 10 PM, and after a spectacular view of night sky, we decided to head back to the hotel room. But for me, heart was not full. After dropping people back at the hotel, my friend and I set out to a few other pinned locations. Somehow I wanted a little more out of Kp 8.

While the sky was lit, the display was not grand, or so were my expectations. We aurora hopped to the pinned locations. It was nothing better than what we had already seen.

At about 12 AM, the cold was unbearable, and we decided to head back. We were on the highway, the road from Þingvellir National Park, leading to Selfoss. The road was empty, and calm. As we were driving, I saw an unusual reflection from the road – it was shades of red everywhere. The mountains at the distance looked reddish. The grass blades had a reddish hue, the tar on the road was reflecting red. I popped my head out to see what was happening in the sky…..and then, at that moment, I understood what a full display of aurora means.

The sky was bright red, like apple red. It felt like someone up above was playing with a celestial red flash light. The aurora stretched from one end of the horizon to another! It was absolutely insane, it was unlike anything I had ever seen in my life. The gorgeous display of light felt like a sci-fi movie scene. We pulled the car to soak in that ethereal moment.

I clicked several pictures, but none can do justice to what I was experiencing. It was pure bliss. For one moment I had tears in my eye, and the next moment I remember jumping like a kid and dancing, something that I rarely do. My friend perhaps thought I just being juvenile, but that moment was special, and I dint know how to respond. I wanted to capture it all on my camera, unlike Sean Penn in The secret life of Walter Mitty 🙂.

That moment felt like I was dream drifting through nature’s best show. What a memorable night that was!

The rest of the trip was spent in the Eastern Iceland, in Snaefellsnes.

We were blessed with more aurora sightings, and epic moments. One better than the other.

If you are reading this till here, that means you are interested in seeing the Northern Light. I hope you do, and I’ll envy you when you watch it for the first time, and the joy will experience. That moment will be special, and the rest will be your story.

Thank you, Aurora Borealis, you beauty!