SAARISELKÄ | WINTER 2013-2014 | WWW.SAARISELANSANOMAT.FI
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Hunting Northern Lights
PHOTO:MARKKU INKILÄ
WINTER 2013-2014
The polar night arrives in December in Saariselkä The blue dusk of the polar night falls over Saariselkä at the beginning of December. The sun goes down on the eve of Independence Day and it will not rise above the horizon again until the Epiphany.
The changes in the atmosphere in recent years have given rise to a new hobby in Lapland – Northern Lights hunting. The hobby has quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts when including hobbyists all around the world, including tourists coming to Lapland. For many of them, seeing the Northern Lights has been a dream for years. One specialist of the hobby is the Northern Lights hunter Markku Inkilä from Inari, whose photos of Northern Lights have been seen in big foreign magazines in England and the United States. “One Japanese customer told me that he has seen my photos in Japanese magazines and local television”, says Markku Inkilä. Northern Lights hunting is a typical camera hobby and it requires a good camera and lots of patience, warm clothes and the ability to endure cold. The hobby is suit-
ed for everyone regardless of age or gender, and like in all hobbies, in Northern Lights hunting only practice makes a master. Photography has been Markku Inkilä’s hobby for 15 years, so he is the right man to tell us what kind of equipment is needed for Northern Lights photography, where the best places are for taking photos and when the Northern Lights can be found.
times. The weather should be clear and there shouldn’t be any lights around. Small Northern Lights can’t even be seen if streetlights are shining around you. You have to go away from population centres. Myself I take tourists to Paatsjoki and Inarijärvi, for example”, explains Inkilä, who is a guide for the customers of Nellimi’s Erähotelli hotel in Northern Lights photography.
”Nowadays cameras are so good that you can take great photos with almost any camera. But a systems camera with a fast lens is probably the best choice. A sturdy tripod is also absolutely important for nighttime photography”, Inkilä begins.
”The best time to watch the sky is in the evening and at night between 8 pm and 3 am, although you can sometimes see them during early evening as well. You can never know whether your photos will be successful because you can’t always find them, or they might last from a split second to several hours”, explains the Northern Lights hunter.
And when can you find Northern Lights? “The middle of September and the middle of March in the spring are the best
What is your prediction for Northern Lights this year?
”According to NASA’s studies, the sun spot maximum was reached this autumn, and it will probably be one of the greatest winters regarding Northern Lights”, says Markku Inkilä with joy. The Northern Lights photographer Markku Inkilä thinks that his hobby is very rewarding because the winter in Lapland is always very picturesque and the photo subjects change, whether there are Northern Lights or not. ”Many tourists come here specifically for a one-ina-lifetime trip to see this drama on the sky, and when they appear, a smile spreads to everybody’s face. I gain energy when I get successful photos. You can never grow tired of that explosion of colours”, guarantees Northern Lights hunter Markku Inkilä.
The polar night is not dark Even though the sun does not rise, the polar night does not mean complete darkness. The nature is enveloped by a blue dusk, which is created by the light of the moon, stars and Northern Lights, reflected by the snow. It is not pitch-dark like it is in the south, but it is actually possible to move outside at any time, day and night, without additional light. Although the sun stays below the horizon, its rays reach Saariselkä. During clear weather, especially from the fells you can admire the gorgeous sky imbued in different hues of blue and red. Many people
feel that the polar night is calming during the quiet time of the year, the time when it is good to give yourself some time for leisure and focus on your hobbies while waiting for the spring to come. The polar night is definitely not an obstacle to outdoor activities. In Saariselkä, ski tracks and slopes are already open when the polar night begins and skiing and downhill skiing is entirely possible in the well-lit conditions of the tracks and slopes. When the sun rises again on the Epiphany, it stays on the sky for only an hour. From then on, the day will quickly get longer, and by the middle of February the daytime is already seven hours long. By mid-March, the daytime lasts for nearly twelve hours, and in April, it is already over sixteen hours. During the last week of May, the midnight sun begins.
Lumihiutale hotel
The plans for the Lumihiutale hotel, proposed to be built on the southern slope of the Kaunispää fell, are going forward. The architect has designed the first images of the building with the goal of adapting it to the surroundings as well as possible. The area plan will be fin-
ished this year and the technical department is currently making terrain models for road plans. –If everything goes according to plan, we can start construction as soon as the last snow melts in the spring, says the technical director Arto Leppälä.