Northern Lights in Fairbanks 2022 with Tom Bol Photo Workshops

Practice makes Perfect

Photographing the aurora can be elusive. We find Fairbanks to be the most reliable place to photograph aurora in the United States. On both of our workshops, we practiced aurora settings at Aurora Pointe near Fairbanks on the first few nights of the workshop.

Aurora at a KP index of 2 at Aurora Pointe

In the field at a KP index of 4

Sled Dogs in Action

There were great opportunities for sled dog photography at Two Rivers, Alaska. We visited the Eleanor Wirtz Kennel with one group and the Chena Collective with the other. We photographed from the side of the trail and from moving dog sleds.

Dressed for success in Two Rivers, Alaska

Sled dogs at 1/15 shutter speed and a wide angle lens

Trying New Perspectives

Getting down in the snow and shooting upwards is a great way to get a unique view of the dogs.

Focusing on the lead dogs

Shooting from a moving sled

Ice as Art

The World Championship Ice Carving Competition in Fairbanks was a colorful look into a truly northern artform. Colorful lighting brought the carvings to life for our night time shoot.

Wayne and Camille getting into the Alaska spirit

International artists in action

More Sled Dogs

We headed back to the dog kennels at Chena Hot Springs to take dog portraits and check out the puppy pen.

Valerie as the Dog Whisperer

Shooting at 1/15 of a second shows dogs in motion

The Northern Lights Delivered

It was a good year for aurora in Alaska. Both groups photographed aurora on multiple nights in multiple places. On a moonless night we were able to capture both the galaxy and the aurora intersecting.

Wayne and Camille taking in the light show

The galaxy intersecting a green band of Northern Lights

Private Ice Museum Tour

The Aurora Ice Bar and Museum at Chena Hot Springs Resort was the perfect location for a photoshoot at 25 degrees. The private tour came complete with carved martini glasses of appletinis. Smiles all around!

Wayne working frozen cherry blossoms

Plenty of laughs on our tour

Always Time for a Portrait....or Two

We include a portrait shoot whenever we can. Paul - our Oklahoman model, was happy to pose as the Great Alaskan Outdoorsman. We used two speed lights and a softbox to create a soft but gritty portrait.

Portrait lighting in Alaska

Getting ready for the outhouse shoot

Aurora at Chena

Chena Hot Springs Resort provided forests of birch and white spruce for our foregrounds under the northern lights.

And Then....This Happened

Just when we thought it could not get any better, we were treated to an explosive display on our last night at Chena Hot Springs. We traveled to the top of Charlie Dome by vehicle to photograph from a mountain top. This gave us 360' views of the aurora. Plenty of room to capture the show.

Our next two workshops with chances to photograph Northern Lights will be in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. Join us on Sept 11-18, 2022 (2 Spaces Available) or Feb 18-25, 2023 (4 Spaces Available)

www.tombolphotoworkshops.com

Created By

Cree Bol

Appreciate

Credits:

Tom Bol and Cree Bol