The holiday season brings a spectacle of enchanting lights, but it’s nothing compared to nature’s holiday lights – the northern lights! Formally called the aurora borealis, the northern lights are an atmospheric phenomenon in which undulating waves of green, purple and red lights dance across the sky. Not only are they incredible to witness, they are a fun photographic subject! We have gathered a group of Sony photographers who have created outstanding images of the northern lights. Continue reading to get ideas on what gear to use, interesting compositions, challenges that must be overcome, and much more! And for all sorts of photography tips and inspiration on a daily basis, be sure to follow @sonyalpha and tag your own Sony shots on Instagram with #BeAlpha.

The holiday season brings a spectacle of enchanting lights, and so does the aurora borealis! See how these Sony shooters photograph the dancing northern lights.

Sapna Reddy – @sapnareddy

Sapna Reddy is a landscape photographer based in Northern California. The Alpha Collective member is currently pursuing dual careers as a photographer and a physician. She has a real talent for making iconic landscape images. From composition to editing, the scenes she makes stand out. We love the image below, framing of the cave and the silhouette against the pop of the lights is stunning. We also love the reflection of the light on the ice. This is a composite image, made with the Sony Alpha 7R IV and the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master.

Cath Simard - @cathsimard

Cath Simard is a photographer, composite artist and Alpha Collective member. She is known for her surreal, cold, blue, mountain night aesthetic - as can clearly be seen in this image below. More and more she has delved into the world of digital art. We love the result in the post below, the subtle movement in the Northern lights and the water really pulls the viewer into the frame. 

Nate Luebbe - @nateinthewild

Nate Luebbe is a member of the Alpha Collective and travel and adventure photographer whose feed is full of wildlife, landscapes and astroscapes that are vivid and exciting. The northern lights will often make an appearance in his feed, adding another element to astrophotography that will inspire you. He has a talent for creating an image that is colorful, fluid and full of life. 

Asier López Castro - @asilopezfotografia

Asier López Castro made this stunning image with the Sony Alpha 7R III and the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. He told Capture the Atlas, “On my last trip to Iceland, I decided to try my luck in one of its most iconic locations, a magical place for any landscape photographer. It snowed the day before, and the air mixed the fallen snow with the fine sand, making the textures on the ground incredibly beautiful. Then the sky did the rest. The biggest problem in photographing this kind of scene is the limited information you get for the foreground since the exposure times are usually short (between 2-10 seconds) in order to capture the shape of the Aurora. That’s why I was forced to take pictures with different settings for the foreground and the sky.”

Debbie Dill - @debbie.dill.photo

Debbie Dill is a landscape photographer based in Switzerland. She is a master of landscape photography and we love seeing what she’s up to through her Instagram! These abstract-like images of the northern lights blew us away. It was an interesting way to view them, as opposed to the more classic landscape scene. These were shot on the Sony Alpha 7 III, which Dill has astro modified, which she paired with the Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master. To learn more about astro modification be sure to read her full caption.

Rachel Jones Ross – @rachel_jones_ross

Rachel Jones Ross is an Alpha Collective member that will inspire you to head out for a midnight adventure to photograph the night sky. She features beautiful sweeping landscapes but at times adds another layer to them by featuring a person or two, which creates a deeper narrative, giving it a fairytale-esque feel to her work. If you want to add something new to how you approach astrophotography, this is the account you should be following. Check out her tips for photographing the northern lights HERE.

Vincent Beudez - @vincentvoyage

Photographer Vincent Beudez is from Paris but travels extensively. His Instagram account is dedicated to him breathtaking images of the northern lights. Each square in his feed is an explosion of stunning colors against a dark sky. This image, shot on the Sony Alpha 7S III and the Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master documents a special moment Beudez witnessed. “It was a really beautiful night, and I saw some “coronas” and northern lights to the south. However, what happened at 3am was totally unexpected. A huge red Aurora traveled across the southern sky (visible with the naked eye), while a spectacular Aurora exploded just above my head.This was by far the most colorful night I’ve ever witnessed up there, and it was a rare event that I’m very grateful to have been able to see.”

David Erichsen - @david_erichsen_photo

Colorado-based landscape and nature photographer David Erichsen loves to shoot lava, northern lights, and storms. He says that, “As a kid growing up, chasing the Northern Lights had always been a mystical dream. Even though I’ve been lucky enough to witness quite a few shows over the last few years, it never gets old.” And the image below looks like a mystical dream, something in a YA fantasy novel. Erichsen made this image with the Sony Alpha 7R III and the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master. Check out more of Erichsen’s gear HERE.

Filip Hrebenda - @filiphrebenda

Filip Hrebenda is a full-time fine-art landscape photographer and photo workshop leader.  His work is characterized by the sensitive use of colors, light and lines that natural landscapes include. When describing the scenes below, Hrebenda said, “It was a really cold night, but that didn’t deter me. Forecasts were reporting KP5 values, which would mean a bright Aurora if there were clear skies. At first, it was cloudy, but after a while, it cleared up and the northern lights appeared between the clouds. What a great night it was!” He made this image with the Sony Alpha 7R III and the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master. Check out what gear he takes with him to shoot in extreme conditions HERE. 

David Haring - @davidhrng

David Haring is a photographer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Using his Sony Alpha 7 III, Haring makes tremendous landscape images and shares them through his Instagram account. In the image below, Haring used his Sony Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens. He described the scene, “It had been a cold night, and the Aurora forecast predicted low activity, so I didn’t believe it would appear. But, on the other hand, the sky was clear, so I gave it a try and went Aurora hunting. After hours of patience, a beautifully ethereal symphony took over the sky above the peaks of the Lofoten Islands. This was such a unique and unpredictable moment that I will remember forever.”