Rebecca Douglas has been to Iceland 29 occasions. And she or he’s already booked her thirtieth journey.
The objective of each journey is similar: photographing the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.
Douglas has been photographing this spectacular phenomenon since 2010. It is colours — which may paint the sky a blinding array of inexperienced, purple, yellow and blue — are the results of solar particles that react with gases within the Earth’s higher environment. With the present solar cycle reaching the height of its 11-year interval, the lights are anticipated to be much more distinguished in the course of the subsequent four years.
Douglas, a professional photographer based mostly in Kent in the UK, additionally travels yearly to Finland, Norway and Iceland to shoot the night time sky. However she mentioned she’s additionally been in a position to {photograph} Northern Lights from the English countryside prior to now yr.
The rise of ‘noctourism’
Douglas has unknowingly been an early adopter of “noctourism” — a development that focuses on nighttime journey experiences.
Reserving.com named it a top travel trend for 2025, describing it as a want to “ditch the daylight crowds for midnight magic.” A worldwide survey of greater than 27,000 vacationers by the corporate confirmed almost two in three vacationers mentioned they’ve thought of “darker sky locations” for actions reminiscent of stargazing (72%), once-in-a-lifetime cosmic occasions (59%) and constellation monitoring (57%).
The Northern Lights, as seen over Rebecca Douglas’ vacation lodging within the Lofoten, an archipelago in Norway.
Supply: Rebecca Douglas Images
Most actions contain the night time sky, however others occur on the bottom, from metropolis excursions and truffle looking in Italy at night time to full moon picnics by the ocean.
Luxurious journey firm Wayfairer Journey mentioned noctourism experiences rose 25% prior to now yr, with requests for Northern Gentle viewings in Norway and Iceland, but additionally night time diving in Australia’s Nice Barrier Reef and Egypt’s Purple Sea. Nocturnal wildlife safaris in Zambia and Kenya and stargazing in Chile’s Atacama Desert are additionally standard, in response to the corporate.
“Noctotourism is about to remodel journey in 2025 as night time owl vacationers are more and more searching for distinctive after-dark experiences,” mentioned the corporate’s CEO Jay Stevens.
Vacationers can signal as much as hunt for truffles at night time alongside skilled hunters and their canine.
Stefano Guidi | Getty Photos Information | Getty Photos
Eclipse chasing might change into a brand new “bucket checklist” expertise, in response to the luxurious journey operator Scott Dunn.
“Vacationers are venturing to distant corners of the world to witness these celestial spectacles, with Greenland’s Excessive Arctic … set to be the subsequent must-visit vacation spot due to its distant, light-pollution-free shores,” mentioned a Scott Dunn spokesperson.
However journeys needn’t be that far-flung, with inns from Hawaii to Austria now providing stargazing actions. The following whole lunar eclipse will happen on March 14 and can be visible across much of the world, together with the Americas, Western Europe and Western Africa, in response to NASA.
In the hunt for darkness
Douglas avoids lodge packages, preferring to plan her personal journeys, since she plans so many actions at night time. She additionally mentioned she prefers to steer clear of massive teams, which are sometimes made up of individuals new to noctourism who unwittingly create mild air pollution with their smartphones and digicam flashes.
The Northern Lights, as considered from Iceland.
Supply: Rebecca Douglas Images
Douglas plans most of her journeys round the very best time to see the Northern Lights — normally between August and April, she mentioned. She additionally chooses distant lodging removed from cities and even neighbors, as only one road or home mild can compromise pictures, she mentioned.
“I spend a number of time taking a look at lodging on Google Maps,” she mentioned. “If there’s any lighting within the photos, I will ask the host if it is doable to show the skin lighting off … Even a few of the least lively exhibits may be actually stunning in case you are in a genuinely darkish space.”
She additionally considers the phases of the moon too, she mentioned.
An aurora storm as seen from Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent, United Kingdom.
Supply: Rebecca Douglas Images
“In that two weeks round a brand new moon, you’ve got obtained the darkest skies doable. After which it is not simply the Aurora that is at its finest, however the stars are simply breathtaking,” she mentioned. “You’ll be able to see the Milky Method, and it is simply this rainbow of mud and glitter throughout the sky.”
Douglas created an online course to assist individuals {photograph} the aurora borealis.
At night time, she additionally pictures noctilucent clouds — shimmery ice crystal clouds situated excessive within the environment — and polar stratospheric rainbow clouds, she mentioned. She generally shoots from 8 p.m. till 5 a.m., and has been out in temperatures as little as 5 levels Fahrenheit.
“They are saying you need to work exhausting in your artwork,” mentioned Douglas.
However to her, spending her travels taking pictures at night time is “a privilege,” she mentioned.
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