Dark season of polar night is great time to visit Finnish Lapland and not only because of Aurora Borealis. For many local people (including us) late summer and autumn are busy seasons of harvesting: picking berries and mushrooms, fishing and hunting. Everybody wants to fill their fridges with local delicacies, make berry juice or some marmalade. There is no lack of doing….
TIME TO RELAX
In November polar night gets closer and closer and days are getting shorter which forces us to settle down. We get sleepy and tired because of low amount of light. On top of that the period is long: dark season around polar night lasts several months. However, we really like this remarkable time. It is time to relax during long nights and get energy for longer days when sun doesn’t set at all.
BEAUTIFUL COLORS
Actually, polar night is much more than total darkness. It is full of different colors one doesn’t see other times. Views with snow cover and blue hours of mid-day are something special we experience during polar night.
Remarkable reddish or purple colors of the sky when sun tries to reach the horizon but just cannot are good subjects for a photographer.
Amazing light and shadows in the middle of the night when the moon is full gives magical feelings at least to us. Milky Way in the clear night sky is also something special.
SNOW
Snow means a lot for both people and wildlife. Without snow it would be much darker like it is in southern Finland most of the winter, even without polar night. Snow also helps people to move easier: with skies or snow mobiles many remote place is more accessible during winter.
In addition snow is vital for wildlife. It brings warm and shelter to all the wildlife including plants, birds, mammals and insects as well. Even when temperature is freezing minus 40 degrees of Celsius it is amazingly not much colder than 0 degrees Celsius under the snow cover! This makes it possible for some insects to live inside to snow during winter, willow grouses to spend their nights inside there, bears to sleep in hibernation and lemmings even to breed during winter.
AURORA BOREALIS
Last but not least: during clear nights we enjoy the Auroras. Our home, which is located almost 20 kilometers away from the lights of village Inari, is one of the most perfect places to experience all these lights and colors during the polar night. We have taken countless amounts of photos from blue hours, reddish skies, night skies and aurora borealis. One just cannot stop photographing these lights of nature….
Welcome to experience the magic of polar night with us! Or if you prefer to visit us early summer, please read about Arctic Rush Hour.
Finally, if you are interested in photographing magic night sky, you could book our eco-friendly sauna cabin for an overnight stay.
