Like an arm reaching down from the sky
Photo/Hallgrímur P. Helgason
“This picture was just taken on the phone on my porch,” says amateur photographer Hallgrímur P. Helgason about a photograph he took of the Northern Lights last night that has drawn a lot of attention on social media.
In the image, which was snapped at 23.22 PM, it appears that a celestial arm comes straight from the sky and you can only say that it is impressive.
“The ideal spot”
Helgason lives below the old town of Selfoss on the Ölfusá river, and the picture was taken behind the house. There he looks straight up into the Ingólfsfjall mountain, up the Hell Cave, and almost sees Hekla the other way. “It’s an ideal spot for a photographer,” he says and is very happy with his impressive photograph.
Helgason took this photograph last night as well. Photo/Hallgrímur P. Helgason
He said he owns a 42-million-pixel camera, but decided not to use it last night because he didn't think the northern lights were significant enough.
According to Helgason, “the northern light season has been remarkable” ever since the autumn, and he says that he has been taking northern lights photographs over 60 nights since November 19th. For northern lights to be photographed, he says it is important that the sky is clear.
This photograph Helgason took on the 4th of January this year. Photo/Hallgrímur P. Helgason
“This 11-year northern lights curve, by all accounts, reaches a peak in 2025. We are heading for more activity than has been the case in the past few years.”
He has usually taken northern lights photographs for 20 to 40 nights during this period a year, but now their number is increasing. “My obsession with photography has been ongoing ever since I can remember and I had already started when I was seven to eight years old, taking my first pictures, ” says Helgason.
