Lapland safari guide Jani Ylinampa’s Northern Lights photos are out of this world

Jani Ylinampa works as a safari guide in Lapland. On the side, he is a photographer with a significant social media following. His shots of the northern lights are the primary draw. We asked Jani about his work and lifestyle in the far north.

You can buy prints of Jani’s photos on 500px.

Photography and the northern lights

How did you develop an interest for photography and when did careful documentation of northern lights become a part of it?

I started photographing casually about 15 years ago. I took a camera with me when I was hiking in northern Lapland and northern Norway. Since then I have gradually widened my perspective. I got my first DSLR in 2009. I shot my first northern lights photo in 2012 when I saw the lights from my balcony and decided to try taking a photo. Until that moment I had been a bit lazy to learn more about photography. For a while my method was learning by making mistakes such as forgetting to set the focus to infinity. At first I was just photographing the northern lights and did not really worry about anything else. Nowadays I try to find something interesting in the foreground as well.

Surviving the polar night

You work as a guide in the far north. What are your best tips for surviving kaamos, the period during which the sun does not rise?

Eat well and take vitamins. Sleep enough. It should be easy to sleep, whereas in the summer it is quite another matter. Go outdoors. If the sun is not out there, the moon and the northern lights might be. Interact with people.

Photography gear

What kind of gear do you use?

Canon EOS 6D

• Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8
• Canon EF 28mm f/1.8
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
• Canon EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6
• Samyang 14mm f/2.8
• Samyang 8mm T3.8

Sony A7S

• Sigma 19mm f/2.8 DN Art

DJI Phantom 2 & GoPro Hero 4 Black