25 Winners Of The Northern Lights Contest By "Capture The Atlas"

On their website, they say: "We created this contest 3 years ago with the goal of inspiring others to discover and know more about this beautiful phenomenon. Seeing and photographing the Northern Lights is on many people's bucket list, and for most of them, it's a lifetime experience. However, this is not always easy considering the conditions that you need for seeing the Aurora, like traveling to high latitude, standing in the cold and freezing temperatures, and being lucky with the clouds.

After three editions, we have managed to reach and inspire many people to 'chase' and enjoy this otherworldly experience. Today, this collection is a reference for the night and Northern Lights photographers. The quality of the image must be superb, but also the history behind the shot. The level is increasing with each new edition and more photographers want to take part each year. At the same time, it's inspiring and helpful for other aspiring photographers who want to learn more about this challenging type of photography."

Capture the Atlas tells us more about themselves, their company, and their journey in an interview: "My name is Dan Zafra, I am a professional landscape photographer originally from Spain living in the United States. Our company, Capture the Atlas, started in 2016 as a travel and photography blog when my partner Ascen and I decided to create a site where we could help others plan their trips and learn photography.

We have always loved traveling, discovering new places, and capturing and sharing those special moments, so our blog was a natural evolution of this where we wanted to inspire and be helpful to others. Today, Capture the Atlas is a reference blog in the travel photography industry where we help people from all over the world to take the pictures they dream of both online and offline in our international photography tours."

"As I started traveling more internationally when I was in college, I felt the urge to capture all those moments that were significant to me. At first, I was just using my smartphone to shoot, but after a few years, I decided to pick up my first DSLR and took a trip to Scotland and Iceland that changed my perspective and life forever. From then on, I focused on shooting landscapes and all those beautiful moments that we can enjoy in nature, from photographing the stars in the desert to 'dancing' with the Northern Lights in the Arctic," shared Dan when asked what inspired him to get into photography.

"My favorite part of photography is to have the opportunity to spend time in nature and to discover new places, cultures, and people. I’ve met so many great friends thanks to this passion. It’s difficult to find a 'least favorite part,' but if I had to say something, it could be cleaning the tripod after a photography session on the beach! (Most photographers will know what I’m talking about.) There are many challenges like waking up for sunrise, driving long distances, not eating for hours and hours… but everything pays off once you can capture a unique moment."

Dan tells us more about the places he has traveled thanks to his passion for photography: "I’ve had the opportunity to do photo trips to many different countries in Europe and North America like Norway, Iceland, Canada, the UK, Italy, etc. Outside those regions, I’ve also photographed in Indonesia and in the far Russian peninsula of Kamchatka. It’s very difficult to pick just one place, each destination has something unique to offer. One of the most special trips was my photography expedition to Kamchatka, where we explored and photographed the highest active volcanoes in Eurasia!"

Dan shares what inspired him to create this Northern Lights competition: "After shooting the Northern Lights in Canada for the first time, it became one of my passions, and since then, I haven’t stopped chasing and shooting the aurora borealis all over the world. However, photographing the Aurora is not as easy as it seems; it requires great planning, using the best settings, lots of practice, and one important thing… inspiration! Intending to get to inspire as many people as possible to know more about this beautiful phenomenon and to encourage them to travel and shoot it, we decided to create a Northern Lights photography collection to feature the best 25 Northern Lights images captured around the world."

Dan told us that this competition is a little different from others and photographers don't have to apply: "The Northern Lights photographer of the year is different from other photography contests. Photographers don’t apply, but they’re selected following different criteria like the quality of the image, the shooting conditions, the originality of the composition, and the uniqueness of the location. Both Ascen and I personally curate the images throughout the year, looking not only for images taken by some of the best photographers in the world but also from new talents that are working hard to create those fascinating images.

We also run 'The Milky Way photographer of the Year,' which is a similar collection but showing the best images of our galaxy captured during the Milky Way season. This is published in June coinciding with the start of the peak season to shoot the Milky Way. We don’t have other plans to run more competitions in the future at this moment."

"Like any other businesses in the travel photography industry, we’ve seen a big impact in our projects throughout 2020. We had to cancel all our international Photo Tours as well as some photography conferences where I was attending as a speaker. It’s a tough year, but once you’re bitten by the travel photography bug, it doesn’t stop! I’m sure that everybody is eager to explore and shoot again, and during 2021, I have no doubt that we’ll start seeing new how things will slowly move back to 'normal,'" shared Dan when asked how the pandemic affected their business.

"Our mission is to help other photographers and we do this through different means. On one hand, we offer free online content on our website where we create photography articles, tutorials, webinars, inspirational galleries, and countless resources. Some of our most popular guides range from learning how to photograph the Milky Way or how to shoot the Northern Lights to more advanced and specific tutorials.

The other branch of our business is the Capture the Atlas photo tours that we lead around the world. We’re currently running Northern Lights and landscape photography tours in Iceland and the Lofoten Islands (Norway), a landscape photography expedition in Kamchatka for the most adventurous, and different Astrophotography tours around the United States in places like Death Valley."

"I encourage everybody to go out in nature and shoot; even if it’s with your smartphone, there’s something really fulfilling when you’re expressing yourself creating new images. I hope you found our Northern Lights photographer of the Year collection inspiring and if you want to learn with us and join a community of passionate and like-minded photographers, don’t hesitate to visit us at Capturetheatlas.com!"

Which one do you enjoy the most? Upvote your favorites and comment down below what you think of this beautiful phenomenon!