Rebecca Douglas has been to Iceland 29 times. And she’s already booked her 30th trip.
The goal of every trip is the same: to photograph the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights.
Douglas has been photographing this spectacular phenomenon since 2010. These colors – which can paint the sky in a bright range of green, purple, yellow and blue – are the result of particles from the sun reacting with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere. with current solar cycle Reaching the peak of its 11-year span, the lights are expected to become even more prominent over the next year four years,
Douglas, A professional photographer Based in Kent in the United Kingdom, he also travels annually to Finland, Norway and Iceland to shoot the night sky. But she said she has also been able to take photos of the Northern Lights from the English countryside last year.
The rise of ‘nocturnism’
Douglas was unsurprisingly an early adopter of “nocturnism” – a trend that focuses on night-time travel experiences.
Booking.com has named it Top travel trends for 2025It has been described as a desire to “take away the rush of daylight and turn to the magic of midnight”. A global survey conducted by the company on over 27,000 travelers revealed that almost two in three travelers said they had experienced activities such as stargazing (72%), once-in-a-lifetime cosmic events (59%) and Have considered “deep sky sites” for. Constellation Tracking (57%).
The Northern Lights, as seen at Rebecca Douglas’s vacation home in Lofoten, an archipelago in Norway.
Source: Rebecca Douglas Photography
Most activities involve the night sky, but other activities take place on the ground, from city tours and truffle hunting in Italy at night to full moon picnics by the sea.
Luxury travel company Wayfarer Travel said night tourism experiences have increased by 25% in the past year, with requests to see the Northern Lights in Norway and Iceland as well as night diving in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Egypt’s Red Sea. Requests are also included. According to the company, nighttime wildlife safaris in Zambia and Kenya and stargazing in Chile’s Atacama Desert are also popular.
“Noctotourism is set to transform travel in 2025 as nocturnal travelers seek unique experiences after dark,” said Jay Stevens, the company’s CEO.
Travelers can sign up to hunt for truffles at night with professional hunters and their dogs.
Stefano Guidi | Getty Images News | getty images
According to luxury travel operator Scott Dunn, chasing the eclipse could become a new “bucket list” experience.
Scott Dunn spokesperson said, “Travelers are heading to remote corners of the world to see these astronomical views, with Greenland’s High Arctic… the next must-visit destination due to its remote, light-pollution-free shores “Is going to be made.”
But travel doesn’t have to be so far-flung, with hotels from Hawaii to Austria now offering stargazing activities. The next total lunar eclipse will occur on March 14 and will visible in most parts of the worldAccording to NASA, that includes America, Western Europe and Western Africa.
looking for darkness
Douglas avoids hotel packages, preferring to plan her own trips, as she plans a lot of activities at night. She also said she prefers to stay away from large groups, which are often made up of people new to night walks who unknowingly create light pollution with their smartphones and camera flashes.
The Northern Lights, as seen from Iceland.
Source: Rebecca Douglas Photography
Douglas plans most of his trips around the best time to see the Northern Lights — usually between August and April, he said. She also chooses remote residences, away from towns and even neighbors, she said, because just a street or household light can compromise photographs.
“I spend a lot of time looking at housing on Google Maps,” she said. “If there are any lights in the photos, I would ask the host if it’s possible to turn off the outside lights… Even some of the less active shows can be really beautiful if you’re in a really dark area. “
She also considers the phases of the moon, she said.
An aurora storm as seen from Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent, United Kingdom.
Source: Rebecca Douglas Photography
“In the two weeks surrounding the new moon, you’ll likely get the darkest skies possible. And then it’s not just the auroras that are at their best, but the stars as well,” he said. “You can see the Milky Way, and it’s a rainbow of dust and glitter in the sky.”
douglas made one online courses To help people photograph the Aurora Borealis.
At night, she also photographs noctilucent clouds — shimmering ice crystal clouds located high in the atmosphere — and polar stratospheric rainbow clouds, she said. She sometimes shoots from 8 pm to 5 am, and remains outside in temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
“They say you have to work hard at your art,” Douglas said.
But for him, spending his trip taking pictures at night is “a privilege,” he said.
