When I was in Australia, I was showing my photos to my friend. He admired the Aurora Borealis photos I had on my web site. That encouraged me to tell him about the exotic Finland. I told him stories about the Finnish wilderness and tales of the Arctic adventure.
In my stories I was the Finnish equivalent of Bear Grylls. I hunted the Northern lights through the thick snow and extreme frost. The stories in the Jack London books were just walks in a park. And Finland was a place where you can see Aurora even in the bright daylight.
It is true that the Northern Finland is the right place if you want to see the Aurora. However, usually the sky is either too cloudy or the moon is too bright and you just can't see the Northern lights. If you really want to photograph the lights, you are better off in Lapland, the most Northern part of Finland.
And, when you actually see the Aurora at the place where I live in, it's usually a very cold night in the wintertime. If I spot the show on the sky, I usually wear a very, very thick overall, warm woolen hat and gloves and heavy winter boots. Then I run to the front yard with my camera, set the tripod up, and take the pictures as quickly as I can. Then I run back indoors to have something hot to drink. I didn't tell that to my friend.
The reason why Aurora is usually seen on winter nights is simple. The summer nights at North are very light. In the middle of the summer the sun hardly sets. You can't see the Northern lights if the sun is up.
So, I had convinced my Aussie friend about my wildlife skills and returned home. The very next night I went outside for a walk and what did I see! The sky was full of colorful lights. A very spectacular light show was on right at my front yard! And it was November! There wasn't any snow or frost. I could get my camera and tripod and I didn't have to wear anything special. I had all the time in the world to take pictures of the Aurora.
Just to brag a little bit more, I sent the pictures to Australia just to say: See, the Aurora is on almost every day.
Canon EF 40mm f2.8 STM
There was a time when I wouldn't leave the house without this lens. I really love it. It's great for landscape photography, but perfect for travel and street photography. Compared to many other lenses, it's just tiny. And f2.8 is not bad either. It focuses fast even in the difficult situations.
The only reason I'm not using the lens that much any more is that I got it's little brother, the Canon EF 24mm f2.8 STM. That one suits better for landscape photography. But for street photography, the 40mm is still my best friend.
You can read more about the lens here.
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