The travel photography blog Capture the Atlas has published the eighth edition of its annual “Northern Lights Photographer of the Year”, a competition showcasing a curated collection of the 25 most extraordinary aurora images taken over the past year. As in previous years, the collection is released in December, coinciding with the peak of the Northern Lights season, and celebrates the beauty of this breathtaking natural phenomenon around the world.
Gallery
The Israeli photographer featured in the prestigious Northern Lights photo collection
(Roi Levi / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
This year’s list features photos taken across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, in locations such as Iceland, Norway, Finland, Greenland, Sweden, the United States (Idaho and Alaska), the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The collection includes 25 photographers representing 15 different nationalities, among them Roi Levi from Israel, who captured the aurora over Mount Kirkjufell in Iceland.
The Northern Lights
(Video: Roi Levi)
“When the sky exploded and the green lady and the red lady danced a tango, I managed to catch them in a wild Northern Lights dance,” he told ynet. “It happened during a special Northern Lights photography tour I led in March. Even before we landed, I got a report of a solar flare and knew we had between 12 and 72 hours before a major aurora reached Earth and that’s exactly what happened. On the second night, I decided to change course with the group and head toward Kirkjufell, and it turned out to be a very successful night, with one of the most colorful auroras I’ve ever seen.
“Every year, with every group, I witness an aurora of at least G2 level, but this one was special and felt stronger. I stood there in awe of the intensity and color in the sky. I grabbed my Sony camera with a fast Sigma lens and decided to shoot everything I saw. Fortunately, I managed to capture the entire sky surrounding the mountain and nearby waterfalls. Anyone familiar with the location knows this is a unique panoramic image taken during a vivid aurora show caused by a strong geomagnetic storm. It’s a competition with massive exposure on all the biggest platforms, and I’m glad to see Israel represented.”
Lights & Ice – Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand
(Tori Harp / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Frozen Silence Beneath the Lights – Riisitunturi National Park, Finland
(Nikki Born / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Fiordland Aurora and Lupins – Cascade Creek, Fiordland, New Zealand
(Douglas Thorne / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Guardians of the Aurora – Taranaki, New Zealand
(Daniel Mickleson / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Gibson Steps Aurora – Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia
(Jeff Cullen / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Essence of the Arctic Night – Haukland Beach, Lofoten Islands
(Giulio Cobianchi / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Cathedral of Green Light Rising Over Skógafoss – Skógafoss, Iceland
(Victor Lima / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Llangrannog Aurora – Llangrannog, Ceredigion Coast, Wales
(Mathew Browne / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Aurora Bouquet Above Goðafoss – Goðafoss, Iceland
(Martin Giraud / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Alone Beneath the Dancing Sky – Skagsanden Beach, Lofoten Islands
(Nikola Vukotić / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Celestial Fireworks on New Year's – Otways Region, Victoria, Australia
(Sara Aurorae / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Arctic Rain – Tromsø, Norway
(Vincent Beudez / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Aurora Comet Lemmon – Skaulo, Sweden
(Petr Horálek / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Auroral Reflections - Idaho, USA
(Travis D. Amick / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Auroral Cinnamon Roll – Fairbanks, Alaska
(Marc Rassel / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Celestial Fireworks on New Year's – Raufarhöfn, Iceland
(Sadeq Hayati / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
One Autumn Night – Abisko, Sweden
(Jesús Garrido / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Northern Lights Over North Greenland – Arctic Circle, Greenland
(Ollie Taylor / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Neon Nightfall – Turisalu, Estonia
(Andres Papp / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Dreams in Eystrahorn – Eystrahorn, Iceland
(Pablo Ruiz / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Twisting Turn – Scoresbysund, Greenland
(Virgil Reglioni / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Speechless – Hudson Bay, Canada
(Ralf Rohner / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
Veni, Vidi, Vici – Lapland, Finland
(Marina Prol / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
The Northern Crown – Pihtipudas, Finland
(Mari Jääskeläinen / The 2025 Northern Lights photographer of the year)
The competition website notes that “In 2025, the aurora continued to deliver some of the strongest displays of the current solar cycle. Although the solar maximum has already passed, geomagnetic activity remained especially high throughout the year, producing storms that lit up the skies far beyond the polar regions. This created rare opportunities to photograph both the aurora borealis and aurora australis in exceptional locations—including from long-haul flights crossing high-latitude airspace.”
Dan Zafra, editor of Capture the Atlas, curates the collection throughout the year. His goal, the site says, is “to highlight not only the work of established aurora photographers, but also emerging talents and unique locations where aurora images are less common.”