Northern Lights Photography Tour, Iceland

Not as a dedicated product on GetYourGuide right now. The closest is the Norse Adventures jeep tour (at most 14 guests) with a photographer-guide; its listing mentions a private option. Of the private tours we list, only the Tulip Tours car includes help with your phone’s night settings — see private northern lights tours.

Not on a portrait tour: on the Aurora Viking photo tour the guide is the photographer and you get the pictures. On the photography coaching tour you do — the operator asks you to bring your own camera and a tripod, and teaches you settings and composition.

Yes, if you take the pictures yourself. An aurora photo is a long exposure: the shutter stays open for several seconds, and a hand-held camera blurs the frame. The Scenic Iceland coaching tour (€72.15) asks you to bring your own camera and a tripod. On a portrait tour such as Aurora Viking (€147.02, ★4.8 · 460 reviews) the photographer sets up the camera, so you need only warm clothes. A phone held still on a rock is fine for a souvenir.

Yes, a recent phone can, if you use night mode and hold it still on a tripod or a rock. The camera often shows more color than your eyes see, because it collects faint light over several seconds. Guides on several tours help with phone settings, and the Tulip Tours private car lists smartphone night-photo help as included. For portraits taken with a proper camera, the Aurora Viking guide-photographer does the work for €147.02 per person.

After the tour — none of the listings promises a delivery time, so ask your guide on the night how the files will reach you. On the Aurora Viking photo tour (€147.02, ★4.8 · 460 reviews) the guide is also the photographer, and the David The Guide minibus and the Nordur Travel 4x4 include free photos of you too. On the Scenic Iceland coaching tour you take the pictures yourself, so they are on your own camera before you leave the stop.

7 years on the Aurora Viking photo tour, the only one of the five photography tours we compare that states a limit. The Scenic Iceland coaching tour, the Norse Adventures jeep, the David The Guide minibus and the Saga Travel tour from Akureyri don’t state one, so ask the operator before booking with children. Keep in mind that the evening lasts 4 hours on Aurora Viking and 5 on David The Guide, much of it standing still in the cold.

On most of them you get another try for free. Aurora Viking gives unlimited free retries until you see the lights, with no expiry stated; the Scenic Iceland coaching tour lets you rebook free on any future date; the Norse Adventures jeep gives a free retry, or a new date or a full refund if the weather cancels it. The David The Guide minibus doesn’t state retry terms, and the Saga Travel tour from Akureyri states no retry. Book your first evening so a second try still fits.

Yes — on the Aurora Viking photo tour (€147.02 per person) Viking costumes and replica weapons are part of the listing, for the portraits the guide-photographer takes of you under the aurora. The same price includes hotel pickup and drop-off, hot chocolate and cookies, and unlimited free retries until you see the lights. The tour runs 4 hours, takes children from 7 and is rated ★4.8 from 460 reviews. None of the other tours we compare lists costumes.

If you want pictures of yourself, yes: the Aurora Viking photo tour has ★4.8 from 460 reviews and costs about €46 more than the Small-Group Premium minibus. If you only want to see the lights, a regular small-group tour with free photos does the job for less.

Yes. The photographer-guide takes pictures of the group and of you, and you are free to shoot with your own camera or phone at the same stops. Bring a tripod if you want sharp long exposures, because the shutter stays open for several seconds, and keep a spare battery in an inside pocket, since cold drains batteries fast. If you mainly want to learn the settings yourself, the Scenic Iceland coaching tour at €72.15 teaches settings and composition.