Enhance the Northern Lights

Give your aurora shots a boost in Lightroom, with Sean McCormack

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This year marks the Solar Maximum, making it an exciting time for aurora photographers.

The sun has an 11-year sunspot cycle and throughout 2025, we've been experiencing the peak of activity. Sunspots appear as dark patches on the Sun's surface - they are actually cooler regions created by powerful magnetic fields. These fields cause solar flares and the coronal mass ejections that we can see shooting into space.

When these charged particles reach Earth, they interact with its magnetic field, creating breathtaking auroral displays that photographers love to capture. This heightened solar activity means more frequent and vibrant northern (and southern) lights, which often appear at much lower latitudes. It's a truly magical time for photography and, for once, there's no need to travel to Iceland or Norway to see them.