Circling Day and Night, Encounter the Northern Lights

Wiggo Hüttepohl comes from Saltdal in Northern Norway. He works as a power line technician, and in his spare time, he loves mountain hiking, ice fishing and photography, chasing the exclusive aurora displays of Northern Europe all year round. The cycle of long midnight sun and polar nights sets extremely high standards for his outdoor headlamp in terms of brightness, runtime and multi-functionality. Two Fenix headlamps have helped him capture countless stunning aurora photos and become reliable gear for all his winter outdoor adventures.

I work full-time as a power line technician. I love spending time with my family when I’m free, and I also enjoy travelling to witness all the unique natural scenery Northern Europe has to offer. That’s why I’m obsessed with outdoor activities and photography. I used to take landscape photos with a Canon EOS 550D, but nowadays I only use my iPhone 17 Pro to record all my trips.

A few years ago, I was looking for a high-performance professional headlamp and chose the Fenix HM65R after comparing plenty of products. This model once won first place in a professional comparison test held by a famous outdoor magazine, and its impressive brightness and solid build quality immediately won me over. After long-term use, its powerful beam and long-lasting battery fully live up to all my expectations. Whether I’m patrolling power lines, hiking in mountains or fishing after dark, it stays by my side and has accompanied me on countless short and long outdoor trips.

Later on, I wanted an upgraded headlamp with stronger light output and richer functions, so I bought the brand-new Fenix HP35R. I was pleasantly surprised after I started using it. It satisfies almost every demand a Nordic outdoor enthusiast could have. My favourite feature is the detachable battery pack with reverse charging function. I can charge my iPhone and other portable electronic devices anytime out in the wild, which is extremely practical in remote areas without power access.

We have the Midnight Sun in Northern Norway from May to July every year. The sun never sets, and it stays bright all night long, so artificial lighting is barely needed. That’s why I haven’t fully tested all functions of this new headlamp yet. Meanwhile, polar nights last roughly 120 days from late October to late February the following year. I’m really looking forward to the dark autumn and winter nights so I can test the headlamp in more scenarios.

In this photo, I lit up the old boathouse with my new Fenix HP35R headlamp while admiring the aurora dancing across the sky.

My family owns a holiday cabin on the Helgeland coast. After heavy winter storms, I stopped by on my way to check whether the cabin was intact. My new headlamp lit up the entire winding path leading to the cabin clearly and worked perfectly. The sky was completely clear that night, and the Northern Lights put on an absolutely breathtaking show. I walked down to the boathouse to inspect it and watched the aurora swirl overhead. An idea came to me: it would make a fantastic shot if I lit up the boathouse with my headlamp against the glowing aurora above.

The floodlight mode worked perfectly. I only turned the light on briefly to prevent overexposure, and I captured a perfectly balanced scene: the vintage boathouse softly illuminated, with magnificent aurora flowing overhead. The aurora that night had a rare, vivid red hue, a view you don’t get to see very often.

I’ve been using my Fenix headlamps frequently this year while skiing, mountain hiking and ice fishing, and I’m thoroughly satisfied with them. The headlamps deliver consistent, long battery life and don’t require frequent charging during all-day outdoor activities. Taking all my work and outdoor needs into consideration, I have nothing negative to say about them at all.