Lapland's forests cover vast stretches of land above the Arctic Circle, and in winter they transform into landscapes almost impossible to describe to someone who has never stood inside one. The region experiences a period called kaamos, the polar night, during which the sun stays below the horizon for weeks at a time, casting the forest in this signature sideways, golden-blue half-light. The area has been home to the Sámi people for thousands of years, and their deep relationship with this land and its seasons remains central to Lapland's cultural identity.

The blue hour just after a brief midwinter noon is when this light is at its most extraordinary — cold, clear days in December and January tend to deliver it at its finest.