a flickering rainbow of colours came with the march solar storm that made the northern lights even more remarkable than usual, and italian photographer giovanna griffo was in iceland to capture them in all their glory griffo, 42, who is based in latina, led a group of her students to vik and hella in the south of iceland where they were fortunate enough to be blown away by what is said to have been the strongest geomagnetic storm in the current  solar cycle while giovanna takes and edits all manner of photographs, she has a particular affinity with the night sky   and not just the spectacular aurora borealis but locations in her own country too scroll down for video  italian photographer giovanna griffo's  mesmerising images of the aurora borealis during the blue hour near hella, iceland  in march, the northern lights were even more remarkable than usual and griffo was in iceland to capture them in all their glory  this images of the night sky being illuminated with stunning yellow and pink was taken from a road outside vik in iceland's south  'these shots have been taken in different locations in italy and iceland,' griffo tells mailonline 'you can find amazing nightscapes almost everywhere, i started collecting night scenes near my home town and went always further and further trying to capture iconic places all around the world 'the northern lights were one of my dreams, so i went some weeks ago to iceland hoping to be lucky enough to get one! 'i have to say i have been so much more than just lucky, since i got one the most powerful solar storm in the last three years that made an incredibly aurora visible in germany too!' griffo, the daughter of two artists, teaches photography and post production in seminars all around italy and is also the editor and founder of the photo community wwwmaxartisi not a bad view for the residents of this home near hella where the northern lights shone even brighter than usual last month  griffo shot this stunning image of a man (right) admiring the sky over molveno lake in the dolomites, italy, and this pair (right) in iceland  a man shines a torch but his light his overshadowed by the stars above circeo national park in latina, italy  these stunning night skies were immortalised from val d'orcia near in siena in the tuscany region of italy  griffo, the daughter of two artists, teaches photography and post production in seminars all around italy  a keen photographer since she was six spending time in her father's dark room, she still considers developing films and printing a form of 'magic' to this day but you are in control of some elements of the craft and there are ways to maximise your chances to capture something as wonderful as these examples, and a lot of it comes down to the location 'scouting places in your own country is definitely simpler than when you are abroad,' she says 'in any case it is important to scout them during day time it is extremely difficult discover a good place during night time, so usually i come back just before darkness in order to be able to frame the picture and studying the right composition' another stunning shot from circeo national park in latina, which griffo scouted out in daylight before returning before sundown to set up  a keen photographer since she was six spending time in her father's dark room, she still considers photography a form of 'magic' and patience is a virtue that cannot be underestimated 'night photography is always tricky and full of issues to overcome! it is difficult managing your gear in complete darkness and often you are in very lonely places where it is not so safe to stay you can find dangerous wildlife or even people with bad intentions you have to pay a lot of attention and be prepared to stay many hours at very low temperatures' 'you need to scout a location with clear sky during a night rather with no moon try to use a fast lenses (f/28 is better), a shutter speed between 8 and 15 sec (it depends how fast the aurora moves) and iso between 1600 and 2500'
italian giovanna griffo italy iceland
italian photographer giovanna griffo, 42, shares her talents with images of the northern lights and other locations . the teacher of photography and post production teaches courses all over italy and recently visited iceland . she reveals some tips on the best way to capture the northern lights and night skies in all their glory 