Friday Photo #298 – Gimsøy Sky

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Gimsøy Storm - Friday Photo #298

Photo: Dark autumn sky over Gimsøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 17, 2016. 17:50

The last days have seen the fury of the first autumn storm over Lofoten. Wind, rain, clouds, and more wind. The Gimsøy bridge has been closed for some periods on Thursday and several ferries were canceled. Luckily, autumn seems late to arrive this year, and not too many leaves have blown off the trees as far as I could see. In other years, the autumn color could have ended today. Which is why autumn is always a bit of a risk here, as one never knows what will happen.

This is a 6 image pano from an approaching weather front while on Gimsøy. Autumn often brings a dramatic change from the weather of summer. Autumn is the season of rainbows, and the season of dark skies – often on the border of being able to shoot and having to run back to shelter from the sideways rain. But bad weather makes good photos. And so that is why autumn on Lofoten is one of my favourite seasons to photograph.

Today starts my first photo workshop of the season. For the next month I’ll be out with groups trying to show the best of Lofoten. At the moment, the weather forecast is looking a bit grim. But on Lofoten, that means opportunity for something special – as long as one is willing to get a bit wet…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 10
1/30 second
WB Daylight
6 image panoramic

Friday Photo #296 – Autumn Aurora

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Autumn Aurora - Friday Photo #296

Photo: Northern lights and twilight glow of late August, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 31, 2018. 23:40

The final night of August brought the third aurora of the 2018/2019 season. Not a bad way to say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn – I had already seen the first yellow leaves, so I think it’s safe to say that autumn had started…

One of the things I like about the start/end of the aurora season is the twilight glow which remains on the horizon throughout the night. Beyond the fact that it keeps the overall scene brighter and adds light to the landscape, I find it nice to have a separation on the horizon, with the sky fading to a deep blue the higher it gets.

And even though the sun is spotless at the moment and the KP index was only a 1 or so at the time, never rely on this too much. I see so much talk online about KP this or that, but the reality is, it doesn’t matter all that much. And just like the weather forecast up here, the aurora forecast is mostly a suggestion of what will likely happen, but there is still a fair amount of unknown. So tip of the day: If the sky is clear – go out!

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 800
f 2
3 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #291 – September Aurora

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September Aurora - Friday Photo #291

Photo: Autumn northern lights fill the sky over the village of Å, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 14, 2017. 22:26

Sometimes I feel like August is a light switch here in the north. Suddenly the nights feel dark again, the roads seem to have emptied overnight, and the weather has that first autumn chill. And August means that the aurora season is only a few short weeks away.

I will miss the endless summer nights, and after the cold rainy weather of June this year, July turned out to be fantastic! One of my hottest summer’s here on Lofoten – often too hot for the mountains actually! But summer will be back next year. And before the winter snow arrives there are still plenty of nights to be had out in the mountains – not under the midnight sun, but under the dancing aurora.

Last year, September’s weather seemed to be better than the whole of summer. With many clear, calm nights. This also coincided with some strong solar storms – Any talk of the coming solar minimum stuff in BS as far as I’m concerned. So I was lucky with several nice nights looking for some interesting new compositions to shoot under the northern lights.

This is a tricky pursuit however, with a high miss rate, as, unlike a sunset or some clouds in the sky, you can never be certain where the aurora will appear. A few times though, I seemed to be in a decent location with the aurora working fairly well for me. Such as this shot here, where I was camped on the summit of Andstabben, with the village of Å below me. Normally I’m not a fan of distracting city lights in aurora images, but in the case, with the aurora almost perfectly aligned with the direction of the lights below, it works for me.

Who knows what this September will bring. Even if only half as good as last year, I will be happy. Though I will also be away traveling for the first part of the month, and busy with workshops during the 2nd half – still some places available on my Exploring Autumn workshop. So I’m not sure how many nights in the mountains I’ll get, and if my time off will align with good weather and northern lights. We will see…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 214-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 3.2
15 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #286 – Lofotodden Nasjonalpark

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Lofotodden national park - Friday Photo #286

Photo: Twilight view over the wild north coast of Moskenesøy, soon to be part of Lofotodden Nasjonalpark, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 7, 2017. 20:30

After a process of more than 10 years, and with a fair amount of local opposition on Lofoten, last week the Norwegian government announced the creation of Norway’s 40th national park – Lofotodden Nasjonalpark. (NRK article here). More or less covering the whole northern coast of Moskenesøy before wrapping around the western tip of Lofoten, the park will include many of Lofoten’s most wild and rugged mountains and valleys.

Some of the opposition comes from loss of usage rights among people who might have property within the new park boundaries. But there is also the fear that the national park will bring an unsustainable amount of visitors to Lofoten. This, I disagree with.

In my opinion, the current rate of visitors on Lofoten is already unsustainable with the current infrastructure. And popular areas which will now be within the new park, such as Kvalvika or Bunes beaches, have no facilities to manage the waste of the thousands of campers each summer season – that is a lot of shits being buried under rocks, at best, and otherwise often sat out in the open, dirty toilet paper blowing away in the wind.

Hopefully, if done right (which I’m not 100% confident of), the new national park can bring with it the funds to help build facilities needed for current and future use of this fragile arctic landscape. And beyond facilities, hopefully the authority of now being within a national park will also lead to better education of visitors and their increased respect for the land. This is just my hope though, what will actually happen will be seen in the years to come. And hopefully it doesn’t mean that I now need to pay to park when I visit my favorite mountains or beaches, with otherwise no further benefit.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 10
.8 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #274 – Fuglhuken

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Fuglhuken - Friday Photo #274

Photo: Wild camp on Fuglhuken in September’s morning light. Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 19, 2017. 06:41

In honor of yesterday’s release of the 2nd edition of my West Lofoten Hikes ebook, I thought I’d post a photo from one of the new hikes I added to the ebook: Fuglhuken – a 557 meter peak on the northeast corner of Moskenesøy.

As September of 2017 had such fantastic weather, I would often head out for just an evening in the mountains. On this particular trip, the forecast called for clear skies by early afternoon, but as I was heading up the trail, heavy clouds were still hanging over the yttersia of Moskenesøy. Eventually in the evening, the sky finally cleared and I had a pretty good show of northern lights to watch.

Dawn arrived clear and cold, with the first signs of that autumn crispness in the air. In my haste the previous day, I had forgotten my thermal long underwear, and as I was still desperately holding on to the last days with my summer sleeping bag, it was a chilly night! The warmth of that morning sunlight was quite welcomed.

Soon however, the light lost it’s warmth and became somewhat dull and flat. So I packed up camp and headed down the mountain, getting back home for breakfast.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
48mm
ISO 160
f 10
1/10 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #252 – Aurora Camping

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Aurora Camping - Friday Photo #252

Photo: September northern lights camping under full moon, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 8, 2017. 01:25

…Continuing on from last weeks Friday Photo #251. This is now a bit later in the evening. I had begun to crawl back into my tent when the aurora began to fade. Luckily I wasn’t in a hurry, because that was the moment the lights really began to get active.

Unfortunately though, clouds had also come to take over a large part of the sky, inhibiting many of my potential compositions. Needing something in the foreground, my tent was the only real thing I had available. Though it was also on this night I realised I should bring 2 headlamps – 1 for the tent, and 1 for me so I don’t walk off a cliff in the dark!

I shot numerous different compositions, however, I think I like this one, with the bright moon, the best.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1000
f 3.2
2 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #251 – Horseid Aurora

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Horseid Aurora - Friday Photo #251

Photo: Northern Lights over Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 8, 2017. 00:27

I already posted a photo from this trip last month for Friday Photo #247, the night after this while down on the beach itself. The first night I headed up high, in hopes over Aurora over Horseid from above. I was somewhat successful.

In my mind I have a continually growing list of images that I would like to take. Normally it’s when I’m standing on some mountain and think to myself, ‘wouldn’t it be cool to be here if such and such happened.’ Some of these ideas I’ve had in my head for years, just waiting for the right opportunity and conditions. And only since moving here full time have I been able to dedicated a little more time to these ideas, as they take much more time and luck that I could commit to on a 2-3 week trip where I would need to focus on more productive endeavours. Northern Lights over Horseid beach has been one of these images.

Good weather forecast, (almost) full moon, and a solar storm were the conditions that drove me up here. But even as I boarded the ferry from Reine, I wasn’t quite sure where I would go: should I play it safe, and go somewhere where I had a higher chance of a good image, and still something quite unique for Lofoten. Or should I take a bigger gamble, where I could perhaps completely miss things all together. I chose to gamble.

The aurora started early, even before the sky was dark. But they were mostly faint. And in what had been forecasted clear skies, a layer of clouds was approaching. Shit! The moon soon rose and illuminated the beach far below me, adding much needed contrast to the otherwise dark scene. The aurora came and went in waves, but nothing too brilliant.

Content I had something decent, at least for a first attempt at this image, I returned to my tent. Clouds now began to fill more and more of the sky. As I was walking in circles while brushing my teeth, the aurora erupted overhead. I quickly went back to shooting, but I could already see that the sky above the beach was mostly filled with clouds, blocking the aurora there. So I made the best of the conditions and started shooting my tent instead (perhaps I’ll post that image soon).

If I had a time machine, I would stayed on the beach the first night, and camped up here the 2nd. But even so, it was a productive two nights, both of which created some unique images! And, even better, I have plenty of time to go back and try again – maybe even for a winter version…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 3.2
8 second
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

Friday Photo #250 – Aurora Campfire

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Campfire and Northern Lights - Friday Photo #250

Photo: Campfire below northern lights, Storsandnes, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 28, 2017. 22:33

Sometimes life is best enjoyed simply by being there. The final evening of my 2017 Exploring Autumn photo tour, this was the 4th night (of 6) where we had northern lights in the sky overhead.

We had already spent sunset this evening in the mountains above Unstad, returning to my van by headlamp. And already on the way down, the aurora had begun dancing in the fading twilight. A quick stop for pizza in Leknes, we hurried to another beach, eating on the way.

Normally, this night alone would have been good and everyone would have been shooting as much as possible. But they had been slightly spoiled by the previous night, which was one of the best aurora shows that I have ever seen!

And so I did what I might do had I been on my own or with a few friends – build a campfire! From time to time, when the lights got strong, we would go wander off and take some photos, only quickly to return to the warmth of the fire. As the hours passed, the photography time lessened and the fire time grew. Until finally we decided to call it a night.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f 2.8
5 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #249 – Veggen Coffee

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Veggen Coffee - Friday Photo #249

Photo: Dinner and a coffee on the summit of Veggen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 4, 2017. 20:16

Despite the mild, and almost hot, weather this September, as each day passes, the sun sinks a bit lower in the sky. As much as I love autumn, and am looking forward to ski on my feet again in winter; it is hard to say goodbye to summer. But there is no sense in resisting – all one can do is take as much advantage of the sun as possible. And for my friends that have normal working hours, this means the evenings.

One of the best things about Lofoten is that the mountains are so accessible. An hour or less of hiking is all that is needed to find yourself surrounded by vertical peaks rising from the sea. And so I’ve started to change my flow of life a bit. Why should I always cook dinner at home? Why not throw some food and cooking gear into your backpack and eat dinner at 500 meters while watching the sun fall into the sea. It seems like a completely obvious thing to do – and I’m sure many people do it. But I was either focused on photography and hiking, or photography and camping. It is only somewhat recently that relaxation has begun to play a bigger role in my mountain summits.

And so September saw me on several of these ‘enjoy the sun and relax’ hikes. How long can it continue before the days are too short or the weather too cold? I don’t know. Maybe a few more weeks. Soon there will only be enough light for small little hills. But as long as the sun is shining and the wind is calm, hopefully I’ll be out there somewhere…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 3.5
1/60 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #248 – Haukland Beach Aurora

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Haukland Aurora - Friday Photo #248

Photo: Haukland aurora, Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 27, 2017. 22:04

Had my tour finished before this night, I already would have been content that my clients had already gotten some decent aurora photos. On this evening, they got the show of a lifetime. Perhaps one of the best nights I have seen in all my time here in the north.

With the mild September weather this year, we decided to have an evening bbq and campfire at Uttakleiv while waiting for darkness. Something a bit special, and what I would do if I was on my own. Uttakleiv is generally a good spot to wait for Aurora. And on most other years, we would likely have had the place to ourselves for the evening. But even with October just around the corner, the islands remain busy this year, and the constant buzzing of drones in the sky has been almost ever-present at every beach and even half the mountains – there were 2 drones flying on Ryten a couple nights previous!

So as night arrived, so did car after car of people. And then, the first aurora appeared in the sky over Himmeltind. Not a good direction for Uttakleiv. I knew the aurora eventually move to a more compositionally pleasing location, but as an increasing amount of headlights began to fill the beach, I made the decision to get out of there and try somewhere else.

that somewhere else is just a couple minutes away. Haukland beach. And though the main parking lot seemed full, it was mostly just campers, many of whom seemed to be sleeping already. Luckily, there was no one at my intended destination on the left side of the beach, where the river had formed a perfect reflection pool.

Shortly after we arrived, the real show began. For some moments, the entire sky was seemingly full of aurora. I often didn’t know which way to look. But I was waiting for the lights to come into the sky over the beach, giving me a reflection I wanted. Eventually they did.

Car after car drove by, continuing to Uttakleiv. While here it was just the five of us, standing in the darkness and occasionally shouting towards the sky. What a night to be in the north!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
14mm
ISO 2000
f 3.2
5 seconds
WB Daylight