Friday Photo #204 – Reine Sunrise

Friday Photo #204 - Reine Sunrise

Photo: Autumn sunrise over Reine, near Vindstad, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 23, 2016. 08:51

The original plan for the previous night had been to camp on the summit of Storskiva. But it was far too windy to stay up high on the mountain, so we descended the peak and found a more sheltered location above Bunes beach, with nice views towards Reine as well. The nights come early in late October, and after a long, cold hike, I was soon fast asleep.

I didn’t know what sunrise would bring, but I wasn’t optimistic, and my tent was still shaking strongly in the cold wind as I stirred myself from sleep and took a look outside. Not much. But I go up anyhow and went to join my friend who was already up, taking a bit of shelter behind some rocks.

Soon enough however, a faint pink began to shine on the clouds and I could see the first rays of light hitting the peaks rising above us. The light slowly crept down the mountains until it was upon us. I knew it was time to move!

I quickly grabbed my gear and hopped to the far side of the rocks, looking directly into the autumn sun rising over Reine, on the far side of the fjord in the distance. It was windy like mad facing in this direction, and I wasn’t entirely sure that my light mountain tripod would get me any still shots, but I did my best to wait for brief pauses in the gusts, where things were a bit calmer for a brief second or two.

Composition wise, I don’t think this is the strongest image. But I can feel the warmth of the sun after a cold night, and that is what draws me into it.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 14
1/10 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #203 – Persatind Gimsøy

Friday Photo #203 - Persatind Gimsøy

Photo: Summit of Persatind, Gimsøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 18, 2016. 13:47

There is barely four hours of daylight on Lofoten as the middle of November arrives and passes. Each day feels darker and darker, even with clear skies. Under heavy clouds, in feels as if the world will soon turn to night – which it will.

After a week of heavy winds and rain from multiple passing storms out of the south, the weather finally settled a bit on this day. Though the forecast called for rain my mid afternoon, I took the risk to head east to Gimsøy to hike up a new mountain for me, Persatind.

Starting the hike at noon, I already felt as if we should turn around; that night will soon arrive. But the heavy clouds were responsible for this as we still have a few hours of decent light.  Fresh snow had fallen overnight and as we ascended higher up the mountain a cold wind began to blow.  Following a maze of sheep trails up a steep and snowy ridge, the route finally arrives at the broad plateau of Høgheia – Maybe a good spot for some winter camping later in the season.

Clouds of the approaching snow and rain were slowly drifting in from the south, layers of distant mountains fading into a blueish grey. To the north, a twilight glow warmed the horizon over the distant islands of Vesterålen and the open sea.

After a few minutes on top it was time to descend while we still had some light. In a couple short weeks, once the polar night arrives, I will be thinking of the brightness of this day – light which wont return until the middle of January…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/8 seconds
WB Daylight
5 image pano

Friday Photo #202 – Skagsanden Aurora

Friday Photo #202 - Skagsanden Aurora

Photo: Northern lights over Skagsanden beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 16, 2016. 20:33

With a full moon rising into the October night, the clear evening sky erupted into a brilliant aurora. I had just finished dinner and looked out the window; seeing a hit of green in the sky, I knew it was time to go!

By the time I arrived at Skagsanden beach, only a five minute drive from my house, the aurora was beginning to pickup. A few minutes later, they sky exploded with color.

The combination of full moon and bright aurora meant I could keep a relatively fast shutter speed and low ISO, yet still maintain enough detail in both the sky and foreground.

In the coming winter months, this will be one of the most photographed beaches for northern lights, with lines of tripods setup across the beach. So it is a bit peaceful to have the place to myself during the late days of autumn, when the islands are still and quiet.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 1600
f 3.2
3 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #201 – November Aurora

Friday Photo #201 - Ballstad Northern Lights

Photo: Northern lights over cod racks, Ballstad, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 10, 2016. 16:52

I was on my way to Ballstad in the late afternoon yesterday to drop off a friend after some hiking and a bit of shopping in Leknes. The sun is setting early these days, but the sky was still relatively bright; additionally with the full moon only a few days away. Casually looking out my window at the countryside, I noticed a streak of green in the sky, it was barely past 16:30. So early!

Luckily, since I had been hiking earlier, I happened to have my camera with me, the previous day I missed a fantastic sunset while heading to the climbing gym without my camera. Though I’m unfamiliar with Ballstad, and would have preferred to be at a beach or mountain location, I knew the nearby cod racks could make a decent foreground element and more importantly, help hide some of the surrounding city lights.

I photographed a few different compositions that I liked, and several featuring the moon. Yet, pure luck let the aurora to almost perfectly align with the cod racks for a few moments for an image that looks like I put more more effort into than I actually did. After a few minutes the clouds rolled in and the show was mostly over.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f 3.5
5 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #200 – Winter Campfire

Friday Photo #200 - Winter Camfire

Photo: Evening campfire below Reka, Rekadalen, Langøya, Vesterålen, Norway. Nov, 2, 2016. 16:19

The past couple days I was up on Vesterålen to make an attempt to climb Reka, an iconic peak a bit north of Sortland. In the short and cold November days, we didn’t quite have enough time to get to the summit, and even with a base camp the previous night, didn’t get back to my van until well after dark. But it was a good adventure.

Leaving Lofoten in the early morning, it was a couple hours drive to the trail head, and the a couple more hours hiking – and trying to find the route – through the frozen, icy forests of Vesterålen. With the November sun low on the horizon, our route no longer sees any direct sunlight throughout the day, plunging the forests into a winter chill.

Although we had planned to have a base camp as high as possible, the early darkness gave the need to setup camp earlier than expected. Luckily there was a nice clearing for the tent, now completely frozen, but would otherwise be a total bog in summer. With numerous dead birch around, we thought a campfire might help keep the cold away a for a while. But as good as our attempts were, the cold and the frost eventually got the better of our meagre fire, and we reluctantly gave up and returned to the warmth of our sleeping bags. Soon however, northern lights filled the sky and I was back out in the cold again…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 5.6
.3 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #199 – View Over Bunes Beach

Friday Photo #199 - View Over Bunes beach

Photo: Panoramic view over Bunes beach and Reine near summit of Storskiva, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 22, 2016. 12:11

After the previous weekend’s failure to reach the summit of Ertenhelltind, last weekend I found myself on the 21:30 ferry from Reine to Vindstad with another mountain in sight. The goal: Storskiva. The iconic peak rising 848 meters above the southern side of Bunes beach.

The autumn has mostly been mild and dry this year, and even mostly cooperative on the weekends when my mountain partners are available. Though no rain was forecast, a shower passed over my house Friday afternoon, giving me a bit of hesitation about the condition our route for Saturday. But as evening came, the radar was clear and so I headed to Reine.

After a cold, windy night camping on the pass above Bunes, we took a leisurely start to the hike. The forecast was for full sun, yet the sky remained somewhat cloudy, but above the summits at least! With the sun low on the horizon at this time of year, Bunes only gets a brief amount of sunlight. With the clouds added in, light was only cast among the surrounding mountains.

A little below the summit we took a shot break and I shot this 12 image pano, handheld – not always time/need for the tripod, even though it was on my backpack. The wind was blowing cold, so we didn’t stop long. Above, the temperatures dropped below freezing and the turf was frozen and slippery, with winter just around the corner. But not before one last snow free summit of the year! And one that I have waited a while for and will surely be back again to watch the magical summer midnight light shine across Bunes and Helvetestind!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 10
1/320 second
WB Daylight
12 image pano

Friday Photo #198 – Yttersand Beach

Friday Photo #198 - Yttersand Beach

Photo: Autumn morning over Yttersand beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 18, 2016. 09:31

I had originally planned to camp on the summit of Fuglhuken, yet a late start to the day meant I would not reach the summit before sunset. The weather was cloudier than forecasted, and my main hopes were for a repeat of the northern lights, which had been fantastic on the previous night – when I was a bit lazy after a day of climbing, so stayed low on the beaches.

I thought about just heading back to the car, but since I had already carried my gear up to Ytresandhei, I decided just to stay the night up on the ridge near Røren, just in case anything happened.

At 18:40, I saw the first flicker of aurora in the sky. However, the combination of high clouds and full moon were too strong. Crawling into my sleeping bag to escape the cold, I remained optimistic for the sky to clear, and kept checking until late into the night. Sometime early in the morning a faint aurora glowed overhead, but it wasn’t strong enough, nor was I, for me to enter into the cold.

Dawn brought some nice colors, but the composition was off for my location on the ridge. So when it became evident I wouldn’t shoot much, I packed camp and began the short walk back to the van. It wasn’t until I was almost back at the parking area that I thought this scene looked interesting enough to pull out my camera. The clouds were moving just enough for me use a 10 stop ND filter and and an exposure of 90 seconds to bring a little softness back into the sky to match the feeling of the light.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 50
f 13
91 seconds
WB Daylight
10 stop ND filter

Friday Photo #197 – Olstind Rainbow

Friday Photo #197 - Olstind Rainbow

Photo: Autumn rainbow over Olstind mountain peak, Reine, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 2, 2016. 08:44

The beginning of October brought the usual turbulent autumn weather across Lofoten. And with the wind and rain come the rainbows. I often remark, that for a place with so much rain, rainbows are relatively infrequent compared to my experience with similar conditions such as in Scotland. Yet with the autumn rains and the lowering sun, the rainbows seem to grow in frequency.

I was guiding a tour on this particular morning. I was just about to pickup a client from the bridge at Hamnøy, but as I saw the rain approaching, I told him to stay – and where he got an absolutely fantastic photo – while I continued across the bridge and parked on the other side.

By the time I was out of my van, the rain was already falling, blowing right into the direction I needed to shoot. I turned my back to the wind and set my camera up in advance. Turning quickly, I fired off a series of shots as the wide glass of the 14-24 was pelted with rain. Luckily the first few shots were good enough.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
16mm
ISO 125
f 7.1
1/250 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #196 – Tønsåsheia Sunrise

Friday Photo 196 - Tønsåsheia

Photo: Autumn sunrise from Tønsåsheia, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 23, 2016. 07:13

My tent was shaking in the wind as dawn approached. Having stayed up past midnight in an unsuccessful attempt at northern lights, my 05:30 alarm hit me like a wall; part of me secretly hoping for no light and an excuse to stay in my sleeping bag. But as I unzipped the tent and saw the orange glow on the easter horizon, I knew I couldn’t be lazy. I closed my eyes for another few minutes, then began to get dressed.

It was a cold and windy morning. As the sun neared the horizon I could see clouds begin to form over Stjerntind to the north, the highest peak on Flakstadøy. I went about wandering and shooting across the broad flat plateau of Tønsåshei, trying my best to take shelter from the cold east wind. Soon I noticed the clouds beginning to move lower and lower.

What I thought would be a relatively nice, but somewhat boring sunrise quickly turned into a fantastic show of swirling clouds all around me in the golden light of dawn. Every second different from the previous or the following. It was one of those times where you have to keep shooting the same scene over and over again, afraid to put down the camera.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
130mm
ISO 125
f 8
1/200 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #195 – Ytresand Aurora

Friday Photo 195 - Northern Lights

Photo: Autumn northern lights over Ytresand beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 27, 2016. 21:12

The forecast called for heavy clouds and a bit of rain, yet as the day faded into night, the sky remained clear. Busy with work, I peaked out the window just to see if anything was happening. Lights!

Hopping into my van, I knew my best shot was to head to Ytresand. Only 5 minutes from my house, it is not only a scenic beach, but also a relatively quiet place compared to the more popular Skagsanden beach – as I was aware of several photo tours on the islands at the moment.

As I arrived and ran down to the water the sky was filled with light. I first set up a time lapse sequence to shoot with my little Fuji, then wandered elsewhere to shoot with my D800. It was high tide, so I couldn’t get the clear reflections I was hoping for the the flat, sand beach. But the aurora was so strong that even the incoming tide took a nice green tone.

It is for nights like this that I moved to Lofoten. Hopefully there are many more in the coming months…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1600
f 3.2
10 seconds
WB Daylight