Friday Photo | 68 North

Friday Photo #168 – Winter Sunset

March 25, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: Last light over the end of Lofoten, Å, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 12, 2015. 15:29

I think I have written many times by now about the cliffs past the village of Å being a good sunset location for a few weeks in winter. If you’ve missed the other times, I’m writing it again. From late January to mid February, the sun sets right around the mountains at the ‘end’ of Lofoten. And with this also being a scenic section of coastline, it is one of my favorite winter sunset locations.

Though I have been here plenty of times before, I did find myself having some compositional challenges on this particular day. The sea was just average, not particularly stormy and not particularly calm. There was also a fresh dusting of snow that I wanted to include in the scene.

After trying several other compositions from higher up on the rocks, which, I would have been happy with were this my first visit, I felt they were missing something. Finally getting closer to the sea, I came upon this view. It was the most dramatic part of the scene, but I think the image has a better balance of the elements, still showing all I wanted to show, but in a much simpler form.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 31
f 16
13 seconds
WB Daylight
3 images: top,, middle bottom

Friday Photo #167 – Skagsanden Beach Winter

March 18, 2016/0 Comments/in Flakstadøya, Friday Photo, Winter/by Cody

Photo: River flowing across Skagsanden beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 17, 2015. 12:09

Skagsanden is one of Lofoten’s most popular beaches among photographers these days. The nice thing about winter is that a light dusting of snow overnight will cover up the traces of everyone who has been there before you.

This soft pastel light is a common occurrence in January as the sun is barely able to rise above the horizon. Instead of focusing on the beach itself, I found this stream running through the snow covered sand to be much more interesting.

The one thing that distracts me is the mountain in the background, I wish the river had been flowing a bit more to the left. But this is nature, and I cannot change things – though some might. Though I think this is a philosophy among landscape photographers who see themselves as the most important element of the image, and want to show what ‘they experienced;’ Whether that reflects what was actually in front of them or not.

Perhaps I lack the confidence to add such a strong vision to my images, and I often think of myself as just a simple observer, seeing if there’s anything interesting to photograph.

One of these years I will come back and things will be as I imagined. Patience…

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
13 seconds
WB Daylight
3 images: top, middle, bottom

Friday Photo #166 – Flakstadøy Coast

March 11, 2016/1 Comment/in Flakstadøya, Friday Photo, Winter/by Cody

Photo: High tide along the rocky northern coast of Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 12, 2015. 16:46

Having already photographed sunset at Å an hour earlier, I was headed east looking for a place to park the car and sleep for the night. As I passed Ramberg, there was still a nice winter blue hour glow to the sky and so not yet ready for dinner, I headed to this section of rocky coastline near Skagsanden beach.

The tide was high and the waves were big enough that I could get a nice view across to Hustinden, rising in the distance. The color was gone from the islands, but I think the texture and shape of this scene work better as a B&W (blue and white) image.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 31
f 11
13 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images: top, bottom

Friday Photo #165 – Mannen in Winter

March 4, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Vestvågøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: Climber descending from Mannen in winter, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 23, 2015. 13:50

On a cold winter day in February my friend Till and I headed up to the summit of Mannen via a direct route on the south face. After some time on the summit, the winds were picking up at it was time to head down. Figuring the route we ascended wouldn’t be too fun to head down, we took the normal tourist trail down from the summit. Although it winter, it is a bit more adventurous that the easy walk of summer.

As I remained on the summit, packing my gear, Till began the descent. Appearing as a lone figure on the ridge, with clouds seeming to radiate from Himmeltindan in the background, I quickly pulled out my camera for a few more images.

Not the best light, but this scene illustrates typical winter conditions in the mountains of Lofoten.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
15mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/400 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #164 – Winter Mountain Reflection

February 26, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: Winter mountain reflection, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 17, 2015. 13:21

The Fredvang bridges are one of my favorite winter locations as they provide a variety of unobstructed views towards the wild mountains of Moskenesøy. In early and mid winter especially, the sun sets behind the mountains, filling the sky with light if the conditions are right.

This particular day, while leading a group for Muench workshops (keep an eye out for another tour in 2017), we had almost perfect conditions. With sunset arriving in the early afternoon in mid January, I saw that the calm conditions and light layer of clouds might result in some good light. I think so!

Even looking in the other direction, where a soft pastel filled the sky over Ramberg, there were numerous scenes to be photographed within a few minutes walk from the vans.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f 9
1/60 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #163 – Horseid Beach Winter Camping

February 19, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: Winter camping at Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 3, 2014. 18:47

I often get asked if its possible to reach so-and-so location in winter. And I can only really answer, ‘I don’t know.’ Winter on Lofoten can mean anything from hurricane force winds and -20˚C windchill in a hopeless whiteout, Waste deep powered snow, 7˚C and rain, or anything in between.

The start of 2014 saw Lofoten nearly devoid of snow. The calendar said winter, but the islands looked more like May. While the temperatures still remained relatively cold, and one had to be cautious of ice, most lower level hiking locations on the islands were easier than normal to reach.

Taking advantage of these condition, I visited all 3 of Moskenesøy’s best beaches. I actually would have like a bit more snow and winter look, but it still nice to be out camping in places that I normally only visit in summer or autumn.

On this night, at Horseid beach, I was hoping for some northern lights, but they would not arrive unfortunately.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
17mm
ISO 500
f 5
4 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #162 – Haukland Beach Winter

February 12, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Vestvågøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: River flowing through a snow covered Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 3, 2015; 08:38

The day arrived flat and grey, with textureless waves of snow passing over the islands like a curtain swept across the land. Despite the lack of any interesting light, it is always worth taking advantage of a fresh layer of snow on one of Lofoten’s many beaches – something that is becoming more and more difficult as the islands fill with photographers and the beaches quickly become full of footprints.

With a blank canvas of white covering the land and filling the sky, I needed to find some area of contrast for the scene. Luckily, part of the small river flowing across Haukland was still uncovered, leading nicely to the mountain in the background, making a diagonal line across the photo. Nothing dramatic, but a nice scene none-the-less.

I should also add a note of caution for days like this. Haukland often has a small pond that forms on the back of the beach. When covered in a blank layer of snow, it can be really easy to miss the fact that you are leaving sand and beginning to walk across ice, which probably won’t support you for more than a few steps. If you are unfamiliar with the area and have not recently seen where the pond is, proceed cautiously, otherwise you might end up to your waste in freezing water…

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
5 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images: top, bottom

Friday Photo #161 – Winter Sunrise

February 5, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: Stormy winter mountain sunrise, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 31, 2015; 10:46

Following on last weeks image, here is a wide angle view of the same scene a little while later. Quite a difference and hard to even tell I was at the same location. And even though 30 minutes or so had passed, the slowly rising sun of the arctic allows for a lot of time to work with the light – assuming no clouds get in the way.

Though I was only part-way to my goal of Ryten for the day, the wind was already beginning to pick up as I gained elevation. I thought the shadows formed from the wind sculpted snow created an interesting foreground element to the scene, while the sun just rising over the distant hill adds a bit of balance to an area that would otherwise feel to dark to me.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 250
f 16
1/80 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #160 – Solbjørn Winter Sunrise

January 29, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: Winter sunrise over Solbjørn mountain peak, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 31, 2015; 10:09

I got a late start on this morning, as I took my time packing my backpack for a planned night camping on Ryten. The beginning of the route begins in a low valley with limited visibility, but as we climbed the first hill, I could see the clouds overhead beginning to get some nice color. Not knowing what was happening on the other side, I picked up the pace in an attempt to reach someplace with some light.

Well, there was no need to rush. It was one of those mornings where to sun seemed perfectly timed with the clouds, each moving in parallel with each other, keeping the light going and going.

Though my goal was Ryten – which turned out to be far to windy for camping, I spend more than an hour at this first location while shooting everything from 14mm to 200mm. This is a telephoto shot of Solbjørn peak, on Moskenesøy.

Stay tuned next week for the 14mm version of this scene.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
200mm
f 10
ISO 160
1/100 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #159 – Å Sunset

January 22, 2016/0 Comments/in Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Winter/by Cody

Photo: Winter sunset at Å, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 4, 2015. 14:59

The coastal cliffs at the end of the road, past the village of Å have been one of my most visited winter locations over the last years.

Particularly from late January to mid February, the sun meets the sea over the mountains at the ‘end’ of Lofoten, making it a perfect sunset location. Later in the year, the sun moves too far to the west/north and this location doesn’t work as well, as a majority of the light gets blocked by the mountains.

Additionally, there is often sheltered sections of the cliffs to be found on especially windy, camera blowing over days. And even without a fresh layer of snow, on all but the calmest days, the crashing waves add a nice element to the scene – but don’t get too close!

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
f 11
ISO 31
10 seconds
WB Daylight

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