Friday Photo #513 – Sea Eagle

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Photo: Sea Eagle sitting on rock, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 3, 2021. 13:56

I think with any wildlife image I post I state that I have little to no skill as a wildlife photographer – I’m far too lazy to ever get far with that type of photography and basically just look like a dude with a point-and-shoot camera compared to work I see many people putting out on a regular basis. With that being said, I will take the opportunity to try with it presents itself.

In this case, I’m typically in the habit of driving around with my old D850 + telephoto lens attached when going about on my normal daily tasks on Lofoten. And then, every once in the while on my way to or from home I might catch one of the neighbourhood sea eagles sitting on one off the coastal rocks.

I learned in my few early attempts that if it even looked like I was slowing my van down for a closer look that they would quickly fly away. So now if I spot an eagle on a rock I know to drive around the corner and park out of sight, quickly grab my camera, then do my best to sneak up on the far side of the road. This typically works with moderate success, and I’ll get a shot of an eagle, such as this one, from time to time.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6
500mm
ISO 250
f 5.6
1/1600 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #512 – Autumn Mountains

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Photo: Mountain peaks rise into misty clouds, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 5, 2022. 16:47

I was in the Flakstad ‘swamp’ on a rainy October afternoon looking to capture the last of this years autumn color, which after a few passing storms, had quickly faded from the landscape. The wind was mostly calm, but the frequent passing rain showers kept breaking up the reflections on the small ponds I was attempting to use as foregrounds.

The higher peaks were mostly in the clouds, but as the showers passed, they would become visible from time to time. Mostly having given up on reflections, I looked for something else to use as the foreground, and so I looked for a bit of colourful autumn foliage. As the peaks of Bjørntind emerged from the clouds, I thought I would give this composition a try.

Since moving to the mirrorless Nikon Z7 II last year, I’ve only had the 24-200 f/4-6.3 as my ‘normal’ focal length lens. While I love it for for its light weight for hiking and backpacking, I do wish it was a bit faster for a shallower depth of field. In this image for example, I wish I could have shot at f/2.8, for example, to have the foreground properly out of focus and just a blur of color. Here, I think there is still too much detail in the various leaves, and not abstract enough in my opinion.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200mm f/4-63.3
46mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/50 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #509 – October Snow

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Photo: Dusting of October snow on Slettinden, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 19, 2021. 14:31

The first dusting of snow over Lofoten usually arrives sometime from late September to mid October. Though these first snows are never permanent and there can still be plenty of mild weather and rain as the calendar creeps towards the new year. But the first falling snow is always a reminder of the cold months ahead as the mountains slowly begin to freeze.

I often find hiking at this time of year somewhat tedious, as the autumn rain and mud begins to freeze and ice over on many of the hiking trails, making the mountains quite slippery! Light snow like in this image can be quite treacherous hiking over long sections of rocks as well. So in such conditions I will usually choose routes or areas which are less affected by the ice and snow – typically routes that are somewhat off trail, as the grasses and heather are safer and easier than muddy and rocky trails.

The light was flat and grey this day and usually in such weather I wouldn’t go hiking. And had there been no snow, I probably wouldn’t have. But as I was leaving for Scotland in a couple days, I wanted one last ‘autumn’ hike before I likely returned to a more wintery landscape in mid November.

Even with the flat light, the mix of snow and rocks added enough contrast to the scene for it to work somewhat decently. Had it been a full winter scene with more snow, then I don’t there there would have been enough contrast. And without snow, I think the image would also have been quite flat and dull with such a sky.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3
75mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/500 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #508 – Light and Shadow

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Photo: Rays of evening light shine across the distant mountains of Moskenesøy, Vareid, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 7, 2021. 16:44

This weeks photo is more or less the exact same location and focal length (200mm) as last week’s photo – Friday Photo #507 – yet quite different light conditions and mood. As I wrote last week, the autumn (and late winter when the sun is setting in the same location) is often a nice time to shoot sunsets out on the coastline near Vareid and Vikten.

I usually find it more beneficial go well before sunset, as it will be setting behind the mountains, so it’s best to be there with the sun higher in the sky so it can interact with the mountains better. In this case, sunset was at 18:00, so this photo is taken 1:15 before sunset. With the sun too low in the sky, all the mountains seen here will just be shadow and the scene will be relatively boring under conditions such as this.

With the sun higher in the sky and shining in from the west, it really shows the mountain layers of western Lofoten, with the 1029 meter high Hermannsdalstinden (hiking guide) rising in the far distance some 25km away.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3
200mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/320 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #507 – September Rain

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Photo: Autumn rain sweeps across distant mountains of Moskenesøy, Vareid, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 24, 2018. 17:43

It is the autumnal equinox today marking the beginning of the sun’s journey to the south. For Lofoten, this is the time of year where one can really feel the days begin to shorten as the islands lose approximately 1 hour of daylight per week. For the northern side of the islands, this is also the time of year when the mountain shadows begin to grow as the sun sinks lower in the southern sky. For my house, the 20th of October will be the last brief moments of direct sunlight before it returns again on February 19th – 4 long months in the shadow of the mountains.

This was a stormy and blustery September day, just on the edge of being too stormy. Luckily, The clouds were broken up enough to allow some rays of light shine through as the next wave of snow flurries swept across the landscape. I was out on the coast between Vareid and Vikten, which often works well for sunset at this time of year as the sun shines across the distant mountains of Moskenesøy, often creating interesting patterns of light and shadow.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
200mm
ISO 320
f 6.3
1/640 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #506 – Silence

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Photo: Autumn rainbow over Vestfjorden, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 14, 2019. 16:12

Autumn is a quiet period on Lofoten. The hustle and bustle of summer has gone and the winds of the winter storms have yet to arrive. Often is it a somewhat gradual change in which I eventually notice that one day the world suddenly feels quiet. But not this year.

I spent the second half of August traveling with my brother and friends along the north coast of Spain. Fun, but hot! Without even returning home, I arrived back at Harstad-Evenes airport and immediately drove to Sweden to hiking 140km along the northern section of the Padjelantaleden trail and a middle section of the Kungsleden trail, back to my van which had been parked in Kvikkjokk. It was a pretty quick transition from 30˚c of Spain to several nights below freezing in the mountains of Sweden. From Kvikkjokk, it is a long 10 hour drive home.

Waking up in the morning after my arrival I immediately noticed the absolute silence of the land. Even the sea was silent. It was eerie. Like I was in some sort of post-apocalyptic movie and everyone and everything had suddenly disappeared. Some wind and rain has passed during the last week, brining a bit more life to the islands, but it is still quiet. Having been long overdue with mowing my lawn, it felt like I was making a great disturbance in my valley on a Tuesday afternoon.

So, after a month of travel, I haven’t taken a single photo of Lofoten in the week that I’ve been home. The weather has been little on the grey side, but there has still been some nice light to find if one has been willing to put in the effort – which I have not – as I’m mostly stuck behind the computer catching up on overdue work.

This weeks photo is from back in 2019. I thought I had posted it already, as I quite like the simplicity of it – just a rainbow over the sea. I was with a group out on the southern coast of Flakstadøy near Nesland waiting for the clouds to clear over some distant mountains when I sensed the light changing and this bright rainbow fell from a rain shower over the Vestfjord. From my position I knew there wasn’t anywhere I could get in time to use the rainbow as part of some other composition, as it was too far out at sea and away from any nearby mountains or coastline. So I switched to a 70-200 telephoto lens and simply used the rainbow and cloud as the only subjects – which they were. I usually like to include a sense of place in my images, I don’t think it was necessary.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
82mm
ISO 100
f 5
1/400 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #503 – Aurora Season

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Photo: August northern lights spiral into the sky over Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 31, 2020. 00:50

This week it is my yearly reminder that the northern lights are not just a winter phenomenon and can already become visible in the last week of August in the sky over Lofoten.

Lofoten’s aurora season runs roughly from August 20 – April 20; so they are visible from Lofoten for 8 months of the year! For the very early and late auroras to be visible, it will typically have to be from a moderate solar storm, pushing the northern lights fully overhead or even into the southern part of the sky. Low to moderate activity needs a little longer to be visible, as the northern horizon still glows quite bring into the first weeks of September and from the first week of April.

Happy aurora season for all those coming north in the next months. The sun’s activity is still increasing over the next years, so the northern lights will be more common than previous years – it just requires the weather to cooperate!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 20mm f/1.8
20mm
ISO 2000
f 2
2.5 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #500 – Sunset Season

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Photo: August sunset over Myrland beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 3, 2020. 22:41

While the midnight sun of June and early July is simply a nice time for life on Lofoten, the real photography season of summer begins once the sun starts to fall below the northern horizon in the second half of July. The days are still endlessly long and the first visible stars are some weeks away, but now with the sun just barely below the horizon, the sunset – sunrise nights begin.

The most important factor though, is for the weather to cooperate. The best condition are for the northern horizon to be clear with moderate cloud cover over Lofoten. If the opposite occurs, a marine layer along the northern horizon and clear sky over Lofoten, the light simply fades out into a dull twilight. Luckily, I live facing directly north over the open sea, so even if all of Lofoten looks otherwise grey and gloomy, I can see what might occur once the sun hits the horizon.

Unfortunately, its not always that easy to plan in the ever changing weather and often times I head up into the mountains on nights which the light simply fades out. While other days, I think the weather looks terrible and then suddenly the sky catches on fire. At least I have a small beach I can quickly run down to to at least capture something. Though I think I probably have too many sunsets (and northern lights) from here now, so sometimes I’m even more lazy these days and just watch from my window. I guess I’m spoiled!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 31
f 11
1/4 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #499 – Summer Harvest

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Photo: Norwegian Marshmallows – AKA tractor eggs – in freshly cut field in late July, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 25, 2022. 01:42

Every year beginning sometime in mid July the summer harvest of the fields begin to provide winter feed for the few sheep still remaining on Lofoten. Until two years ago my neighbor used to farm this field, but he has since retired, leaving only one sheep farmer left in my small village. Even without local sheep, the grazing land remains quite important and other nearby farmers have taken over the cutting and harvesting of the fields.

A few weeks ago – Friday Photo #496 – I posted an image of the field on a stormy summer evening, still full of flowers but already becoming quite overgrown. It felt a little later of a harvest this year, even though the summer has been a good one and the overall feel of the landscape to me is that things are a few weeks ahead of ‘normal.’ Perhaps it was the fairly cold and wet weather in the second half of July this year that has seen them waiting.

And indeed they seemed to be in a hurry once the tractors did arrive; working until after midnight on both Saturday and Sunday nights. This picture was taken at near 02:00 early Monday morning just after they had finished wrapping the bailing the loose grass. And still later they returned to collect everything!

So for the farm meadows, the flowers are now gone for this year and harvested fields remain. In a while, once the grasses grow a little taller again, the sheep and lambs will be moved into the fields during the autumn after they’ve been collected from the mountains. And then they will also be gone, along with the migratory birds and one day I’ll stand out in my yard and notice that its eerily silent; all the life and noise of summer has gone. From then on, winter is not far away.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
28mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/13 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #498 – Midnight Rainbow

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Photo: Full rainbow under light of the midnight sun, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 4, 2022. 23:57

This was one of those stormy Lofoten days where the weather is quite boring and rainy during daytime, but as the sun gets lower on the horizon interesting light can happen. I had been out hiking Storknubben on GImsøy the day before in boring cloudless blue sky, but unfortunately had a meeting scheduled for this evening so I couldn’t get too far away from the house.

As midnight approached there was some nice light out in the distant mountains across the Nappstraumen so I wandered out to the field next to my house for a few shots. Soon I felt some drops of rain begin to fall while the sun was still shining bright. Behind me, I could already see the faint beginnings or a rainbow forming as the rain began to fall heavier and heavier from a seemingly invisible cloud.

With the sun low on the horizon and almost due north at midnight – the rainbow occurring almost directly south – I knew I wasn’t in the best location and it would take some time to get to a better composition for the location of the rainbow. So instead, I sent up my drone, which hasn’t seen much use this year as I understand their utility, I still have a fair dislike of them in general, just looking at the world through a tiny screen while a bunch of advanced technology does more or less all the work; that is not really photography for me. But alas, in the situation, my drone seemed like the best option, so I sent it up.

For what I generally consider the low quality image of a drone photo, I think it captured the moment pretty well, and was the only way I could do so without having already been on maybe Stornappstind, Middagstind or Møntind as the rain approached.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
DJI Air 2s
ISO 100
f 2.8
1/100 second
WB Daylight