Friday Photo #568 – November Shadows

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Photo: November light over Himmeltindan, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 19, 2023. 12:35

The weather has changed since last weeks post (Friday Photo #567) and a nice layer of snow fell over Lofoten, like in this photo, followed by a rainy storm a few days later. So now everything is frozen in a solid layer of ice or hard compact snow, such as my driveway, so I now have to park at my neighbours barn.

I was a little too lazy on Sunday and the light caught me by surprise. I first headed down towards my beach, but a photo workshop was just leaving, so all the fresh snow was trampled with footprints. But the better light was on the distant mountains anyhow, so I walked back home and hopped in my van to head down the road, hoping the light would keep shining for a little while longer.

Luckily, I only have to go a few km down the road before I have this view across to the mountain peaks of Himmeltindan. It would have probably been a nice view from up there, and I can see some tracks if I zoom in on the hi-res version of the image. But for standing on the side of the road, this image isn’t too bad either. And having photographed this scene multiple times before, this might be some of the nicer light I have captured here.

Even though I drive this road daily, I always carry my camera with me, even if I’m just going to the supermarket, as I never quite know what might happen. And usually the rare time when I forget my camera is when I see a moose standing in the middle of the road at Tussan or Storeidet. The nice thing about this time of year, and Lofoten in general, is that the light can change so quickly. And its more of an issue during winter from my location on the northern side of the islands, where I can’t really see what the sun and light is doing on the southern side of the islands until I’ve driven down the road. And a scenic road it is to drive down!

The tricky thing with this image is that the first hill in the foreground, Verberget (233M), is much closer than the background mountains of Mannen and Himmeltindan. With fresh snowfall like here, they all look quite uniform and if a single set of mountains. But was is more common is nice light on the higher Himmeltan, while Verberget looks out of place and sort of blocks the background, especially when Himmeltind is covered in snow while Verberget is just brown. But in this image, everything is pretty well balanced as much as it can be.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
140mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #567 – November Twilight

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Photo: November twilight over Himmeltindan, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 12, 2023. 15:03

Like last year, it has been a clear cold November so far – though a big storm is coming next week. I was actually thinking of posting several of the same photos this week, as I took this nearly exact same image 3 days in a row of the afternoon twilight after a cold and crisp November day.

The sun is already low on the horizon and many areas of Lofoten no longer receive direct sunlight. In this calm weather, Leknes actually sinks into a deep freeze as the cold air settles in the valley around the town, making it colder than Svolvær. Returning home from my Isle of Skye photo workshop last Friday, I had the fun task of installing the winter tires on my new tour van in quite cold temperatures for this time of year. Though that also meant my driveway was frozen solid and not the usually muddy mess when I change tires earlier in the autumn.

Despite these clear nights, and despite the forecast of an incoming solar storm, they northern lights played tricky and generally did not arrive until well after midnight, when I myself was sleeping after long days of work catchup on the computer. With both the weather and aurora forecast, I had thought about hiking out to Kvalvika beach on this night, but I’m glad I didn’t, as I would have either frozen to death or returned home, or fallen asleep had I decided to camp, well before any northern lights occurred. Even with everything looking favourable, the northern lights can still require a bit of effort and luck! More so than I was willing to contribute this past week.

Luckily for me, I’ve yet to grow tired of this view out my window. It’s actually a bit distracting at times when I need to concentrate on work – I’m currently busy working on the next update of my Seasons on Lofoten – Winter ebook, which I hope to get out in the next couple weeks, ready for next years winter season. So in these short days, it is nice to be able just to walk into my backyard, take a couple photos, and then get back to the computer work and at least feel like I’ve also done a bit of photography without having had to climb a mountain.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/4 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #566 – November Freeze

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Photo: Deep freeze – clear, dry, and cold November weather leaving Storeidvatnet with a layer of hoarfrost, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 21, 2022. 13:52

On average, November is a cloudy, rainy, and windy month. Some years I only see a few short hours of sunlight the whole month it what can seem like an endless cloud of rain. In general, I consider November the worst month of the year on Lofoten. However, every few years the weather seems to shift dramatically and it can turn into one of the colder and drier months of winter. 2022 was one of those years, in which there was only 60mm of precipitation compared to a normal yearly average of 187mm. Actually, looking back over the last 12 month, November 2022 was the second driest month overall, after July 2023, and just squeezing ahead of April 2023 by 0.1mm.

I first noticed the November cold when I arrived at Hardstad-Evenes airport after a few weeks in Scotland. It had been a rainy October morning when I departed and now I returned to my van completely frozen in ice and -10˚c or so. It took me several minutes just to get the doors open – having to climb in from the back and then push open the doors from the inside. In my hasty departure a few weeks earlier I had also forgotten one important item – my snow/ice scraper. Even with the van running, it took me the better part of an hour before I was able to scrape the hard layer of ice off my windshield using various cards I had in my wallet, breaking several of them in the process. And so I began my drive home on the dark and icy roads.

The weather remained the same once home, cold and clear. The Leknes area, which sits in somewhat of a low valley, was particularly cold in the still air. While there was no snow on the mountain peaks, everything in the lower elevations was frozen in a thick layer of frost. I had driven past Storeidvatnet a few times to and from Leknes and thought it would make a nice foreground. Usually I like this location with a longer focal length, as it is a nice view of Himmeltindan and Ristind mountains. I think in this image, even at 25mm, the mountains get slightly lost. But I guess the image is more about the foreground any, and the mountains are just the setting. Still, I think I could have spent a little more time and probably found a stronger composition.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
25mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/5 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #565 – November Sun

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Photo: A November sun low on the southern horizon shine through the clouds over Nappstraumen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 9, 2020. 12:37

With the last sunset of the year and the polar night is still just over a month away, the midday sun is already perilously low over the southern horizon. And while the sun of early November is equivalent to late January and early February, the months almost feel like complete opposites. In November, I never know when I might have seen my last sun of the year before a month of twilight and darkness. While in January, there is only more light to come as the days quickly grow longer. The same but different.

As November arrives, my house, and many locations on the northern side of Lofoten will have already been in the shadows of the ‘Lofoten Wall’ for several weeks or more, where they will remain until mid February or later. The light along the southern horizon comes and goes, while the north remains in the cold shadows of mountains. Even on warmer days, the ice remains in the shadows, cold and bitter in northern winds. Only a warm spell of southern rain might thaw things out, until the next snows arrive. The weather is more chaotic now than in the old days, so who knows what will happen in the future, but the sun will remain the same – low on the southern sky.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
25mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #564 – Haugheia Trees

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Photo: Last golden leaves of autumn on mountain birch trees of Haugheia, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 4, 2023. 14:04

By now the the bright colors of autumn are beginning to fade at Lofoten waits for winter to set it. This year the color seemed to be a little later than normal, perhaps due to the warm and dry summer and mild, but wet September. But like everything else associated with Lofoten, there is no predicting anything, you just have to be here and see what you get.

Over the last couple years Haugheia (hiking guide here) has turned into my favorite little hike just to get a bit of exercise if I’m on my way to Leknes. And while I always carry my camera bag, mostly just for the weight, I probably only take photos 25% of the time. And usually when I do shoot photos, I’m going there specifically to do so. Otherwise, I typically go there is stormy conditions that aren’t always photogenic, preferring to safe the photogenic weather for proper mountains.

On this day I took my autumn workshop group up the hill to visit my favorite grove of trees. It was a cold and blustery October day, with several rain/hail/sleet showers passing, which added to the atmosphere as the mountains vanished into the clouds. Much nicer conditions than the last Haugheia photo I posted (Friday Photo #540), taken on a particularly grey day in May.

The autumn winds will now have blown all but the hardiest of leaves from twisted branches and the trees will sit through the winter and spring, waiting for the summer sun to turn them green again. I’m not actually sure which version of the trees I prefer, but it might be the leaf-less winter version, for some individual trees at least.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
91mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/125 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #562 – Changing Seasons

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Photo: October snow flurries pass over Veggen and Himmeltindan, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 8, 2023. 15:08

As I wrote in last weeks post, the weekend’s north wind brought winter like snow flurries across Lofoten and icy roads across much of northern Norway. The temperature has warmed up slightly since then and heavy rain has fallen this week, but with the sun ever lower in the sky, one can sense that winter is not far away.

On the icy roads of Leknes Monday afternoon I noticed quite a few European motorhomes and camper vans still around the islands, and almost all still with summer tires on. This is getting a little risky so late in the year, and snow is already starting to fill up the mountain passes required to exit Lofoten – unless one plans to take the Hurtigruten all the way down to Bergen. Though the official date for winter tires in Northern Norway is October 15, it is expected that one drives as the conditions demand. If Norwegians crash in wintry conditions with summer tires on, they will lose their driving license on the spot. The police are nicer to foreigners though, who won’t have their license confiscated.

For those on a road trip on Lofoten at this time of year and waiting to see when you need to drive south, the weather of Lofoten itself is deceptive, as the islands are quite mild compared to the mountain areas required to leave Lofoten and reach Europe. I can see on the webcams that it looks like full winter over Bjørnfjell – Riksgränsen pass on the E10 east to Sweden. The E6 south over Saltfjellet is maintaining below freezing temperatures as well. This only leaves the coastal FV 17 road as a possible route south avoiding winter conditions at the moment. Though one will still need to pass over the high mountains on the E6 south of Trondheim, where winter is also fast approaching.

If you plan to stick around the north, I would suggest picking up a pair of winter tires soon – which can be bought from most gas stations around Lofoten. Though be prepared for a bit of a price shock if you’re not used to Norwegian prices!

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

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
145mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #561 – October Snow

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Photo: A dusting of autumn snow covers the summit of Blåtind, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 5, 2023. 11:20

A gusty north wind has brought a chill to Lofoten over the last days, and with it, the first mountain snows of the season. And the temperature will continue to drop over the weekend, bringing the snow line down to 200 meters or so – while it is currently at around 400m. Already driving around the last days snow and slush has been falling along the roads as well, with the temperature dropping to 2-3 ˚c at times. If I can manage to find a long enough gap between the snow showers it will be time to put on the winter tires in the next days.

I just finished my only autumn photo workshop this season. And it was a tough one weather wise – it seems like it has rained every days since the beginning of September! But with the shifting of the winds to the rainy and low clouds from the southwest, the more dynamic snow showers from the north at least brought interesting conditions – and some occasional 20+ m/s wind gusts. Today the wind has calmed, before more gales arrive in the next days. So the fairly typical and quickly changing autumn weather on Lofoten.

It is days like these where the mountains fade in and out of the clouds and the light moves quickly. One moment you can be in sideways snow and sleet, while in the next the warm sun is shining brightly overhead. Looking at the radar, it is usually pretty straightforward to see how much time you’ll spend in the snow before the clouds pass and you’re under (somewhat) blue sky again.

This image is from just after the passing of a 10-15 minute snow shower while on the old road above Unstad. I was mostly shooting the more interesting composition of the clearing clouds over the summit of Øst-Himmeltind, but once all the clouds had cleared, I put on my 100-400mm lens to shoot the view south across Vestvågøy to the distant peak of Blåtind, with a fresh dusting of snow. Looking at the northern side of the peak, it is easy to see exactly where the snow line sits across the mountain.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
290mm
ISO 200
f 6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #553 – Last Days Of Summer

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Photo: Evening light shines over the mountains of Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August, 6, 2023. 21:52

It is that time of year when I begin to remind myself to put a headlamp in my backpack – which of course will take me several weeks and multiple evenings wandering dawn from mountains in an ever darkening sky to actually do so. And despite a late summer heat wave this week, the signs are already here that the best of summer is over for this year. I’m looking forward to autumn, and have some big hiking plans, but I still wish summer would last a little longer here in the north. Despite the return of the northern lights in a couple weeks, I’m not ready for the long, cold nights yet.

Lofoten had a fantastic summer this year. Warm, dry, and calm, it was the best summer for a while. Even so, I found myself lacking motivation for much hiking and generally only visited my local ‘exercise’ mountains of Haugheia or Smordalskammen just to keep up a bit of fitness. This was also the first summer where I’ve felt a bit overcrowded. It was as busy with tourism as ever. But more so, local changes like new, expensive parking fees, and the closing of previously existing parking areas, have made it more difficult to visit my favorite areas. For example, it is cheaper for me to take my van to Værøy for a weekend than it now is to camp at Bunes or Horseid beach due the near extortion level of the parking cost in Reine – which is even more expensive than parking at the airport or in Tromsø or Bodø. If one enjoys hiking, it is getting expensive to visit many areas of Lofoten these days.

I also find myself looking beyond Lofoten much more these days, to other areas of Norway and beyond. I’m 3/4th through my biggest ebook project yet – more info once things come closer to completion early next year hopefully, as well as a new 200km hike which I’ll hopefully complete this autumn. So I’ve actually been taking a lot of photos, just not that much of Lofoten, and even less so of Lofoten’s mountains. Maybe once these two big projects (hopefully) are completed next year, I’ll feel a bit less pressure and will be out and about around Lofoten again. There are still plenty of new mountains for me to hike, even on nearby Vestvågøy, such as this image from Blåtind from last Sunday.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
125mm
ISO 200
f 7.1
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #552 – Lofoten Moose

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Photo: Bull moose standing among summer birch trees, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 14, 2023. 19:35

I’m too lazy to be a proper wildlife photographer, but when to situation presents itself, I’ll at least make an attempt. Even if just running errands or shopping in Leknes I’ll take my camera with me, as there’s always a small chance that something interesting might occur. There are a few moose in the area that I need to pass through and a few times a year I’ll see them, though usually too far for any photography.

Driving home on this rainy evening the other week I got lucky to spot a bull moose just on the side of the road and, more importantly, near to an area where I could park and not cause a traffic jam! Careful not to keep my distance, he sat there casually grazing while I shot through the rain until I decided I was wet enough. Not the most interesting photo in the world, but it is not often I photograph the local moose on Vestvågøy.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
230mm
ISO 1000
f 5
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #550- Cloudberries

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Cloudberries - Friday Photo #550

Photo: Arctic Gold – ripening Moltebær – Cloudberry patch patch in mid July, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 19, 2023. 18:12

As the long days of summer slowly begin to fade from the north a new season slowly emerges: berry season. Wild berries cover Lofoten, and all of Norway, and their picking is a popular activity among the local population. Blueberries and cranberries both grow in abundance across the wild hillsides of Lofoten. But there is one berry that is the most coveted of all, the cloudberry – Moltebær.

Wild berry picking as allowed under Norwegian Friluftsloven – Outdoor Laws. However, Nordland and Finmark-Troms have a special exception for cloudberries, which allow the owner of private land to prohibit gathering of them – though it is still allowed to pick and consume on the spot. I’ve even heard stories from the old days about fierce neighborhood rivalries around the best collecting areas.

This year, perhaps thanks to a wet and rainy May, followed by a warm and sunny June, they seem to be filling the hillsides in abundance as they ripen the the late summer sun. This large patch was just one of many along a popular hiking route. They are still a week or more away from being ripe, but no doubt a more than a few locals are keeping a close eye on them, waiting for the first signs of ripeness. I wouldn’t be surprised if they literally disappear overnight one day.

I must say that I’m not actually that much of a fan of them. I just find the taste a bit odd, and generally prefer eating my way up the blueberry hillsides when I’m out hiking. But if you find yourself wandering through a patch of bright orange berries in the coming weeks, give one a try – but keep an eye out for the granny peaking through the window curtains to make sure you don’t take too many!

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

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
46mm
ISO 100
f 5
1/500 Second
WB Daylight