Friday Photo #7 – Kvalvika Beach

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Kvalvika beach from Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Golden evening light shines on Kvalvika Beach, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Aug 26, 2012.  20:04  

There were only two of us camping on Kvalvika Beach this day in late August, myself and a young German guy.  It is thanks to him that I took this photo.

I had been wandering around the beach taking a few photos in the afternoon light.  I had hiked a little bit up a trail to get a slightly higher vantage point which I thought was nice.  He I some him come walking across the beach in my direction and when he got to me, he mentioned the he was going to hike up the mountain, Ryten, and asked if I wanted to come along.  Sure, why not.

Only wearing a light fleece and with no water, I found myself heading up the mountain.  As we got higher it became apparent that we wouldn’t be remaining dry much longer as we could rain showers quickly heading out way.  But by now it was too late to head back down, so I continued on.

A cold rain hit fast and hard.  The drops seemed huge, even by Norwegian standards.  I did my best to take some shelter behind the biggest bolder I could find, which managed to keep me about 3/4th dry.  15 minutes of this and then the sun finally began to reemerge, creating a rainbow so close I could almost find my pot of gold.  A few more minutes and the rain had past, leaving me soaking wet in the chilly wind high up the mountain.  But now, an even brighter golden light now shone over the landscape.

Wet and cold, the light was too good to leave.  Over the next hours I made some of my favourite images of this trip.  I wouldn’t be back at my tent until after dark.

Click here for info on getting to Kvalvika Beach.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 9
1/80 sec
WB Daylight
Single Image
No Filters

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Friday Photo #6 – Maervoll Autumn

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Dramatic light over mountains and coast, Maervoll, Lofoten islands, Norway

Photo: Afternoon light shines over Mærvoll and Himmeltindan, Vestvågøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Oct 7, 2011.  17:17

Thus far the day had consisted of flat, misty light and I’d only taken a couple boring photos.  As evening approached I headed out to Unstad to see if there might be some clearing on the horizon.  There was, but it was out of alignment with any photogenic composition.  And the wind, it was a bit too windy for my small little tripod to have any hopes of a sharp photo.  So at that, I packed up my gear and started heading back to Stamsund for the night.

Emerging on the other side of the tunnel, this scene came into view.  A light mistily rain was minutes away from falling on me and the sun had just started shining through a hole in the clouds, casting a soft golden light across the land.  So I stopped the car on the side of the road and raced to get a few photos before the rain arrived.

While I find the symmetry of this scene pleasing, there are also some distractions that can make a good composition a bit difficult.  Just out of frame to the right is a sit of power lines on the hillside.  And along the bottom of the fjord is the village of Maervoll.  Keeping the foreground dark helps reduce the impact of the village, while a tighter framing keeps out the power lines, although I think the scene would be a bit better if I could go a bit wider.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
42mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/400 sec
WB Daylight
Single Image
No Filters

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Friday Photo #5 – Ytterpollen Ice Flower

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Ice formation of frozen coast of Ytterpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Ice flower on Ytterpollen, Vestvågøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 8, 2012. 09:39

This image is a product of the highly changeable weather of the Lofoten Islands.  Two days prior, February 6, the temperature was -10.7˚C, the coldest day for the whole of 2012, and the islands were covered in a light dusting of fresh snow.  Two days later, when this photo was taken, the temperature had risen to over 4˚C and a night of rain had melted nearly all the snow covering the lower elevations, including the snow that had been covering the frozen sea ice here at Ytterpollen, between Borg and Eggum.

I had been mostly been sleeping in my rental car out at Eggum and had been eyeing this section of coast as I drove by, knowing there would be possibilities of something interesting.  The previous day, as the last light was disappearing from the sky I stopped near here, while there was still a covering of snow, and took a few photos of patterns in the ice cracks.  But as I drove by the following morning I noticed the nights rain had melted the remaining snow, and these ‘ice flowers,’ where rocks cracked through the sea ice, took on surreal in interesting shapes.  So of course, I parked on the side of the road and headed out for some photos.

First step onto the ice and I was immediately on my ass.  Good that I hadn’t yet taken my camera out.  To say that rain covered ice is slippery would be an understatement.  Any minor gradation in the ice and I would slide, and slide until I reached a low point.  I finally resorted to extending my tripod as using it as a makeshift walker along the lines of what old people use as I sort of skated and slid over the ice in a rather comical fashion.  The ice creaked and cracked under my bodyweight and I thought it possible that I might break through at anytime (I was safe and wouldn’t have fallen in any deep water, just maybe some when feet, though still not desirable.).

I found the symmetrical nature of this ‘ice flower’ to be the most appealing of them all, or at least the ones I was willing to risk getting to.  I made several compositions, with this extremely wide angle one, emphasising the foreground being the most appealing to me.

Technical info: The light was extremely flat so I had to increase the contrast in the image quite a bit in the foreground.  And As I was in the shade, while there was some sunlight on the clouds in the background, I brought down the sky a bit to give a bit more balance to the image.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 16-35mm f/4.0
16mm
ISO 200
f 13
1/13 sec
WB Daylight
Single Image
No Filters

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Over to Sweden for a Minute – Kungsleden Trail

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I’m going to bring you guys over to northern Sweden for a moment.  Over on my photography blog I’ve written a 4 part series about my hike on the northern section of the Kungleden trail this part September.  It was actually where I was between my two Lofoten trips last year (plus a week in Germany).  While not totally relevant to this site, northern Sweden is also an incredibly amazing and scenic area and worth a visit sometime, or in combination with a trip to Lofoten.  Enjoy…

Part 1 – Germany to Kebnekaise Fjällstation

Part 2 – Kebnekaise Fjällstation to Sälka

Part 3 – Sälka to Alesjaure

Part 4 – Alesjaure to Abisko

Hiking the Kungsleden trail in Autum – An overview for late season hiking on the northern Kungsleden trail.

Snow covered mountain rise above lake Radujavri along Kungsleden trail, Lappland, Sweden

Photo: Lake Radujavri in evening light, Kungsleden trail, Sweden. Sept 2012

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Friday Photo #4 – Aurora Over Olstind

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Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis in night sky behind Olstind mountain peak, Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Northern Lights over Olstind, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 6, 2012, 19:25

Northern Lights over Olstind:  Olstind, as it rises from the waters of the Kjerkfjord is perhaps the most Iconic mountain on Lofoten.  A near perfect pyramid when view from some angles, it just begs to be photographed over and over again; which often I do!

This photo is taken a few hours after last week’s image.  With a rare moment of clear skies, I parked my car near Reine, hoping to capture an image such as this.  And one of the benefits of sleeping in a car is that I don’t have the temptation of being lulled back to a warm room and a hot meal.  I suffer from the cold and eat bread and butter for dinner, but I can also sleep more of less wherever I want, and thus be quickly ready when moments like this occur.

I don’t quite like the reflected lights from the distant village of Kierkefjord.  I could have located myself a bit more to the right, but this would also have concealed the brightest part of the Aurora, so a bit of a compromise had to be found.  For me this image is just a start of an idea, and something I hope to approve upon over the years.

Another element to this image is that it was captured a few days before the full moon, hence the landscape is well lit.  I often read the somewhat misinformed advice that the Northern Lights are best captured when there is no moon.  Not true in my opinion.  And with a snow covered landscape, I think moonlight is an essential part of night photography; to photograph a Northern Lights landscape, not just the lights themselves somewhere in the sky with a dark silhouette in the foreground.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 5.6
132 sec
WB Auto
Single Image
No Filters

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