Friday Photo #25 – Horseid Beach Camping

Tent camping at Horseid beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Photo: Camping at Horseid Beach, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 22, 2012.  19:32

I think Horseid beach is one of the more wild and dramatic locations on the Lofoten Islands to set up a tent.   With a multitude of camping places available, heading out to the furthest reaches of the beach to a small grassy headland is a slightly exposed, but unforgettable place to pitch your tent.

Normally I don’t like to hike in the rain, but immediately upon departing the ferry in Moskenes on a late August morning I was already changing into my rain gear.  A steady line of cold, tired looking backpackers was waiting for their departures from the islands, the Summer in the north quickly coming to its end.  My journey was just beginning however…

The Reine ferry to Kierkefjord – Vindstad was more crowded than I was expecting, however only three of us exited in Kierkefjord.  Despite the fact that the pass through the mountains is quite low, it was thoroughly concealed in clouds.  Heading higher and higher up the trail the rain fell harder and the visibility dimmed, until it was barely possible to follow the trail.  At one point I wasn’t sure if I was still going the right direction and it was only until I stopped for a second and heard the faint crashing of waves in the distance that I knew I was still on the right path (there is really only one way to go, so it’s a bit hard to get too lost.).  Finally I descended below the clouds and could see the beach, still a few kilometers away.

From the distance, Horseid beach doesn’t appear all that big, but it is a deceptively long hike from the back of the beach until finally reaching the edge of the sea.  Still raining, I immediately set up my tent and crawled into my sleeping bag.  And due to my exhaustion from 30 hours of travel, I was quickly asleep.  Not that I was missing any photo opportunities anyhow.

Gray skies greeted the next morning, with elusive moments of sunlight appearing every now and again between passing bands of rain.  Most of my time was spend gathering wood for a campfire and figuring out the best place to gather fresh water (the small waterfalls on the right side of the beach).  But every time the sun would pop out for more than a minute, I’d grab my camera and try to get a photo or two.  And hence, sometime in the early summer evening, I turned my attention to my tent as a bit of weak light arrived.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 5.6
1/80 sec
WB Daylight
2 images – top/bottom

Friday Photo #24 – Bunes Beach Mountain Reflection

Mountain peaks rise above Bunes beach in spring twilight light, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Mountain reflection on Bunes Beach, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands.  Apri 29, 2013.  22:33

After only a few days on Lofoten with my my Aussie travel companions Adam and Rod, I had received the friendly nickname of ‘Captain Wetfoot,’ based upon my proven abilities to almost always end up in the water somehow.  This night shooting on Bunes beach would be no exception.

Shooting with at 24mm tilt-shift lens to end up with a square crop means I need to shoot at least 2 photos.  And with each photo having a 60 second exposure (+noise reduction) means I need to stand in the same place for at least 4 minutes.  The trick is to find the balance point where the highest tide will just barely reach you.  Too far from the sea and the foreground might be a bit dull.  Too close to the sea, and you’ll end up named Captain Wetfoot.

The wet feat I can deal with, especially with the size of the campfire I would build on my return.  But since I generally only carry a light tripod, any incoming waves will tend to shake the tripod or sink the legs into the sand ever so slightly, which is often enough to add blur to the scene.  Thus I sit there anxiously as the seconds tick by on my watch, hoping the water gets close, but not too close.  If the wave is small, no problem.  But if I’m sent running halfway through the second shot, it means I have to start all over again.  So 4 minutes easily turns into a half hour or more for a single photo.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
61 sec
WB Daylight
2 images – top/bottom

This and That – June News

I haven’t added much in the way of updates lately, so here are a few quick tie bits so you guys don’t think I’ve abandoned the website. 🙂

April – May Trip to Lofoten:

At the end of April, I had the pleasure of joining two Australian landscape photographers, Rod Thomas (FacebookWebsite) and Adam Crews (FacebookWebsite), for two weeks on the islands.  As this was the first time for both of them to visit Lofoten, I did my best to show them around and try and get to a few somewhat out of the way places, though being spring, and a relatively cold one this year, it wasn’t always easy.

Overall it was a good trip and we even managed nights camping at both Bunes and Kvalvika beaches under pretty calm, albeit cold, conditions.  Our epic driftwood campfires at 1am after shooting late into the night might be a highlight of the trip for me.  Another nice evening was spent on the summit Offersøykammen waiting for a sunset that never really arrived.

During my time on the islands, any sort of colour in the sky was a coy companion.  Despite some wonderful days, there seemed to be a perpetual wall of cloud on the northern horizon that would kill off any colour before it had a chance to arrive.  Rod and Adam, however, got lucky though on few days they stayed longer than me, and had a couple brilliant evenings and mornings.

Spring on Lofoten is exhausting.  The days are so long, that you don’t really know when to sleep and by early May, it is just better to stay up through sunset and sunrise.  But unlike the end up summer, it’s damn cold in April/May.  So waiting up on the summit of Ryten in the cold winds for 5 hours until sunset arrives really takes a toll.  At times I wish I could have a time machine to move the sun along a bit quicker!  And while I like the snow cover on the mountains, the rest of the terrain feels a bit ‘lifeless’ to me.  I like green grass and trees.  Just a personal preference I guess.  If you’re looking for those arctic twilight nights, my recommendation would be for the last week of July to the beginning of August.

April – May Photo Gallery:

My time here in Europe (Wales at the moment) is ending next week.  Once I’m home I’ll work on getting the gallery of my Spring images online, should be in another two weeks at the latest.

New Travel Articles:

I frequently get asked ‘what to do … for xx days on Lofoten.’  I think I’m going to try and put together a series of itineraries covering 2 days to 1 week of ‘what to do on Lofoten.’  I’m thinking these will be more along the lines of the best ways to use public transport to connect together a series of hikes for something like a ‘5 day best of tour of Moskenesøy,’ or something thereabouts. I’ll probably end up with a few versions taking for different skill levels and with or without camping.

Ideally, I’d like to get back to the islands for another 2 weeks or so by early Autumn at the latest to hike a few sections of trail which I haven’t been on yet (I only like to write about what I have actually hiked, not 2nd hand info).  But I’m not sure it will be possible this year unless I can find some work once I get back to California next week.  So bigger articles might have to wait until next year…

Other than that, I have one more hiking article to write, for the short, easy coastal walk between Eggum and Unstad.  I also tend to update and re-write a few of the articles from time to time just to make them flow a bit better and help remedy my spelling and grammatical mistakes.

Reader Questions:

Along the same lines as above, I think I’ll start a section somewhere (not sure if it will be a continually updated blog post, or a dedicated page somewhere else) where I’ll post some of the more detailed ‘what to do’ type questions I get, just so everything is in one place and can be used for others to reference.  I’ve written some pretty long emails with detailed plans, so seems a bit of a shame for me not to share with everyone.  And also, some questions seemed to get asked fairly frequently, so it will keep me from repeating myself too often.

And if you’re sending me a question via the ‘contact’ page, be sure you enter your email correctly.  I’ve had a couple bounce back lately.  I don’t want you to think I’ve ignored you.  If you just want to say something nice, then it doesn’t matter so much 🙂

På Tur I Lofoten:

Fortunately, there is already a good guidebook for Lofoten in existence so you won’t have to wait on me.  Unfortunately though, it is only available in Norwegian at the moment.  Even without being able to read much, there are good photos for most routes, so if you’re planning a long hiking holiday on the islands, it could be a good companion to have.

‘På Tur I Lofoten’ is available in Svolvær at the Rødsand Libris bookshop, Vestfjordgata 8.

Online, you can order from Lofoten Turlag – HERE

Lines Of Lofoten:

Last Summer I ran into some guys shooting mountain biking on the old road to Unstad.  Lines of Lofoten is what they were working on.  The result is beautifully cinematic and set in dramatic locations across the islands.  If you are a fan of Lofoten, I suggest you give it a watch on the DBTV website – HERE.

Instagram:

And finally, as I always seem to be late to the party on certain things, I joined Instagram a couple months back.  I actually posted quite a few photo’s while I was on the islands.  A lot more ‘behind the scenes’ type stuff than will ever show up here.  You can follow me -HERE-

 

Well, thats it for now…

Friday Photo #23 – Storsandnes Beach Sunset

Colorful sunset from Storsandnes Beach, Flakstadoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Storsandnes beach sunset.  May 8, 2013.  22:39

After nearly two weeks of spring on Lofoten, including some days of fine and settled weather, this was the first night in which any color arrived.  But unfortunately for me, this was also my last night on the islands for this trip.

Overall, the spring had been on the cold side, but there was a good amount of days with fairly settled weather. Unfortunately though, there seemed to be a perpetual bank of cloud that hung on the northwest horizon, so no matter how much potential for nice light the evening might give, the color would eventually fade away into some dull blueish gray tones as the sun neared the horizon.  Frustrating to say the least.

But finally on my last night on the islands, conditions aligned themselves for a bit of color.  Now I’m not really a ‘sunset’ shooter, that is to say I prefer other, more subtle lighting conditions (usually something dramatic and stormy), but I do appreciate a bit of colour and and then.  And so what seems to be something of a common occurrence for me on Lofoten, the last day always offers me something special.  Perhaps so I leave the islands on a high point and with an eagerness to return; which of course I will, no doubt…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 11
20 sec
WB Daylight
2 images – top/bottom

Friday Photo #22 – Bunes Beach Camping

campfire at Bunes Beach, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Driftwood campfire at Bunes Beach, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  April 30, 2013.  01:46

As the twilight nights of late April and early May arrive on Lofoten, exhaustion and insomnia become constant companions for the landscape photographer.  And if you’re wanting a few hours around a campfire, it needs to wait for the few hours between sunrise and sunset, an all to late in my opinion.  But after an afternoon of scouring the beach for driftwood, and then shooting until well past midnight, an hour or so by a fire is a welcomed reward.

I’ve written before that Spring, in the normal meaning of the word doesn’t really exist on Lofoten.  It is more of a ‘brown period,’ between the melting of the snow on the lower elevations and the return of green, in mid May.  But over these few weeks, the nights disappear in their entirety and suddenly you will find yourself surrounded by Summer.

With a couple Australian landscape photographers as my companions (I’ll write more on this later), I took the opportunity of a stable weather forecast to head out to Bunes beach and camp for a night.  I was still exhausted from my nearly 40 hours of travel to the islands, having arrived just a few days prior, so I think I slept most of the afternoon away as well, but as the evening came, it was time to head out for some photography.

It wasn’t until after 01:00 am that we were finally back at the tents and finally finished with the night.  Of course I can never let a campfire go to waste as a photo opportunity as well…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 200
f 5.6
5 sec
WB Daylight
2 images – top/bottom