Friday Photo #95 – Hoven In Autumn

Autumn view from Hoven, Gimsøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Golden colored autumn landscape from the summit of Hoven, Gimsøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Sept 26, 2012.  12:13

Hoven is something of a unique mountain on Lofoten in that it stands completely alone, surrounded by the flat, marshy lands of Gimsøy.  I’m not sure what geological effects resulted in its creation, but today it sits, despite its low height, as one of the most recognizable mountains of Lofoten.

As autumn progresses and the land fills with color, Hoven provides a scenic view over the surrounding landscape.  Though it is a landscape under threat.

The planes with Widerøe airlines currently flies to Lofoten are no longer in production.  Thus Lofoten will require a longer runway in the near future.  It is possible to extend the runway at Leknes, but this comes at the jealousy of Svolvær, who like to think of themselves as ‘the capital of Lofoten.’ And so they talk of building an airport at Gimsøy.  Brilliant! Ruin a whole island because of a pissing match between two provincial towns…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f 9
1/125 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #94 – Autumn Color

Detail of blueberry bush in Autumn, Norway

Photo: Colorful blueberry bush in autumn, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Oct 3, 2012.  11:09

For those of you who’ve followed this site for a while, you’ll know that I’m not much of a macro/detail photographer.  But sometimes getting close makes the most sense for what you’re trying to show, and thus you have today’s photo.

2012 was a brilliantly colorful autumn on Lofoten.  After having spent close to 2 weeks in Sweden on the Kungsleden trail, and then this, I was about on color overload – which is a good thing!

Everywhere I was surrounded by golden birches, yellow grasses, and red blueberries.  Entire hillsides filled with a multitude of colors.  This particular day however, I couldn’t put light and landscape together in an effective way.  I was always 5 minutes too late for whatever scene I was trying to capture.  So finally I kind of gave up (I would later this day hike up Offersoykammen just to be in one place and quit chasing light) and looked for tiny elements that could somehow show what I was seeing.  And so I changed my attention to the mountains and sky to a few small bushes around my feet.

While this image could have been taken anywhere in northern Europe, it still feels very ‘Lofoten’ to me somehow…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 50
f 11
1/4 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #93 – Stamsund Aurora

Northern Lights fill sky over sea and mountains, Stamsund, Vestvagoy, Lofoten islands, Norway

Photo: Northern lights rise into the sky over Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Oct 8, 2011.  23:14

Good things (sometimes) come to those who wait.  In my case, this was my last night of a 2 week trip on Lofoten.  A trip which thus far the northern lights had failed to appear.  For the most part it had been a fairly stormy and turbulent autumn on the islands, with only rare moments of clear skies.  But on this final night in Stamsund, the weather calmed and the sky cleared.  I could sense something would happen.

It was a small group of us left at the hostel and as usual were spent our evenings sitting around the table, warmed by the fire and hopefully some good food in our stomach (on this evening, young Nicola, the wandering French chef, had prepared quite a feast for the group as an end of season party).

Well after dark we heard a knock at the window, followed by ‘come outside quickly!’  Everyone rushed to put on their jackets, grab their gloves and head out into the night.  Me, I had to run to grab my camera and tripod.

Entering the darkness of the night, the sky was filled with green.  I immediately climbed the hill behind the hostel, and then headed out to the coast, joined by Nicola.  Roar took the others out on the boat to watch from the calm waters of the Vestfjord as the aurora danced and filled the sky in every direction.  Another one of those moments where I wish I could have had 10 cameras!

This was my best night of northern lights to date.  My next best night occurred again on October 8th, the following year, where I was unfortunate enough the be aboard the Hurtigruten while sailing across the Vestfjord and northern lights filled the sky from horizon to horizon.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 1250
f 3,2
15 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #92 – Holandsmelen Autumn

View from rocky summit of Holandsmelen mountain peak, Vestvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn light shines across the rocky summit of Holandsmelen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 26, 2013.  17:35

Day 3, mountain 3.  After having spent a rather sleepless (because I was trying to keep an eye out for northern lights) night on Reinebringen and descending in the morning, I was feeling somewhat lazy and more or less content to sit around the Stamsund hostel eating popcorn.  But as the hours of the day passed, it became evident that I couldn’t just sit around.  So it my best ‘I’m lazy but need to do something’ mode, I headed towards the small peak of Holandsmelen.

I was a bit worried about the views, due to the close proximity to Leknes and the urbanized areas of Vestvågøy, but I figured there would at least be some decent views of Vik beach, and perhaps something else.  I arrived on the summit with the sun hanging low on the horizon, quickly approaching a thickening layer of clouds out over the sea.

The best images were towards the beaches, where I managed to get a few exposures off before they fell into shadow.  Luckily the sun remained shining a bit longer on the summit, giving me some time to explore the unique rocky texture of the otherwise ‘soft’ mountain.  Holandsmelen is an easy hike and probably a place I’ll be back to to explore again with some different light, maybe I can even find a flat enough spot to sleep for the night, hopefully without too many rocks poking into my back.

The pointy mountain in the center of the image is Skottind.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 200
f 14
1/40 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #91 – Kroktinden View

Rugged mountain landscape viewed from summit of Kroktind (707m), Austvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: The wild mountain peaks of Lofoten from the summit of Kroktinden, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Sept 27, 2013.  15:40

Day 4, mountain 4.  After having dropped my camera in a lake in Sweden a few weeks earlier, by the time I received a new one I only had a week left on Lofoten.  Luckily the autumn of 2013 was a calm and mild one for the most part and once I had a new camera, it was up to the mountains for four consecutive days before the weather finally deteriorated.

The 707 meter high Kroktind is a somewhat obscure peak in the Sydalen area of Austvågøy.  But with legs getting a bit sore, my Swiss hiking partner Monika and I both figured this would be an interesting hike for the day.

By the time we reached the summit a layer of white cloud was beginning to conceal the sun.  But being late September, it was t-shirt weather on the summit, as we sat and watched sea eagle circling around on nearby thermals.  I nearly every direction mountains rose into the distance.  And there were even some reflections of glaciers, somewhere far off on the Norwegian mainland.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f 14
1/250 second
WB Daylight