Friday Photo #151 – Bunes Beach Sunrise

Colorful sunrise over mountains at Bunes Beach, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Colorful summer sunrise at Bunes beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 17, 2013; 04:45

After having nearly slept in – see Friday Photo #44 for a bit more backstory – my second morning on Lofoten presented me with one of the most colorful sunrises I have seen while on the Islands. My only regret is that I was up on Helvetestind the previous morning, which would have been an absolutely fantastic location for light like this, but Bunes beach was a close 2nd!

It was one of those moments where there is almost too much light, not that I’m complaining! Making it a little difficult to concentrate and the actual scene you are photographing when there is so much around to look at.  And then I wonder how many compositions I have time for before the light runs out. Luckily, I had a second camera which I balanced on a rock to shoot a time-lapse sequence – which you can see as the opening sequence of my ‘Northern Light’ video.

I returned to my tent with a small across my face on this morning. It was a good start to another Lofoten trip. Though this was slightly made up for with the storm that blew over during the afternoon/night as I headed over to Horseid beach.

I know I mentioned it yesterday, but I have now released my 3rd Lofoten ebook: Beaches of Lofoten. While my first two books focused on the seasons, this book is a location guide to the fantastic beaches of Lofoten, Bunes being on the the best.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
52mm
f 13
ISO 50
.5 seconds
WB Daylight

New Ebook – Beaches Of Lofoten

Beaches of Lofoten - Ebook travel guide

Photo: New Lofoten Islands Ebook Travel Guide: Beaches Of Lofoten

I’m happy to announce that my 3rd Lofoten ebook photography and travel guide ebook is now available.

-CLICK HERE-

Beaches of Lofoten is a comprehensive guide to the fantastic beaches of the Lofoten Island.  More than just roadside views, this ebook also features numerous hikes to the best mountain views of the beaches.  173 pages with 144 images, it is a visual guide for both summer and winter to Lofoten’s beaches.

PS: Anyone signed up to my email list will receive a 25% discount until December 3rd. 🙂

Friday Photo #150 – Storsandnes Beach Winter

Winter twilight at Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter blue hour reflection at Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  January 19, 2015; 15:03

Friday photo #150 – Wow! Little more than a month away from 3 years of this. Not sure how I have managed, but I have. And I hope you guys have been finding these posts a useful look at what might exist behind an image, otherwise I’ve wasted a lot of time! 🙂

I’ve previously written about how I seem to have a regular rotation of locations I go over a series of years. For the past few years I have been visiting Storsandnes quite frequently. This image is from the final evening of a winter photo tour with Muench Workshops which I was guiding in January.  With a light dusting of fresh snow of the beach, we spent several hours from late afternoon until darkness.

I always think the winter blue hour on Lofoten has a special feel to it, especially as the mountains seem to glow so bright agains the sky, it is almost like they have their own light from within.

I have also chosen a beach image this week as I will hopefully announce the release of my 3rd Lofoten ebook in a few more days. Can you guess what it will be about? Did you guess Lofoten’s beaches?

I was intending for it to be a mini guide, but this wouldn’t have done proper justice to the variety of beaches which Lofoten has. And then including images from winter, summer, spring, and autumn, the book is now over 130 photos and over 12,000 words for the first draft. So it’s looking like it might be my biggest book yet!

PS: If you’re on my email list you will get a 25% discount for a limited time… 🙂

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
42mm
f 13
ISO 40
2.5 seconds
WB Daylight

New Mountain Hiking Guide – Røren

View over Yttersand beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: View over Yttersand beach from Røren, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

I’ve just added a new hiking guide for Røren – Ytresandheia. You can check it out HERE.

More just an easy ridge walk than a mountain peak, this easy little hike provides you with some fantastic views over Yttersand beach.  I hiked this route this past June, and it will also be featured in my upcoming ebook guide to the beaches of Lofoten – and the hikes to view them from above.  I’m currently about 9,000 words into the writing process, and while I’m intending for it to be a mini-guide, the ebook will probably come in well over 50 pages – I guess I get carried away sometimes.

Thanks to everyone who has already gotten a copy of my 2 previous guidebooks: Seasons on Lofoten – Summer and Seasons on Lofoten – Winter. Without your support, I’m not sure how much longer I could keep providing new content for this site.  So thank you!

Friday Photo #149 – Reinebringen Twilight

Evening twilight over Reine from summit of Reinebringen, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn twilight over Reine from Reinebringen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 25, 2013. 19:00

The promise of a clear September sky brought me up Reinebringen for the night with hopes of northern lights. But even in the north, not every clear night brings auroras, and so, despite my 360˚ views, the sky remained quiet until a faint glow arrived at midnight, before quickly vanishing again.

But simply being alone, high in the mountains of Lofoten is a pleasant enough experience in and of itself. The northern lights would have just been an added bonus.  This night was cold, with a bit of frost beginning to form, the first signs that winter wasn’t too far away. A spent most of the night laying half-way out of my tent, so I cold keep an eye on the sky without having to move around too much and get out of my sleeping bag. As time passed, I eventually had to begin setting the alarm on my watch to go off every 20 minutes as my eyes grew tired and I drifted to sleep beneath the million stars overhead.

You can checkout the hiking guide to Reinebringen on my Lofoten hiking page.  The mountain is perhaps the most popular summit on Lofoten at the moment – more because the name has enter the public consciousness, rather than the view being so much better than anything else; I have several mountain views I like better myself.  But with the popularity, the fragile arctic landscape is beginning to suffer. Places that used to be trail are now blank, slippery rock as the covering dirt and vegetation have become warn away.  Be conscious of the impact each step makes; the land can handle 100 feet, it can’t handle 10,000.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
f 11
ISO 100
1/8 second
WB Daylight

New Lofoten Autumn 2016 Photo tour

View over Nappstraumen from summit of Offersøykammen, Vestvågøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn view over Nappstraumen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 2012

I’m super happy to announce a new workshop for September 2016 on Lofoten: September 17 – 26 to be exact.

CLICK HERE for more details.

Or, you can download a PDF itinerary of the trip HERE.

Since my first autumn visit to Lofoten back in 2009, it has remained one of my favorite times of year on the Islands. With the land full of color, dark nights, and still mild temperatures, it is the perfect combination of all that is Lofoten: days spent exploring mountains and wandering along beaches with late nights chasing northern lights.

If you don’t believe me that autumn on Lofoten is nice, take a look at my galleries and decide for yourself: Autumn 2009, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014.

Take a look and let me know if you’re interested…

Friday Photo #148 – Hustinden

Mountain landscapes from the summit of Hustind, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Snowy summit of Hustinden on summer night, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands. June 12, 2015; 22:31

I’ve already posted a couple other Friday Photos of Hustinden, but here’s one more. Though today it’s a little more relevant as I just released a new hiking guide for this mountain.

Checkout the guide HERE.

When I first hiked/climbed Hustind a few months earlier in February, I imagined it would be a good place to return to and camp on a nice summer evening for some midnight sun photography – but more so, that I just like camping on mountains peaks, as I’m too lazy to get up early to hike up for sunrise. However on my June trip this year I had a few other mountains that were priorities for some new ebooks and other stuff, so I never had the time for that nice summer evening. I did have time though for a miserably cold (i.e. snowing) night with the summit in and out of the clouds, near constant snow flurries and a bitterly cold wind.

And so while I was braving the elements on the Summit, I could see the folks down in Ramberg enjoying a bit of nice evening sunlight.  But even so, I’d still rather be in the mountains…

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
f 10
ISO 125
1/20 second
WB Daylight