Friday Photo #195 – Ytresand Aurora

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Friday Photo 195 - Northern Lights

Photo: Autumn northern lights over Ytresand beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 27, 2016. 21:12

The forecast called for heavy clouds and a bit of rain, yet as the day faded into night, the sky remained clear. Busy with work, I peaked out the window just to see if anything was happening. Lights!

Hopping into my van, I knew my best shot was to head to Ytresand. Only 5 minutes from my house, it is not only a scenic beach, but also a relatively quiet place compared to the more popular Skagsanden beach – as I was aware of several photo tours on the islands at the moment.

As I arrived and ran down to the water the sky was filled with light. I first set up a time lapse sequence to shoot with my little Fuji, then wandered elsewhere to shoot with my D800. It was high tide, so I couldn’t get the clear reflections I was hoping for the the flat, sand beach. But the aurora was so strong that even the incoming tide took a nice green tone.

It is for nights like this that I moved to Lofoten. Hopefully there are many more in the coming months…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1600
f 3.2
10 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #194 – Summer Sunset

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Friday Photo 194 - Summer Sunset

Photo: July sunset over Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 30, 2016. 23:19

I think the color on this evening will take some time for me to beat! I’ve already posted an image from the same location for Friday Photo 188, but that was taken from my tent, and almost an hour before this image. One of those Lofoten sunsets where the light just keeps on getting better and better as the hours pass; my tired body from a long day in the mountains struggling with my mind which wants to keep shooting. Luckily the photographer in me won on this evening!

The previous evening, while hiking into our mountain camp I had seen the promise of what the light could be from this location. However, having not reached Vindstad until 22:00 on the Friday evening ferry, and a little bit of wandering around trying to find which way to go, meant I missed most compositions before the light had gone, and it wasn’t nearly as colorful as this anyhow. But wanting to hike a bit out of the mountains from our high camp, this location seemed like a good spot.

And it was! From late afternoon till midnight, I hardly had time to put down the camera as the light was constantly changing and there were a million scenes to shoot all within a few minutes of my tent. My total photo count for the day was 1,888 images, which for me is a 4-5 times what I would normally shoot, even on a day that I consider good!

I think I will try and get back here in winter, and see what this location has to offer then.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
19mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/13 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #193 – Vindstad Ferry

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Friday Photo 193 - Vindstad Ferry

Photo: Fjordkyss arrives in Vindstad, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 30, 2016. 16:32

It is now mid September and the long days of summer are already feeling like a distant memory. The green fields and leaves of summer are now taking on the golden tones of autumn and the nights feel like they are becoming oppressively long. Where has the midnight sun gone? Next year I guess.

This image is from an evening camping above Vindstand on the second night of a mountain adventure to one of Lofoten’s rarely visited valleys. The forecast called for rain overnight and in the morning, so we though it best to head a little further out of the mountains to not have such a wet walk in the morning. Turns out the forecast lied, but I won’t complain this time!

I didn’t plan to photograph the ferry, but as I saw it coming across Reinefjord on its second run of the afternoon – the summer crowds at Bunes beach fill the boats beyond capacity, I thought it would possibly make a good photo for the next edition of my Summer ebook. Lucky for me, the sun was also cooperating, with a nice light shining on the foreground, and I actually like that the background mountains are in shadow. Summer on Lofoten…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
20mm
ISO 125
f 8
1/320 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #192 – September Aurora

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Friday Photo 192 - Northern Lights

Photo: Autumn northern lights, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2, 2016. 23:22

Last Friday was the beginning of the northern lights season for me here on Lofoten. There had been a few displays during the last days of August, but I was always too busy to go out shooting. But as Friday rolled around, with a forecast for calm and clear weather – something a bit rare these last weeks, I knew it would by my chance for the first aurora of the season.

I first started the night at Skagensanden beach, near Ramberg. But as the first aurora began to appear in the sky, I immediately knew I was in the wrong position, with the lights forming behind the beach, in a location that wasn’t very photogenic.

I immediately headed to Ytresand beach, which basically points towards Skagsenden, and the location of the aurora. I missed the first large outburst as I was driving, but I caught some nice lights and shot a time-lapse for about 30 minutes before deciding to move to another location during a dim period.

I had seen the water was calm near the Fredvang bridges as I was initially driving out, and so I headed there to see if I could find anything interesting. Shortly after I arrived and setup my camera, the sky exploded with light! So bright that I over exposed my first shot, not having changed setting from my previous exposures. While I wasn’t completely happy with the foreground, and the small bit of power lines off the the left of the frame (most people would just edit this out probably), the aurora was good enough that I stayed until they calmed down again.

Truthfully, I don’t know anything about KP levels or any of the technical stuff. It seems to be a fascination among some photographers to label their shots KP 6, or whatever. I don’t know or care too much. I just compare what is immediately in front of my eyes to what I’ve stored in my memory. Friday night was a good one. I’m glad I was there to photograph it.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 800
f 4
8 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #191 – Summer Camping

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Friday Photo #191 - Summer Camping

Photo: Sunset camp near the summit of Moldtind, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 19, 2016. 21:22

The weekend saw me making a second, and this time successful, attempt on the rarely visited peak of Støvla, near Sørvågen in the west of Moskenesøy. Not leaving until mid afternoon for the like hike in via Munkebu hut and then off trail with difficult route finding to Moldtind, we arrived after 19:30 and set up camp on the flattest rocks which could be found on the entirely rocky mountain. And of course, nice views were a priority as well, with our tents looking directly over Hermannsdalstind, rising across the valley to the north.

As the sun grew low on the horizon, the late season snow glowed pink, creating a scene that looks more like winter as opposed to the last days of summer. The sky overhead was brilliant, in color that lasted long into the night and provided may more images. I kept high hopes for the possibility of northern lights, but as the midnight darkness arrived, so did the rain, which was my companion until morning. Maybe next time as there are still plenty of tent nights to be had before the winter takes its hold over the islands.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
19mm
ISO 250
f 10
1/60 second
WB Daylight

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