Friday Photo #196 – Tønsåsheia Sunrise

Photo: Autumn sunrise from Tønsåsheia, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 23, 2016. 07:13

My tent was shaking in the wind as dawn approached. Having stayed up past midnight in an unsuccessful attempt at northern lights, my 05:30 alarm hit me like a wall; part of me secretly hoping for no light and an excuse to stay in my sleeping bag. But as I unzipped the tent and saw the orange glow on the easter horizon, I knew I couldn’t be lazy. I closed my eyes for another few minutes, then began to get dressed.

It was a cold and windy morning. As the sun neared the horizon I could see clouds begin to form over Stjerntind to the north, the highest peak on Flakstadøy. I went about wandering and shooting across the broad flat plateau of Tønsåshei, trying my best to take shelter from the cold east wind. Soon I noticed the clouds beginning to move lower and lower.

What I thought would be a relatively nice, but somewhat boring sunrise quickly turned into a fantastic show of swirling clouds all around me in the golden light of dawn. Every second different from the previous or the following. It was one of those times where you have to keep shooting the same scene over and over again, afraid to put down the camera.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
130mm
ISO 125
f 8
1/200 second
WB Daylight