Friday Photo #208 - Kvalvika Winter

Photo: Winter view over Kvalvika beach from Ryten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 28, 2016. 16:22

I attempted a night camping on Ryten last year (2015), however conditions deteriorated and it was so windy that standing was difficult, much less setting up my tripod! This February I had a little more luck.

Heading up Ryten (hiking guide here) in late afternoon, the plan was to camp. Though In winter, one can never be too sure of these things. However, arriving at the top, it was perhaps the calmest weather I have ever experienced on Ryten; hardly a breeze. Which was good, since the ground was frozen solid and the snow of poor consistency, so I couldn’t really stake out my tent properly.

The light wasn’t the best, with the often, seemingly ever-present layer of clouds on the horizon, blocking out the last of the days light. But it is a nice scene none-the-less. This will probably also be my view for the first day of 2017, though, with winds forecast to 20+ m/s in Ramberg, I doubt I’ll get many photos from up top!

Have a good new year everyone! There will be plenty more photos to come in 2017…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
15mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/20 second
WB Daylight

Photo: July sunset over Bunes beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.

With only a couple days left in the year, I have finally gotten around to uploading a gallery from this summer.

SUMMER 2016

It was a busy year, and there were almost too many images to choose from. But also, there were some days where everything worked out perfectly, and I would like to show every angle, focal length, view point, from a single location and moment that produced dozens of images. But of course, that doesn’t make very much sense! And so I have to edit a bit, unfortunately. However, you can always head to my photo archive and see everything (that I have gotten around to processing).

Friday Photo #207 - Uttakleiv Moonlight

Photo: Full moon illuminates winter landscape at Uttakleiv, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 22, 2016. 19:38

This isn’t the image I wanted to take on this night.

With a perfect weather forecast coinciding with a nearly full moon, I decided to head up Mannen in hopes of shooting northern lights over Haukland or Uttakleiv or anywhere else they might show up. Getting a late start I raced the falling sun to try and catch some light over Haukland beach, just barely making it to a decent viewpoint before the sun fell behind the mountains.

As twilight arrived in continued to the summit of Mannen to begin my wait until darkness, and fingers crossed, northern lights! Not wanting to let any decent light go to waste, I continued shooting from twilight and into the evening. As the moon began to rise these clouds stared to form over Skolmen in the distance, traveling straight for me. Having already shot numerous images with clear sky this night, I though the movement of the clouds would add a nice element to the scene.

Keeping the same exposure, I shot two images at 14mm, one for the foreground and one to capture the clouds and the sky. I had originally tried with my 24mm tilt-shift lens, but it wasn’t wide enough for what the scene required.

I shot a couple more images after this, but was pretty much done by 20:00 as the clouds were no longer as interesting looking. And so I sat down and waiting for some aurora. By midnight the sky was still silent and I was finally beginning to get cold from all the hours of sitting in the open. And so under the bright moonlight I headed down the mountain.

I will try again for an aurora photo this winter, but I’m sure several more attempts will be needed until luck works out on my side…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 5.6
92 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

Volandstind mountain hiking guide - Lofoten Islands

After a long pause in adding new content, mainly because I’ve been busy writing my next ebook for Lofoten – a hiking/mountain photography guide to Moskenesøy and Flakstadøy, I have added a new mountain hike to the site: VOLANDSTIND

Volandstind is located just down the road from my house, and sort of my backyards mountain. It is a good easy walk and I usually go up for the exercise most times and leave my camera behind. And the views, like most anything on Lofoten, are fantastic.

My ebook should be coming to a close in the next few weeks, which should then allow me a bit more time to add new hiking guides to the site. Though some mountains will only be available in the ebook, at least for a while, as I want to give exclusive content to people who help support me and my efforts here…

Friday Photo #206 - Lofoten Mørketid

Photo: Skjelfjord polar night, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 11, 2012. 12:23

Last weeks photo showed the normal weather Lofoten’s has been having for most of December so far. However, on Sunday, everything changed and the islands were silent and still. I was supposed to have gone to the mountains, and probably should have, but the views from my home were also good enough to keep me satisfied.

Skjelfjord runs almost perfectly north to south. In the height of summer, the midnight sun will pop into view for a few minutes around 01:00 am, shining through the low point in the mountains near the center of the image. Now in December, with the sun just below the southern horizon, the mountains receive a bit of glow around midday – assuming the horizon is clear.

I walked to this location, several times throughout the mid morning to mid afternoon as the light was constantly changing. I’m not sure if this is my favorite image of the day, but it illustrates what I want to show this week. That there is still light here, even with the winter solstice little more than a week away. After that, the days get longer again and we can greet the sun once again in early January…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
19mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/6 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #20 - Lofoten Mørketid

Photo: Nesland coast, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 9, 2016. 12:01

This week was the begging of the winter mørketid, literally dark time, but otherwise known as the polar night. On Lofoten it occurs during the weeks around the winter solstice when the sun no longer rises above the horizon. And while there is no proper daylight, there are some hours of twilight around noon. And even now at the time of my writing, there is still some glow in the southern sky at 15:00.

The Islands have had pretty bad weather for the start of December, which is actually quite normal. Think 1-4˚C with lots of wind and rain. The heavy cloud cover of the last days makes it feel much dark than it really is, and even getting up at 10:00 feels like an early start to the day! I feel myself slowly going into a hibernation mode, quite of opposite of the insomnia during the midnight sun period of summer.

It was a strong north wind blowing down the fjord today, but I figured I would have a little shelter down the road in Nesland, so I headed there. I was trying to shoot an image that showed what the sky looked like, but the only expanses of clear sky were over the open water to the south, and thus not very interesting compositionally. Luckily there were some holes in the clouds as they swept in from the north, so I did my best to show a bit of sky in the best composition I could find.

Hopefully I’ll come up with something better for next week…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 50
f 14
25 seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop B+W ND filter
2 images – top, bottom

Friday Photo #204 - Reine Sunrise

Photo: Autumn sunrise over Reine, near Vindstad, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 23, 2016. 08:51

The original plan for the previous night had been to camp on the summit of Storskiva. But it was far too windy to stay up high on the mountain, so we descended the peak and found a more sheltered location above Bunes beach, with nice views towards Reine as well. The nights come early in late October, and after a long, cold hike, I was soon fast asleep.

I didn’t know what sunrise would bring, but I wasn’t optimistic, and my tent was still shaking strongly in the cold wind as I stirred myself from sleep and took a look outside. Not much. But I go up anyhow and went to join my friend who was already up, taking a bit of shelter behind some rocks.

Soon enough however, a faint pink began to shine on the clouds and I could see the first rays of light hitting the peaks rising above us. The light slowly crept down the mountains until it was upon us. I knew it was time to move!

I quickly grabbed my gear and hopped to the far side of the rocks, looking directly into the autumn sun rising over Reine, on the far side of the fjord in the distance. It was windy like mad facing in this direction, and I wasn’t entirely sure that my light mountain tripod would get me any still shots, but I did my best to wait for brief pauses in the gusts, where things were a bit calmer for a brief second or two.

Composition wise, I don’t think this is the strongest image. But I can feel the warmth of the sun after a cold night, and that is what draws me into it.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 14
1/10 seconds
WB Daylight