Friday Photo 216 -Reine Dawn

Photo: Winter dawn over Reine, Vindstad, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 6, 2017. 09:29

This weeks photo is not so much about the image, but more about the importance of location in winter. Or to say it another way, if you want to see sunrise or sunset in winter, it is important that you know where you are going.

In the first week of February I took the ferry to Vindstad and Bunes beach for a couple nights of camping as the weather forecast was good and I was hoping for some northern lights over the beach at night. However, snow conditions were unfortunately quite thin, giving a much more spring like look than that of the fleshly snow covered landscape. But that is beyond my control.

Even a full month after the sun has returned to Lofoten, it still remains quite far to the south and still relatively low in the sky. From my location for sunrise each morning, I would see the sun rise over the mountains of the distant mainland around 09:00 and by around 09:25, the sun was disappearing behind Reinebringen – gone for the day! Bunes beach itself received no direct sunlight during this time, while the mountains high above would have sun at various points through the afternoon and until sunset.

So that was it, 25 or some minutes of direct sunlight each day while I was camping. Not very much!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
150mm
ISO 100
f 9
1/125 second
WB Daylight

West Lofoten Hikes Ebook

I’m a bit late in making the announcement here and those of you who are on my email list ( who also received a discount) or follow me on Facebook already know the news: That I have released my 6th ebook! West Lofoten – A Mountain Photography Guide to 24 Hikes on Moskenesøy and Flakstadøy.

MORE INFO HERE

Like the title says, this guide focuses on the mountains of west Lofoten – my home for the last year now and where I have spent a majority of my time.

Available for $14. The book is 239 pages long with 150 image, and somewhere around 28,000 words. This is my biggest work yet and took up a lot of my time over the last months – not counting all the hiking that needed to be done over the past summer! But I think the effort was worth it and I’m quite happy with the result.

Friday Photo 215 - Reine Winter

Photo: Approaching winter storm over Reinefjord, Valen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 15, 2016. 14:14

Another day of passing clouds and snow sweeping over Lofoten out of the north. After the clear, calm and silent winter days of endless twilight glow, these stormy days are perhaps my next favorite.

I love standing in the sunlight and watching a wall of cloud slowly, or not so slowly, coming towards me. Soon the distant mountains begin to disappear and then the winds slowly begin to increase as the first few snowflakes begin to arrive. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the wind can hit you like a hammer! I have almost lost a few cameras in these moments in previous years, so I try and remain a bit more cautious these days.

The fjord in this photo was stormy, but not stormy enough for my taste. Thus, I used a 6 stop ND filter for a 10 second exposure, which was manageable during low points in the breeze so as not to shake my camera too much. But after not too much longer, the distant mountains were gone, hidden behind the clouds and the scene lost balance. As I was packing my back, the snow hit with a fury.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
42mm
ISO 50
f 14
10 seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop ND filter

Friday Photo 214 - Skagsanden beach

Photo: Dusting of snow on Skagsanden beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 14, 2016. 11:10

In the last years one typically has to arrive first thing in the morning at any of the beaches to find them with a fresh, clean layer of snow before it has been walked across numerous times. Yet, on stormy winter days, with passing waves of snow sweeping across the islands, the beaches often get a nice reset to new conditions.

This particular days was a rather stormy one. The trick is to get to the location you want to shoot while it is still snowing and just wait until the clouds begin to pass. Just as the weather passed I headed down to the beach to look for something interesting.

The snow covering was light, and not interesting enough to me for that dramatic snowy beach look. However, as one approached the sea, the various layers began to form a nice pattern across the beach. I though this would make a nice leading line for the foreground, bringing the eye towards Hustind in the background.

Soon the next wave of clouds arrived and snow was sweeping across the beach again…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 13
4 seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop ND filter
2 images – top, bottom

Friday Photo #213 - Ytresand

Photo: Approaching winter storm over Ytresand beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 28, 2016. 09:09

Another morning which started out quite colorful yet soon became consumed by a massive wave of snow approaching from the north. It is like watching a wall of darkness sweep across the land until finally there is nothing to see, just the details that are visible immediately in front of you as snow swirls around in the gusting wind.

I had already been on the beach for around 40 minutes by the time I took this image. The best shots had already been taken, but I liked the mood and simplicity of this scene which was quickly developing before me.

The shallow pool of water on the beach at low tide is what makes this image work. Had it been high tide, and thus no reflection, I probably would not have taken a photo, as the scene would have felt out of balance with a large presence of water, either normal exposure or long exposure, in the foreground. But the reflection helps balance the negative space of the dark clouds with the brightness of the remaining mountains and sky.

This is not an award winning image by any means, but a good representation of a brief moment in time of what winter on Lofoten is.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 50
f 16
4 seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop ND filter