Friday Photo #365 – January Storm

Photo: New year, new storms – Lofoten enters 2020 with a blast of wind over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 2, 2020. 13:38

What was a somewhat calm New Year’s eve on Lofoten has turned into a series of passing storms in the first few days of the new decade with local ferries canceled and even the Hurtigruten coastal ship holding fast and port and skipping Lofoten. And the winds will still continue tonight and into Saturday, so hold fast.

It was eerily warm yesterday in much of Norway, and down south in one of the fjords it was 19˚C or so, a new heat record for winter. Up here it was a little cooler, but still a mild 9˚C with a heavy sideways rain and house shaking wind casts. I could see the wild ocean outside my kitchen window, so once the heaviest of the rain passed, I headed out to the coast to see if I could manage anything.

Not trusting the weather, I actually drove about 400 meters down the road to a pullout. The wind was even more brutal there and shook my van like it was a boat at sea as I attempted to park, then wait for a calm moment to open the door. The wind and rain came in waves and I did my best to scramble down onto some rocks and find a place to sit, which was difficult enough – standing was impossible.

With the polar night ending this weekend, it was still quite dark in mid afternoon with the sky dark and grey. I did my best to steady myself and my camera, but it was more or less impossible – and this image if of questionable sharpness. It is hard to capture the real fury of the wind in a still image. Especially since the best time to shoot is when the cast winds hit and rise the sea into a tempest. Then it’s a fight between steadying yourself, keeping the tripod from falling over, and shooting an image – which basically means pressing the shutter button with a rough idea of what might come out.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
56mm
ISO 1000
f 3.2
1/200 second
WB Daylight