Friday Photo #403 – Between Storms

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Photo: Between Storms – Rays of light shine over Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 22, 2020. 14:49

Lofoten received its first proper autumn storms this week with two back to back storm systems sweeping across the islands on Monday and Wednesday – the highest wind gust I measured from my house on Monday was 35 m/s, just a little over hurricane force which begins at 32.6 m/s. Skrova measured 38 m/s during Wednesday’s storm.

Monday’s storm was the remaining winds from the previous tropical storm Sally and while longer lasting, seemed to be slightly milder than Wednesdays storm – which canceled all the ferries, closed most of the bridges, dislodged boats, sent motorhomes and hot tubs flying off the road, and did some structural damage in some locations. Driving by this morning, I noticed the old torsk drying racks down the road from me are now mostly collapsed – and will probably be completely destroyed by the end of winter.

But while Lofoten was suddenly windy, the islands have been soaked in near daily rain for the last month or so – with seldom moments of clear sky and poor aurora watching. I was even up north on a road trip to the Lyngen Alps and Senja, but decided to cut the trip a week short because I was tired of sitting around in the rain – and there was nothing better to look forward to in the weather forecasts at the time.

Though now it seems we might have a slight break from the wet weather during the next week. Lets hope so! I still need to attempt one final lawn mowing before the winter sets in, but my yard is currently too soggy to do so…

I took this photo on Tuesday afternoon, on a relatively calm day between the two passing storms. The weather had cooled significantly from Monday’s warm southwest wind, and showers of hail were sweeping across the islands – and the first mountain snows of the year were visible on the higher peaks. I did not desaturate this image, but the scene almost appears black and white.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200 f/4
72mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/800 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #402 – Purple Heather

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Photo: Late summer heather bloom, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 25, 2020. 21:01

The purple heather flowers of late August are a sign that summer is soon over. Even the bright fireweed will mostly have faded and soon it will be autumn’s yellows and reds that fill the landscape. While 2020 seems to have sent the world into chaos – and a disaster for me as well with 90% of my income revolving around tourism – we at least had the best summer here on Lofoten since I moved here in the early winter of 2016. So it is ok for it now to be over, I’m content and looking forward to what the autumn will bring.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’m kinda working on a special ebook project. Not a Seasons on Lofoten – Autumn/Spring, which I’ll probably finally get around to over the winter. But something new and more ambitious.

The weather wasn’t the best this day, so I waited until early evening to finally head out – though there was little chance for a sunset in the heavily clouded sky. There are a few places on Lofoten that I kinda keep as a backup for when I’m both lazy and the conditions aren’t ideal. I shot in this area a lot in the spring during the snowmelt when the rivers were flowing. And now in the last days of summer, I was back again, looking for some composition which might work.

Despite the recent rain, the rivers and lakes weren’t particularly interesting. What caught my eye more was the blooming heather covering the landscape.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
38mm
ISO 400
f 5.6
1/30 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #401 – Kirkefjord Rain

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Photo: Merraflestind rising into the rain over Kirkefjord, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 28, 2020. 14:34

The weather forecast was more promising than reality. What showed mostly sun and some clouds turned into mostly clouds and rain. Such is the weather on Lofoten. Even so, I found myself on the ferry from Reine on a Friday afternoon heading out to one of the beaches for the weekend – the ferry has now switched to the winter schedule now, so there are no Saturday departures.

As the boat approached Kirkefjord the next wave of rain arrived. Off to the right was a nice rainbow, but not it any photographic position. More interesting to me was the layer of sunlight shining across the shoreline village with the mountains rising into the dark rainy sky. As the ferry got closer, Merraflestind seemed to rise over the village like some ancient castle. I’ve been here dozens of times over the years, but never quite seen the scene like this before. Worth a quick snapshot from the front of the boat before an afternoon hiking in the rain!

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
38mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/400 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #400 – Autumn Leaves

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Photo: Autumn leaves below Stjerntind, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 25, 2020. 20:52

The golden colors of autumn are beginning to take hold in Lofoten’s landscape. Even last week while wandering around near the famous road to Nusfjord the first small changes in the birch leaves were already visible on some trees. And a week later, with a golden sunlight shining across the land, it seems the green of summer will soon be gone. Hiking up on Reinebringen on September 1st, the change in color was even more apparent looking down over the landscape.

The weather was mostly stormy on the day of this photo – like it has been for almost two weeks now since the middle of August. I’m attempting to work on a new ebook – my most ambitious yet. It might actually be impossible, and won’t be finished for at least a year at the earliest, if not two or three.

The result of attempting this project was I needed to go out and shoot this day. It is something difficult, to force yourself to take an image on a certain day with whatever conditions might be present. It’s not normally the way I work, and it will probably present quite some challenges going forward. But at least it will be an exercise is creativity.

This image actually won’t make the cut, I took a better photo a few minutes later. But It was the first autumn leaves I photographed this year. So here it is…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
62mm
ISO 100
f 4.5
1/25 second
WB Daylight

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