Friday Photo #460 – Reine

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Photo: Olstinden mountain peak emerges from passing autumn rain showers, Reine, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 2, 2021. 17:10

For as many times I’ve stood at the ‘classic’ Reine overlook at Reinehalsen over the year, I’m still unexpectedly surprised by unique and interesting conditions from time to time. I say unique and interesting, because that is what this weather was. It was not a dramatic, fiery sunset with the mountains glowing, or some crazy storm and blowing winds. It was actually a rather calm moment during the passing of a light rain shower.

Despite the grey weather, the wind was calm. And looking ahead at the forecast, this would likely be the only calm moment allowing for a reflection of Olstinden peak that my workshop group might have. So on the first afternoon with my first Lofoten tour group since the Covid lockdowns began in March 2020 I found myself standing at an old familiar place, waiting for the rain to stop and the water to calm. It finally did.

With the bright colors of autumn, I actually don’t mind otherwise grey and dreary weather. The color of the landscape is enough to brighten up the scene. But when the rain passed, and then began to turn into a low foggy mist concealing the lower peaks, this was something kind of special, bright colors or not.

Over all the years, I’ve never captured this scene looking quite like this. The moment didn’t last long though, and within a few minutes, the next wave of rain had arrived and more ‘normal’ type clouds began to conceal Olstind and the rest of the scene. Lucky timing I guess to capture a new (to me) interpretation of the familiar icon.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200 f/4-6.3
29mm
ISO 100
f 9
1/8 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #459 – Autumn Snow

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Photo: Snow-dusted Stortinden rises over flowing waters of Mølnelva river, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 17, 2021. 15:00

The first real dustings of autumn snow finally seem to be sticking around the peaks this week, dropping down to about 350m or so over Lofoten. Even the roads have begun to get icy in the last days, so it is good that I have my winter tires on already – The date for this in Nordland is from October 16.

The weather this day was mostly terrible, with a fully overcast sky and regularly passing rain/sleat/hail showers. I actually only left the house in mid afternoon because I was bored and didn’t feel like doing computer work, so with no plan, I just drove west. With a lot of rain in the last days, I could already see that the flat series of small waterfalls which flow over the slabby rocks on the western side of Kilanpollen were flowing higher than normal. So I pulled over in the small pullout and headed up the river.

This is a fairly reliable scene which usually produces a decent photo when the conditions are right – such as for this image – nothing special, but nice enough for a bleak, grey afternoon. Soon after I arrived, rain began to fall again, but I think this added with a bit of atmosphere as some clouds formed over Stortinden and darkened up the sky overall, which had otherwise been a bit on the bright side. The water was flowing strong enough that I didn’t need to use an ND filter to capture the flow. And when I did for some different compositions later on, the water was actually a little too soft, so I think this shorter shutter speed worked better to still retain a bit of the detail in the water.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30 f/4
14mm
ISO 31
f 14
.4 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #458 – Uttakleiv Storm

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Photo: Waves flow over rocky shoreline at Uttakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 13, 2021. 08:15

The autumn weather cycles of wind and rain seem to be in full effect over the last weeks with mostly turbulent weather sweeping across the islands. But this is a good thing, or, at least when you don’t have to be outside too much! I’ve just finished my 3rd and final photo workshop of the autumn, and each group had quite a variety of weather to keep them busy: wind, rain, rainbows, northern lights, fiery sunsets and sunrises, and everything in-between. Weather wise, autumn is defiantly the most dynamic time of year on Lofoten.

I had been at Uttakleiv earlier in the week at both low and high tides – a medium to low tide is generally required for the ‘eye of Uttakleiv’ to be visible, while high tide is typically more dynamic for the rest of the beach itself. With a nearly new moon at the time and with a large swell out of the north, but tides were quite extreme. At low tide, it was nearly impossible to head out onto the slippery, algae covered rocks, while at high tide, the waves were breaking very high up the shoreline, not allowing safe passage down to the lower rocks that usually work well as a foreground.

On my third visit the sea was a bit calmer while the sky itself remained stormy and turbulent, as a cold and icy wind blew out of the north. At first there had been bright clouds and a bit of blue sky in what is the background of this image. But it wasn’t long until the next wave of rain, which actually turned out to be stinging hai, was beginning to approach from the distance and darkening the landscape.

This time, the waves weren’t so large, so I could get into a better position on the beach, without too much worry of being swept out to sea. Although I did eventually end up with wet feet, despite the fact I was in rubber boots.

The large rock in the center of the image is always a compositional difficulty when shooting at Uttakleiv. In this case, I felt that just keeping it in the center of the image worked best, especially as the background mountains were softening up slightly as the hail passed in front of them. The water flows were difficult to find a nice balance, and I wish there was a little more action happening in the large black area on the right side of the frame, which feels a bit empty and distracting to me. But overall, I think Uttakleiv works best on stormy days like this…

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30 f/4
14mm
ISO 31
f 11
.6 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #457 – Light And Shadow

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Photo: Sun rays shine over the mountains of Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 7, 2021. 16:36

October has been off to a mostly cloudy and rainy start this year. But in-between the grey, there has been some nice moments of light. Autumn is usually a time of dynamic and interesting weather here on Lofoten, and yesterday was one of those days.

I spent the morning and afternoon shooting around Uttakleiv with my Swiss group from Amazing Views tours. The (nearly) new moon meant quite extreme tides, with the AM having a super low tide like I rarely seen, while mid afternoon, combined with large swell, saw waves sweeping high across the rocks. The same location but two completely different moods just due to the tide.

When it came time to move on, we had decided to go to Unstad for the sunset. However, as a little more of the western horizon came into view, I changed plans and decided heading to the Vikten area would likely produce better results. As we descended into Nappstraumen tunnel, I could already see a hint of the light show that was happening in the far distance over Moskenesøy. Turning towards Vikten, the light rays were shining over the mountains. One of those moments where one has to be quick, as the light might not last long. But it lasted long enough…

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200 f/4-6.3
200mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/800 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #456 – Unstad Wave

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Photo: Sea spay from crashing wave at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 15, 2021. 15:37

This weekend it is the annual Lofoten Masters surf competition at Unstad beach on Vestvågøy – Northern Norway’s most famous surf beach. I don’t have time to attend myself and shoot any images, unfortunately. Or rather, I should say fortunately, since I will be guiding my first Lofoten photo workshop since the Corona lockdowns began in March 2020 – And I’m actually just barely home from my first tour since then, on Senja with Amazing Views Tours, where all work ended for me a year and a half ago. So it is good to be back out guiding again!

Most years it is in the autumn that the swells pickup again and the heavy seas once again flow into Unstad bay. This day was a little over head high when I stopped by in the afternoon. A few surfers were out, but none of the local pros, so I found a little more interest in just the shape and texture of the waves themselves. Especially since the sun was shining bright and lighting up the sea spray blown up from the offshore wind.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 200-500 f/5.6
500mm
ISO 250
f 5.6
1/4000 second
WB Daylight

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