Friday Photo #464 – House Below The Mountain

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Photo: A house between the mountains and the sea, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 18, 2021. 13:02

With a dusting of autumn snow to add contrast to the otherwise flat light of a snowy October afternoon, this lone house out on the fjord’s edge at Bø, was particularly nice looking on this day. I’ve passed by this house thousands of times, in all sorts of weather, and usually I don’t stop. But this time, the subtly of the moment was worth a quick photo.

It is not a dramatic image. In fact, its actually pretty boring. But Lofoten isn’t pure drama 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Many, if not most days, there isn’t much spectacular happening. And that is perfectly fine! And so here is a photo of a simple house beside the sea and below the mountains on a flat, overcast, and snowy October day.

What I do think works about the image, and is the reason I stopped this time, is the separation of the cool, slightly snowy background with the brighter autumn colors of the field immediately next to the house which adds a bit of contrast and separation that the flat light was unable to while still retaining a fairly neutral look to the image overall.

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 24-200mm f/5.6-6.3
160mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
1/160 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #463 – November Rain

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Photo: Mølnelva river flows below Stortind mountain peak after days of heavy rain, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 16, 2021. 12:52

In what seems like a repeat of last year, it has so far been a windy and wet November. Looking back over the last month, it has rained/snowed on 27 out of 30 days! The last few days in particular have brought some quite heaving rain, with localised flooding across some parts of Lofoten and elsewhere in northern Norway.

It was only a month ago (Friday photo #459) that I posted a picture of this location – Mølnelva flowing below Stortinden. But in heavy rain, or should I say, just after the rain has stopped, its an easy location for me to access that always seems to have something new to offer. Usually if I’m passing by to elsewhere and I see the the water level is high, I’ll stop and go wander around for a bit. Though, much of the scene depends on what the clouds are doing around Stortinden, and if the summit is even visible. If not, then its not worth stopping for the most part.

Tuesday, after a night and morning of heavy rain, the clouds eased off slightly for the afternoon – and by slightly, I mean just not torrential rain. The mountains had come alive with tiny ribbons of water flowing down seemingly every rock face. And so as I passed by Mølnelva on my way back from checking things out a bit further west, I made a brief stop.

With the polar night still a few weeks away, November is already a pretty dark month. More sun under heavy clouds. Even shooting at 13:00, I could already achieve a shutter speed over a second without the need for any filters – though I liked the flow of the water better in this image with a shutter speed of 0.6 second.

Hopefully the rain stops soon and I don’t have to shoot this location too many more times over the next months!

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 14-30mm f/4
14mm
ISO 31
f 13
0.6 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #462 – Fire In The Sky

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Photo: Passing rain clouds illuminated at sunset over Reinefjord, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 4, 2021. 18:10

Sometimes we get lucky and all the elements line up at once; in this case, rain at sunset with a clear horizon. Then the sky turns to fire. It is not often that Lofoten has sunsets like this, and even when it does happen, the steep mountains often mean it can be quite localised. So to be in the right place at the right time is quite a treat, and a bit of luck – especially in autumn, when the western horizon is only visible from a few locations on Lofoten, so it is hard to see what is happening out there.

The weather forecast this autumn seemed to be completely backwards for the most part: rain when there was supposed to be sun, clear skies and aurora when it was supposed to be 100% cloud cover. The only reasonable guessing was just looking at the sky and hoping everything worked out for the best.

This particular afternoon didn’t look very promising, with rain in the forecast and a layer of clouds covering the Reine area. But as the hours passed, I could see the subtle beginnings of color lighting up the clouds from below. Always a good sign, but one still never quite knows what will happen. So as the sky got brighter and brighter, it was a nice surprise. And then, at the peak of the color a light rain shower passed over the mountains, adding even more color, it was the brightest sunset I’ve seen since the spring.

But a lesson to myself. I was focused on the show in front of me, that as the rain arrived, I forgot to turn around and look behind me. When I eventually did after some minutes had passed – a full rainbow was filling the sky! I wasn’t in the best position, so I had to run up the road to the Hamnøy bridge, where the rainbow had been circling around it. But I was too slow by about 30 seconds or so. And as I approached the bridge, changed lenses, and put on a polariser filter, the rainbow had already faded for the most part. I always tell my workshops clients to look behind themselves when intense light is happening to see if there might also be something interesting going on, but this time I forgot to listen to my own advice…

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
39mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/30 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #461 – Rorbu Reflection

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Photo: Parking lot reflection of new rorbu cabins at Eliassen Rorbuer, Hamnøy, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 4, 2021. 19:05

After an 18 month break from guiding due to Corona, I was finally back in the Reine area and staying at Eliassen Rorbuer for two of my Lofoten photo workshops. Ongoing last year, they’ve expanded quite a bit, with many new cabins build (which I think makes them the largest Rorbu accommodation on Lofoten now). Along with new cabins came a new parking lot. And from all the rain this autumn, a parking lot reflection.

I think I shot this scene maybe 6-7 times as the lights changed throughout the days. Usually it was just for a couple quick snapshots while I was on my way to/from my cabin at various times of the day. Sometimes there was a car parked in front of the buildings, and I could shoot. While other times, the scene looked something like this. There was still some construction going on, limiting the angles I could shoot without a bunch of other junk in the way.

But for a simple puddle of rain water in a parking lot, I think it makes a nice image!

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 14-30mm f/4
20mm
ISO 100
f 20
20 seconds
WB Daylight