Friday Photo #469 – Reinebringen Twilight

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Photo: Twilight moon over Kirkefjord from the summit of Reinebringen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 30, 2020. 11:32

I generally don’t pay too much attention to the moon here on Lofoten. On this morning I should have! My first thought upon reaching the summit ridge of Reinebringen and seeing the full moon over the mountains in the twilight sky was that I should have arrived an hour or so earlier!

Lofoten’s northern latitude means that the moon has a somewhat ‘odd’ orbit, to put it simply and without going into technical details. So in general, the moon is not part of my active photography consciousness most of the time. Usually I’ll just randomly see it from time to time, and maybe it happens to be in a good location for a photo, though usually not.

In the summer, I’m quite aware of the sun’s elevation in the sky throughout the weeks around midsummer, where the sun never sets. For me, this is easier to plan for as it doesn’t move as quickly as the moon, so there is a little more of a buffer in regards to weather and other conditions, making the timing not so critical. But with the moon; there is only 1 full moon a month.

On this morning, I wish I had arrived earlier so that the full moon would have been in the centre of the mountain pass over Kirkefjord, instead of somewhat out of place on the right side of the image. In its current location I feel it doesn’t really and much to the scene, and is perhaps even a distraction.

Although had I been on Lofoten earlier, perhaps the moon would have been behind the small layer of clouds lower on the horizon. And, still being a week away from the return of the sun, it perhaps would have been more of a blue hour type light instead of the soft pink twilight. I’ll never know.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
80mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/15 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #468 – December Hiking

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Photo: Hiker on the snowy ridge towards Vikjordtinden under a dark December sky, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 28, 2020. 12:50

Hiking days start early in December. And even then, there still might not be enough time to get to where you were planning to go. On the case of this dark and windy December day, the objective was Vikjordtinden on the southern side of Vestvågøy. We never made it.

Every day in December we wake up before sunrise here in Lofoten. If it is just a working day on the computer, then the time doesn’t matter too much. If I’m actually planning to go outside and do something, then this needs to be as a reasonable hour in the morning as the hours of visible light are preciously short – there is no time to waste!

Heavy clouds make December’s world even darker, so even just before 10:00 we were walking through the icy forest in near darkness. Luckily, there was no snow on the lower elevations and the boggy areas were mostly frozen, making for fairly easy hiking. But soon we left what little there was of a trail and headed cross country up a steep mountain ridge. The hiking here was somewhat slow and the warm-ish thin layer of snow that we eventually climbed into the heavy, wet, and slippery. And just deep enough to fill in the dozens of holes between rocks and the bushes.

The wind was blowing strong from the south, though not terribly cold. Continuing along the ridge, the snow deepened just enough to make route finding difficult as we climbed over rocky steps, careful not to slip. This took time. It was just before 13:00 by the time we reached the first high point along the ridge, before a long descent then another long climb to the summit. Not much light left on this dark December day.

And so I took a few photos before we turned around and began the slow descent. Returning to my van by headlamp.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 400
f 5.6
1/13 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #467 – Unstad Surf

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Photo: Arctic surfing on Monday’s 4+ meter swell at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 13, 2021. 12:21

A nice and clean looking 4-5 meter west swell was forecast to hit Lofoten on Monday so I decided to head out to Unstad to checkout the action. I don’t shoot surfing too often, but when the waves are big here, there’s usually some good stuff to watch. There was only one problem this week…

It is the middle of December and Lofoten is in the period of the Polar Night – Mørketid – when the sun does not rise above the horizon. And although the sky was clear to the north, there was a heavy layer of clouds over the southern side of the islands, blocking much of what reflected light might have made it over the mountains to Unstad. So it was dark. ISO 4000 dark at noon!

I generally try to shoot surfing at 1/1000 second, and ideally closer to 1/2000 second. But in the middle of December, 200km north of the artic circle, that is not really possible. So 1/640 was the best I could manage without turning the waves into sand dunes from all the grain of a higher ISO.

Eventually, I switched to video, which was more manageable due to the lower shutter speed required. I’m still very much a beginner when it comes to video stuff, so it was at least some good practice under difficult light…

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 4000
f 5.6
1/640 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #466 – Last Sun

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Photo: The last visible sun peaking over the southern horizon before the beginning of the polar night, Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 8, 2021. 11:56

The polar night has officially begun on Lofoten this week – the time of year where the sun no longer rises over the horizon. We won’t see the sun again until January 5th at the earliest. And I say earliest, because the return of the sun is as weather dependant as its departure. The latest ‘first sun’ for me has been January 18th.

Lofoten has experienced an early winter cold spell over the last two weeks. A big improvement to last years endless rain – though that will be back after the weekend, unfortunately. With the cold often comes clearer skies and horizon. However, I have actually been enjoying a semi-tropical sun down in Madeira for the last two weeks, so as I flew home to Lofoten on Wednesday, I figured I had already seen my last sun of the year.

But as a friend was driving me to Stamsund to pickup my van, I could seen the horizon glowing bright. Soon enough, a glimmer of sunlight poked above the horizon. I quickly cleared the snow from my van and headed to a spot on the road towards Steine. I didn’t have time for any sort of spectacular photo, and the mountains were glowing quite nicely. But it was simply enough to get an image of the sun (partially) above the horizon on my return to Lofoten. December 8th, this is now the latest I have seen the sun in the year.

Moving almost parallel to the horizon, the light didn’t last long before the sun sunk below the sea again, for its final time in 2021.

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/4-6.3
145mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/160 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #465 – Unstad Twilight

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Photo: Noon twilight over Unstad, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 4, 2020. 12:15

This is the last weekend of the year with (possible) sunlight on Lofoten as next week is the beginning of the polar night – the period of time when the sun no longer rises above the horizon. That is not to say that it is ‘night’ the entire time, but the nights are long after the twilight of the day begins to fade around 14:00.

Without direct sunlight, however, there is no proper blue sky ‘daylight.’ And while the southern horizon can glow brightly on clear days – as the sun is never too far away, for the northern side of Lofoten, the world is just a soft pastel glow.

For northern locations like Unstad, the village will already have been in the shadow of mountains for several weeks before the polar night officially begins. So for day to day life in the village, there is no real change from late November vs. early December. Or, perhaps only on a clear day where the sun might be shining on some of the surrounding mountains. The last visible sun at my house is October 20th, and it doesn’t return until February 19th. So unless I’m away from home, it can be long periods without sunlight for me. Almost makes me want to have a house on the southern side of Lofoten for the winters, or perhaps Spain!

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

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
130mm
ISO 400
f 5.6
1/50 second
WB Daylight