Photo: Rays of evening light shine across the distant mountains of Moskenesøy, Vareid, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 7, 2021. 16:44
This weeks photo is more or less the exact same location and focal length (200mm) as last week’s photo – Friday Photo #507 – yet quite different light conditions and mood. As I wrote last week, the autumn (and late winter when the sun is setting in the same location) is often a nice time to shoot sunsets out on the coastline near Vareid and Vikten.
I usually find it more beneficial go well before sunset, as it will be setting behind the mountains, so it’s best to be there with the sun higher in the sky so it can interact with the mountains better. In this case, sunset was at 18:00, so this photo is taken 1:15 before sunset. With the sun too low in the sky, all the mountains seen here will just be shadow and the scene will be relatively boring under conditions such as this.
With the sun higher in the sky and shining in from the west, it really shows the mountain layers of western Lofoten, with the 1029 meter high Hermannsdalstinden (hiking guide) rising in the far distance some 25km away.
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 200mm ISO 100 f 8 1/320 second WB Daylight
Photo: Autumn rain sweeps across distant mountains of Moskenesøy, Vareid, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 24, 2018. 17:43
It is the autumnal equinox today marking the beginning of the sun’s journey to the south. For Lofoten, this is the time of year where one can really feel the days begin to shorten as the islands lose approximately 1 hour of daylight per week. For the northern side of the islands, this is also the time of year when the mountain shadows begin to grow as the sun sinks lower in the southern sky. For my house, the 20th of October will be the last brief moments of direct sunlight before it returns again on February 19th – 4 long months in the shadow of the mountains.
This was a stormy and blustery September day, just on the edge of being too stormy. Luckily, The clouds were broken up enough to allow some rays of light shine through as the next wave of snow flurries swept across the landscape. I was out on the coast between Vareid and Vikten, which often works well for sunset at this time of year as the sun shines across the distant mountains of Moskenesøy, often creating interesting patterns of light and shadow.
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 200mm ISO 320 f 6.3 1/640 second WB Daylight
Photo: Autumn rainbow over Vestfjorden, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 14, 2019. 16:12
Autumn is a quiet period on Lofoten. The hustle and bustle of summer has gone and the winds of the winter storms have yet to arrive. Often is it a somewhat gradual change in which I eventually notice that one day the world suddenly feels quiet. But not this year.
I spent the second half of August traveling with my brother and friends along the north coast of Spain. Fun, but hot! Without even returning home, I arrived back at Harstad-Evenes airport and immediately drove to Sweden to hiking 140km along the northern section of the Padjelantaleden trail and a middle section of the Kungsleden trail, back to my van which had been parked in Kvikkjokk. It was a pretty quick transition from 30˚c of Spain to several nights below freezing in the mountains of Sweden. From Kvikkjokk, it is a long 10 hour drive home.
Waking up in the morning after my arrival I immediately noticed the absolute silence of the land. Even the sea was silent. It was eerie. Like I was in some sort of post-apocalyptic movie and everyone and everything had suddenly disappeared. Some wind and rain has passed during the last week, brining a bit more life to the islands, but it is still quiet. Having been long overdue with mowing my lawn, it felt like I was making a great disturbance in my valley on a Tuesday afternoon.
So, after a month of travel, I haven’t taken a single photo of Lofoten in the week that I’ve been home. The weather has been little on the grey side, but there has still been some nice light to find if one has been willing to put in the effort – which I have not – as I’m mostly stuck behind the computer catching up on overdue work.
This weeks photo is from back in 2019. I thought I had posted it already, as I quite like the simplicity of it – just a rainbow over the sea. I was with a group out on the southern coast of Flakstadøy near Nesland waiting for the clouds to clear over some distant mountains when I sensed the light changing and this bright rainbow fell from a rain shower over the Vestfjord. From my position I knew there wasn’t anywhere I could get in time to use the rainbow as part of some other composition, as it was too far out at sea and away from any nearby mountains or coastline. So I switched to a 70-200 telephoto lens and simply used the rainbow and cloud as the only subjects – which they were. I usually like to include a sense of place in my images, I don’t think it was necessary.
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 82mm ISO 100 f 5 1/400 second WB Daylight
Photo: Autumn rain showers fall over Narvtinden, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 13, 2021. 14:57
Compared to last weeks photo (Friday Photo #504) of somewhat boring and flat autumn rain, this week’s is a more dynamic version when bad weather should be embraced for the light it brings.
Lofoten’s weather changes quickly in the autumn. Two days previous to this it had been cloudless blue sky, the day before flat, grey clouds, and the evening after northern lights were dancing in once again clear sky. Four days with four completely different moods and photographic potentials. This is one of the reason that autumn is one of my favourite seasons on Lofoten; it is a dynamic time of year.
On days where I can see the rain is broken up in passing showers, as opposed to just one giant rain clouds covering Lofoten, I like to look for backlit showers in the late afternoon while looking west. Typically a day like this, if conditions remained the same, is unlikely to have much of a sunset if at all, as there are too many clouds concealing the lower horizon. Then it is often better to shoot mid mornings or mid afternoons with the sun higher in the sky, giving it more of a chance to shine through the gaps in the clouds. Although if you’re lucky, this type of weather might also produce epic rays of light near sunset of all conditions line up correctly.
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 75mm ISO 100 f 10 1/500 second WB Daylight
Photo: September rain over the mountains of west Lofoten above lake Solbjørnvatnet, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 3, 2021. 16:33
As the calendar pages turn to September Lofoten enters the historically rainy and wet autumn period. September usually averages to just over double the total rainfall as August, and October brings even a bit more rain than that. Of course, these are just historical trends and some years are better than others if lucky, while others can be much worse!
For example, in 2021 September and July had roughly the same amount of rainfall. This wasn’t because it was a dry September, no, it was about average. It was because it was a terrible July, with roughly triple the rainfall than average. So, as far as last year was concerned, there was little difference between July and September’s weather. What this year will bring is anyone’s guess.
On this afternoon, I hiked up to the small mountain Tekoppstetten above lake Solbjørnvatnet in hopes of some nice shows of light in the passing rain. No light of too much interest arrived, just heavy rain and heavy clouds covering the landscape. Luckily, there’s a small cave to hide in to keep dry as I waited. But eventually, with the radar looking worse and worse I headed back down the muddy mountain path.
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 24mm ISO 100 f 9 1/50 second WB Daylight
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