Friday Photo #608 – Rainbows and Storms

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Photo: Afternoon rainbow in the sky over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 26, 2024. 17:49

The rainy weather has continued much of the last week in mostly two styles: Rainbow rain, and full storm rain. Both are wet, but very different visually. This week’s post is both those styles: a rainbow Monday and a full storm Tuesday.

It has been a wet August this year! It seems like a switch was flipped and the weather went from endless sunshine to endless rain. The good news is that it looks like this pattern might finally break after the weekend and the sun might be present a little more often now. I can see on the weather statistics though, that just two days this August will already have put the month at its average rainfall of 55mm. I suspect this August will come in at least double of the average – more like the rainier September or October.

Even though it is still officially summer, this past Saturday was a good reminder that it is always necessary to keep a close eye on the weather forecasts with the arrival of the first proper ‘Høststorm’ – Autumn storm of the season. It was a short one, but still brought wind gusts over 30 m/s and many ferry cancelations over the Vestfjord. Tuesday was also a stormy day with canceled ferries, high winds and near continuous rain.

Photo: Dark skies and wind-blown sea over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 27, 2024. 13:03

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
59mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #607 – Grey Rain

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Photo: Rainy grey sky over Himmeltindan and Nappstraumen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August, 21, 2024. 18:04

The weather has shifted and the sun has been a rare sight over the last week – except for yesterday when summer decided to return for one last day. This week has had double the amount of rain than the entirety of July, and about the same as July and the first half of August combined. I made the poor decision this year to spend the summer on some long overdue house work; long days working away in the endless sunshine of July and August. But now that my first projects are finishing up and I can have a bit of time off, the weather forecast just looks grim. And not just for Lofoten, but all of northern Norway.

This is the unpredictable nature of Lofoten’s weather. Had I known this would be the best summer in a generation, I would have gone on a few road trips to get a few more photos for long term projects. Instead, the furthest I have gone from my house in the last two months in Leknes airport to the east, and Nusfjord to the west. Not very far! It feels like a bit of a waste, but it is what it is.

If you are also traveling to Lofoten this summer, you will also have the same experience – a couple weeks age vs. now. Perfect summer vs. endless grey and rainy days. Before I moved to Lofoten, mid to late August would be my more common time of travel for summer. If it was this year, I think I would be spending a lot of time sitting around the Stamsund youth hostel waiting for even a night of camping. At least now I can watch the rain from my own windows.

But! As always, who knows what next week brings. With the sun’s solar maximum upon us, maybe the clouds will clear and every night in September will be filled with dancing northern lights. Maybe…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
54mm
ISO 40
f 8
60 Seconds
WB Daylight
10 stop ND filter

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Friday Photo #606 – Waiting For Aurora

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Photo: Northern lights shine in twilight August sky, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 27, 2023. 00:14

After a four month absence from the evening sky it is once again time to keep an eye out for the first northern lights of the season. I have already seen some friends sharing the first faint aurora dance over Lofoten, but I have yet to see anything so far.

Last year while over on Værøy, my first aurora of the season was on the night of August 18/19, which is the earliest I’ve seen them in the season from Lofoten. Unfortunately, Looking at the weather forecast at the moment, the coming week is not very promising looking – and perhaps even the first autumn storm might arrive before next weekend if the forecast hold out. Perhaps this year’s wonderful sunny summer already used up the yearly quota for clear skies. It is starting to feel light autumn is upon us.

But sometime soon, the night sky will be full of stars as the twilight glow fades from the northern horizon – the aurora dancing overhead. There is no rush…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 20mm f/1.8
20mm
ISO 400
f 2.2
3 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #605 – Changing Weather

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Photo: Colorful summer sunrise over Nappstraumen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 8, 2024. 03:54

Lofoten has had a fantastic start to August this year with a late summer heat wave bringing 20˚+ temperatures and blue skies since last Saturday. Added to an already above average summer, I think this year I have spent more time at the beach than all previous years combined! Although I am deep into some house renovation projects, so I’m not able to get away from the house for too long at the moment anyhow, and a nice float in the cold sea is calming after a day of painting, sanding, sawing, and hammering. I should have chosen a rainy summer for house work, as I am missing some nice mountain weather. But maybe its too hot to hike anyhow…

The weather will now be changing back to more ‘normal’ patterns as things look to cool down finally. Some clouds, some wind, some rain, some sun, that is what the next week is looking like, with that growing sense that autumn is not so far away anymore.

For the majority of the last week though, the sun has just gently sunk into the sea in a cloudless sky while the light just fades away. A bit boring, but in a good way. Especially when your stove is disconnected and your only dinner option is late night barbecue.

This photo from the early hours of Thursday morning was the first colorful cloud filled sky that I’ve seen in a couple weeks. With the electricians showing up at 08:00, shooting out my office window was as much effort as I could give.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
53mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/40 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #604 – Twilight Moon

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Photo: Twilight moon over Himmeltindan, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 28: 23:11

It has only been a couple short weeks since the midnight sun has left Lofoten’s sky and I can already sense the change in the air as this year’s wonderful summer will soon begin its departure. On a couple of the cloudier nights of this past week I’ve already needed to turn on the lights in my house a few times. By Now, the sun is below the horizon for 4.5 hours while a soft twilight glow fills the northern sky. It is only 3 weeks until the return of the northern lights. Time flies.

I can’t remember the last time I saw the moon. It has probably been around, but I generally don’t pay much attention to it during the summer. Then on this evening, I just kinda noticed it in the twilight sky over the mountains of Veggen and Himmeltindan. Despite the good weather, I’ve barely touched my camera in the last weeks as my time is consumed with long overdue house maintenance. Luckily it only takes me a minute to take a photo out the window. And so here we have a quarter moon in the twilight sky of late July.

Unknowingly at the time, and almost the photo for today, this scene would become a little more tragic on the following day when a humpback whale became stuck in fishing nets in Nappstraumen. It took over 24 hours before the coastguard arrived to make a rescue effort to free the whale. Which they did. And then decided the whale had become too exhausted and injured from its 24 hours stuck in the nets, so they killed it later in the evening. The mountains as witnesses.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
160mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
1/50 Second
WB Daylight

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