Friday Photo #625 – Dark Mornings

Photo: Dark morning on Hamnøy bridge, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 31, 2020. 09:21

The darkest day of the year has now passed and the sun once gain begins its journey north and in only 5 months the midnight sun will shine all day long over Lofoten. But before that happens there is still 4 more months of northern lights filling the evening sky and hopefully many days of good skiing in March and April – once my photo workshop season finishes.

For a short while longer though, night will remain a strong presence over Lofoten. Here at 09:21 in the morning in late December it is darker than it will ever be in May. But once that first sun arrives a week into the new year, it feels like the days accelerate at an amazing speed. It is a swift transition from lazy mornings to having to set the alarm quite early to head out for sunrise – and sunsets changing from late afternoon to dinner time. Each week I wake up 30 minutes earlier to match the pace of the northward moving sun. Which by late March the decision then becomes: Get up incredibly early, or just simply stay up until sunrise and then sleep. Needless to say, though of us working as photo guides here in the far north have terrible sleep patterns!

On this New Year’s eve morning I was actually hoping to photography the full moon between the mountains in the background. But what was forecast for clear sky over Reine – looking directly up, ended up with a cloudy horizon, and thus no moon to see on this morning. I spend dozens of hours each winter standing on this bridge, but not often when it’s empty. And even though the iconic shot is too my right, I liked the contrast of the yellow lights and street against the deep blue morning sky of the Polar Night.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f 9
8 Seconds
WB Daylight