Friday Photo #651 – Mountain Sun

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Photo: Evening sun over Slettind mountain peak, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 16, 2024. 23:39

Yesterday was a bright and sunny day with the midnight sun shining over the sea. I had been hoping to go hiking in my local mountains, but a couple unscheduled meetings left me sitting at my computer until it was too late to head out. This left me a bit stuck today, as I was hoping to have shot something for today’s post.

Trying to figure out something else to post, I realised that I’ve never really posted the main viewpoint from the location I was planning to visit. I’m not quite sure why, as I’m in the area a couple times per year, but I always seem to post a different view than the main one. Friday Photo #447 is of the misty valley below, but not the mountain. Friday Photo #509 is an early autumn view of the mountain, so I guess that counts. Friday Photo #584 is the mountain with northern lights. And Friday Photo #602 is of the foggy landscape on return from the hike – taken on the same evening as today’s photo.

As summer in west Lofoten now often consists of crowded trails and expensive parking, I’m lucky to have a couple nice scenic views and mountains quite close to home. And as this view is actually quite close to a more popular mountain peak (though still relatively quiet), I’ve rarely seen anyone else in the area as its not really an obvious place to go, as there are just faint wanderings of sheep trails to follow once the route separate.

There is also nice, and perhaps even better, viewpoint off to the right and up onto the ridge from where this image is taken. Though the angle from that location means the sun will disappear behind the mountain around 23:30 or so. So it’s actually better to wait a little later into July with the sun getting lower on the horizon. Last night it would have just been a clear blue sky over the image and perhaps a bit boring.

One of the wonderful things about the sun north of the arctic circle: It sets or rises in all 360˚ of the compass. So with planning, you are able to position the sun to almost any location you want it across many locations and particularly coastal area with an unobstructed view of the horizon.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
18mm
ISO 100
f13
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #650 – Cool June

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Photo: Meadow of yellow buttercup – smørblomst flowers overlooking Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:53

The Summer Solstice is tomorrow here in Norway, and with that, the official start of Summer. Although realistically, I consider all of June to be Summer here on Lofoten – Basically once the fields are green and full of flowers. It is in these next couple weeks, from the 2nd half of June into the first weeks of July that Lofoten is at its most vibrant and colourful stage of the year – all underneath the 24 hour shine of the Midnight Sun.

Many are hoping for a repeat of last year’s incredibly warm and sunny summer, but so far the Lofoten’s is remaining on the cooler and greyer side of things, with many days of misty clouds over the past weeks and only a handful of days even reaching 15˚C. Although this is not abnormal, a coolish June. And in fact, June has basically the September, 9.7˚C and 9.4˚C, respectively. It is only the months of July and August where the islands reach an average higher than 10˚C. With the new travel trend of ‘coolcation,’ Lofoten will generally always be a good place to escape the burning sands of southern European beaches.

On the brighter side, it looks like the sun will make a nice appearance for tomorrow’s Solstice and might even stick around the rest of the weekend! Hopefully it’s enough to dry out my overgrown lawn, with is about a month overdue for it’s first mowing of the summer, as I spend the end of May and the first half of June down in Scotland, mostly on Shetland and Orkney photographing puffins and gannets.

I had not actually intended 2 photos this week – usually I save for when I’m trying to illustrate some change in conditions or something. The second photo (below) is what I planned to post, to show the nice misty clouds over the mountains of Himmeltindan, Mannen, and Veggen, as they rise in the distance from Vestvågøy. But as I just got back home this week, the field has already become a little overgrown as the grasses begin the grow higher than the flowers, making the foreground a little busy.

The above image caught my eye better once I sat at the computer to look for an image to edit. It doesn’t really show what I wanted to illustrate or write about for this week, but I think it’s a better image overall.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
75mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Misty clouds hang over distant mountains rising over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:52

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
70mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #649 – Moltind Midnight Sun

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Photo: Midnight sun shines bright in sky over mountain landscape of Lofotodden National Park, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 13, 2020. 00:29

Another bright bluebird night from June 2020, this time watching the midnight sun from Moltinden (651m) peak, which rises high over Kvalvika beach in Lofotodden national park. In the north, the sun is just above the distant peak of Fuglhuken (557m).

This was actually my 2nd attempt at the peak within a short time period, however during my previous attempt I got lost in the fog trying to find my way up to the mostly trail-less summit, and so I turned around, not being able to see more than a few meters ahead of me. Though with a layer a sea fog below, that would have made for some nice photos! Maybe when I sense another foggy evening, I head up earlier in the day before it arrives.

On this hike as well, I actually took an alternative way up, hiking most of the way out to Vest-Kvalvika, before then basically climbing up the steep side of the mountain to the summit ridge. I took the normal ridge route for the descent, though there is one very narrow crossing, which I wouldn’t want to do if the trail was too wet.

I hung around for a little while on the summit. But without a single cloud in the sky and the sun beginning to rise again after its lowest point just after 01:00, there was no need to wait around all night.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f14
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #648 – Stjerntinden Morning

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Photo: East face of Stjerntinden catches morning sunlight as it rises over Storvatn, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 7, 2020. 01:55

One of the difficult things about evening hikes during the midnight sun period is that by the time I get home a new day is often well underway. This is even more true with a cloudless blue sky such as on this evening, or, at this point, early morning.

This photo is from a (nearly) cloudless summer evening wandering around the strange, almost desert-like landscape of Nesheia, located on the southeastern corner of Flakstadøy. Already almost 02:00 in the morning, and having been out for several hours already, I had to stop for a couple more quick photos before I descended off the ridge and back into the forest below. Though the light was not very dramatic, the reflection of Stjerntinden (938m), the highest mountain of Flakstadøy, catching the morning light was a nice tranquil scene.

In full blue sky like this during the midnight sun period, I dare say the light can be a bit boring. With the sun never touching the horizon, there are no real sunsets or sunrises at this time of year. I generally prefer a bit of clouds for at least some hope of drama or interesting light.

A bit of clouds also help with sleep! It was another hour after this image that I finally got home, and by this, it basically felt like the middle of the day, not time to go to sleep…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 100
f10
1/15 Second
WB Daylight

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