Friday Photo #664 – First Snow

Photo: A dusting of autumn snow on the distant Himmeltindan in evening twilight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 23, 2025. 18:30

Monday’s autumnal equinox brought the official start of autumn in the the northern hemisphere and already by Tuesday morning a dusting of snow had arrived to the higher mountains of Lofoten. a brief moment of cold in what has otherwise been a rather mild, if not hot, September on Lofoten this year, with multiple days over 20˚c. And even the forecast for the weekend is showing 15˚c and sunny skies. Winter is not here yet!

On Tuesday I waited until it looked like the rain had mostly cleared up before wandering down to my beach just for a photo or two. The weather radar over Lofoten had been down, so unfortunately, weather forecasting at the moment is not as easy as normal, and the passing rain showers are just a guessing game. This is probably going to lead to some wet clients in next week’s photo workshop here on Lofoten.

Despite a fair amount of winder of the last week, I was pleasantly surprised to find the beach seaweed-free. The waves were crashing nicely around the rocks and normally I shoot here with a wider angle. But since I was hoping to be able to see the snow on the mountain summits, as little as there was remaining by the early evening, I shot a little longer to give a little more emphasis on the distant mountains. I also wanted to take away emphasis on the water itself, so I decided a long exposure would be better than trying to capture any movement of the waves, which didn’t look particularly interesting at this focal length anyhow. So a 30 second exposure to smooth the water seemed best, which also helped blur the moving clouds as well. I probably could have gone with an even long exposure, but I was simply too lazy to do so…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
54mm
ISO 100
f7.1
30 Seconds
WB Daylight
10 Stop Neutral Density Filter