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Friday Photo #677 – Kirkefjord Reflection

Photo: Mountain peaks rise over Kirkefjord on a calm winter morning, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 1, 2024. 09:51

The inner fjord arms of Reinefjord are some of my favourite areas in western Lofoten. Even if not putting on the backpack and heading out to Bunes or Horseid beaches, the boat journey across the fjord is scenic enough itself. And so, more and more, if I can time the weather for a nice flat day or some otherwise interesting weather, I’ve been taking my winter photo workshop groups on a boat ride around the fjord. On this particular day, the group was lucky enough to have its own private rib boat for the journey, allowing me to stop the boat whenever I saw a nice view.

The dramatic peaks surrounding the small village of Kirkefjord has always been one of my favourite areas on Lofoten. Luckily we arrived to near perfect reflections just as the sun was peaking over the horizon and illuminating the vertical rock face of Merraflestinden.

The fjord is long and narrow, so by February, not much sunlight reaches the inner parts and not long after dawn the sun will already be blocked by the mountains on the western side. So one doesn’t have too much time with sunlight back there so early in the winter.

Despite pretty ideal conditions in this image, it is pretty evident to see what is missing for a winter image from Lofoten: Snow. Lofoten’s winters are not a perfect snow wonderland and rain is frequent. Had the mountains here been covered top to bottom in a fresh layer of snow, this probably would have ended up one of my favourite images from the winter. But no worries, I’ll have several chances to try again next year!

God Jul everyone. See you in the new year…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
20mm
ISO 1000
f5.6
1/320 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #676 – Sea Eagle

Photo: White-Tail Sea Eagle picks up fish from fjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 5, 2025. 13:33

In some of my recent photo workshops we are beginning to introduce more activities than just landscape and northern lights photography. The sea eagle safaris out of Svolvær are one of those activities. And as I still consider myself a beginner wildlife photographer, this is probably as much fun for me as for the clients. And much better than standing around on the Hamnøy bridge at sunrise for the XXth time over the previous two months.

And when I say I’m a beginner, look below at my camera info to see that I made some big mistakes with this image. f/18, ouch!!! I could actually see over the sequence of images where my operate got stopped down. The combination of a small rib boat with relatively tight quarters, stormy weather, thick gloves, etc, probably all lead me to accidentally moving the aperture wheel. And in the excitement, it was sometime until I finally noticed and opened the aperature back up to where it should be for a dark winter day on Lofoten. But I used up the best light while still at f/18. Lesson learned for next year.

Luckily though, the denoise option with Adobe camera raw works wonders these days. So even this ISO 12,800 image turned out pretty decent in the end. Leaving me not too depressed with my mistake…

*For transparency, the boat drivers throw fish to the eagles, so this is not a fully wild image.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
165mm
ISO 12800
f18
1/2000 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #675 – Hamnøy Dawn

Photo: Glowing winter dawn over Hamnøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 2, 2025. 07:54

This was one of those winter mornings on Lofoten where it feels like the sky is glowing from within itself. Even a photo doesn’t do justice to the light as you really need to be there, surrounded by it all – the same way no photo can ever show the experience of a dancing northern lights. I rarely photograph from the Hamnøy bridge these days, but on this morning I wanted to remember a bit of the atmosphere from the light.

Otherwise… While there are many places across Lofoten in which calm conditions are usually preferred, such as the other nearby location of Reinehalsen. For Hamnøy, I actually prefer a little more stormy and wild conditions, particularly for the sea and the rocks in the foreground. And even more so when it is low tide, such as this image.

The light on this morning was fantastic, and if you only have the option to visit Lofoten for a week, I would consider this a pretty decent image from Hamnøy. But for myself, I know the foreground, with that just overly large rock, not contributing much to the composition, could have been much better. I’m sure I’ll stand in this exact same spot for many hours over the coming months, so I won’t have lack of opportunities for this Lofoten classic…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
16mm
ISO 100
f6.3
15 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #674 – Fullmoon Aurora

Photo: Northern lights – Aurora Borealis illuminate the sky before a full moon, Skreda, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 14, 2025. 21:04

By now Lofoten’s northern lights season is almost half way over for the year: roughly August 20 – April 20. The bulk of my images will be be shot during my winter photo workshop season from late January to late March. On this evening, my group and already had a few hours of somewhat faint, but colourful aurora at Vik beach, just over the hill from our accommodation at Skreda. It was a cold night afternoon an already long day, so it was an early evening to be back to the cabins by 21:00.

Walking out onto the balcony of my cabin, there was still a nice green arch of aurora shining across the southern sky. The sea was calm and I actually liked the addition of the lights shining on the distant shore. And the nearly full moon added a little depth to the scene. Not the usual snowy mountains or beaches of my typical northern lights photos from Lofoten, but I like this image in a bit more of an abstract way – even more so as I was only 10 meter from my bed.

I still read online quite often the misinformation about not being able to see the northern lights with a full moon. This is absolutely false, as you can see here in this image. Yes, a full moon will reduce the visibility of a very faint aurora that you can already barely see with your eyes. But for any aurora worth photographing at least, the moon doesn’t make too much of a difference, and in fact, often aids in the overall image quality by illuminating the landscape and allowing for lower ISO and shutter speeds.

My main dislike of a full moon comes not from its direct interference with the visibility of the northern lights themselves, but more of what to do with it as a compositional element. In this image, I think the mood adds to the overall scene. But sometimes, the moon just doesn’t fit with where the aurora are in the sky and it’s in some awkward part of your preferred composition. Or, with the moon high overhead, it can cast your own shadow onto the foreground of the scene, leaving you struggling to find a foreground to the image. These are mostly critiques about composition, and not the full moon interfering with the visibility of the northern lights themselves.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
16mm
ISO 2000
f4
3 Seconds
WB Daylight

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