Photo: Spring buttercup flowers in evening sunlight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 19, 2026. 22:59

I think it’s now safe to say that spring has arrived on Lofoten – possibly summer even with some of the temperatures during the last week; though rain returns tonight and throughout the weekend. Not good timing for my first cruise ship group of the season, but as I always say, no predating the weather on Lofoten – it doest what it likes, no matter what the calendar says.

I’ve still been spending long hours on the computer trying to finish up some updates on my Kungsleden trail ebooks before the summer hiking season begins. The end is in sight, but still a lot of hours left.

Ironically, the only day I’ve gone hiking in the last week was a grey-ish flat light days with occasional drops of rain. I didn’t even take my camera out of the backpack. The only photos I have taken in the last week are in the evening light of the wildflowers in my neighbourhood fields. It’s hard to sit at the computer when I can see golden light shining in my window at 23:00! By next week, Lofoten will be under the 24 hour daylight of the midnight sun. Time goes fast.

I was originally shooting a slightly different composition with mountains in the background, but I couldn’t quite get the flowers to work for the foreground, I still think they needed a few more days to grow a bit more. But when the sun emerged from a layer of clouds, I noticed the back-lit flowers looked a little more interesting. I’m not sure if the sun is a bit too overpowering in the sky, but overall, not too bad of an image for 5 minutes outside my house an hour before midnight. Now back to ebook editing.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
79mm
ISO 100
f5
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Evening spring rainbow over farm, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 7, 2026. 21:25

It is that time of year where each day the weather rolls the dice and decides if it will still be winter or maybe spring and summer will be on the horizon. After a warm ‘false spring’ in mid April, the weather has once again cooled significantly in the last weeks and more than once I’ve woken up in the morning with a snow covered lawn or sat in line waiting for the Nappstraumen tunnel to pounding hail or graupel on my windshield.

Yet, despite the unsettled weather, the signs of spring are showing in the landscape – and a bit early I would say. The trees in my yard are already sprouting green leaves and the first flowers can be seen along the roadside. And slowly, but surely, Lofoten’s farm fields are begging to change from brown to green as the grass grows in the long hours of daylight.

Slow showers have been passing over the islands this week. Which has been a bit frustrating as need a predictable period of dry weather to change a dead battery in my van, pour some concrete in my yard, and put on summer tires. But in the wind-still sky, showers just seem to appear out of nowhere and slowly drift across the landscape.

This photo is from last night as the sun was shining over the sea as a rain shower passed over my neighbourhood bringing a bright rainbow across the sky. Today, it almost feels like bbq weather, and I probably would have, had I not looked at the forecast for Saturday and Sunday…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
39mm
ISO 100
f7.1
1/80 Second
WB Daylight