Photo: Bluehour reflection of Stornappstind with dusting of snow, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 28, 2025. 06:37

For many weeks this winter even just a dusting of snow mid-way down the mountains like this morning was a welcoming sight. The temperatures for the entire week prior to this morning had been averaging over 6˚C and this was the first time in 8 days to fall below 0˚C again.

It takes close inspection of the image to know it was taken in winter, as it looks more like a typical autumn dusting of snow or maybe something from late spring. If you look closely, you can see some small patches of snow here and there on the mountain as well as some remaining snow in the gullies on the right of the image. These are small signs that more snow had previously been present but that almost everything else had melted away at some point. It has not been a good year for us skiers who live in the western half of Lofoten.

And while the image doesn’t look very wintry to me, I actually do like the look of the image overall and think the snow line helps add a little depth to the scene. Luckily, this was also a rare morning of still wind, so the reflections in these small tidal pools near Gravdal worked out quite nice in my opinion. Perhaps some areas are a bit dark and heavy – it was low tide – but I think it works as a nice framing of the mountain as it rises into the deep blue of the early morning sky.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
48mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
6 Seconds
WB Daylight

Photo: Cormorants at dawn, Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 15, 2024. 09:11

As the blue hour light over Haukland beach faded into early dawn I was ready to head off to the next location. But walking back to the van, I thought this row of skarven – cormorants had a nice profile against the distant mountains. And as a beginning wildlife photographer, I thought I might try and get a photo.

I would have liked to shoot a little wider, capturing the whole rock, but unfortunately with the tide level, there was a small rock to the right of the frame which I found too distracting. But in this image I also find the sloping of the rock on the right side a little distracting as well. I think this image has potential, but needs another attempt or two for something better.

The main difficulty though, was waiting for all the birds to have their heads up and in a sideways profile. Had they been sitting in this position the whole time, I probably could have gotten a better composition immediately. But as they were constantly cleaning themselves and moving around, it was really a bit of luck to get them all with their heads up, and not much time to do much else. Next time…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
360mm
ISO 800
f 6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Dusting of snow covers rocks at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 5, 2024. 12:23

Sometimes one doesn’t need to contribute much more to a photograph than being there. This is one of those times: park the van, walk 50 meters, setup camera and tripod, take a photo.

Lofoten has done all the real work…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
35mm
ISO 64
f 10
30 Seconds
WB Daylight
10 Stop Nisi ND Filter