Photo: Midnight sun under Fredvang bridge, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 29, 2021. 00:43
The midnight sun season has officially begun on Lofoten! The sun will be in the sky 24 hours a day from now until mid July, when it finally sinks below the northern horizon again. As I like to repeat, the term midnight sun is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, the sun is above the horizon at midnight – but its actual lowest point in the sky will be around 01:00 – where it still remains above the horizon as well. But ‘midnight sun’ just sounds nicer.
I took this image completely by accident. I was driving home from an evening hike in the Reine area and when I passed by the bridge with the sun underneath I had to turn around and go back for a photo.
My timing was slightly off by about 5 minutes or so. It would have been nice to get the sun centered under the bridge. I’ve kept it in my mind over the years to go back and try again, but it has never quite worked out. One of these days…
Camera Info: Nikon D850 Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 320mm ISO 800 f5.6 1/1000 Second WB Daylight
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: Arctic skua flies low over moorland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 18, 2022. 00:22
This week’s photo is one from the archives as I’m fully concentrated in ebook editing mode to get my hiking guides updated for the upcoming summer season. West Lofoten Hikes has already been updated, and the Kungsldeden guides are up next; hopefully finished by the end of next week.
But this photo, an artic skua flying at midnight over the moorlands of my valley is not completely random. It should be sometime soon in which the skuas hopefully return to Lofoten. Every time I see a flutter of bird activity over in the moorlands I give a quick scan with my binoculars looking for a dark shape flying swiftly through the sky. No luck so far, but maybe soon.
Though the last years I haven’t had much luck with my neighbourhood skuas. They were here, as I’d see them flying right outside my windows once a week or so – obviously with no camera nearby. Or on several occasions they were sitting on some rocks down on the beach as I would drive by. Again, with no camera nearby.
On the random occasions I would head out into the moorlands with a bit of purpose, nothing. Well, plenty of gulls of course, but no skuas to be seen. Hopefully this summer I have a bit more luck.
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 360mm ISO 250 f5.6 1/4000 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
Photo: Setting May sun over Nappstraumen from Myrland beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 15, 2021. 02:50
Lofoten’s aurora season is now over until the autumn. As the islands wait for the arrival of the midnight sun in a few more weeks, Lofoten enters into what I like to call ‘sunset season,’ With the sun sinking just below the horizon during the midnight hours, the next weeks offer the possibility for hours-long sunset-to-sunrise colourful skies.
I often feel like this May light is somewhat wasted though. It can still be some time until the fields are green and the first wildflowers appear, and this is even longer up in the mountains. May still feels and looks a bit wintry; no snow, just brown grass and leafless trees, while the nights are some of the best light of the year. This often leads me to focus on coastal area and beaches, without too much of the landscape present. This is not to complain, as there’s still plenty of nice photos to be taken from the beaches as well, especially when you can wander down from your house at 03:00…
Camera Info: Nikon D850 Sigma 14mm f/1.8 14mm ISO 31 f13 0.8 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Sand patters bubble up on Skagsanden beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 26, 2020. 07:42
I was looking for a different image to post this week when I noticed I had never shared this one before. It’s actually one of my favourite images of the unique sand patters that can form on Skagsanden beach – the sand patters are common, but finding them in good photographic conditions is less common. On this morning I was lucky that the beach was free from seaweed and no one had yet walked through the scene. Even for myself, I approach these scenes slowly, so I don’t put footprints or tripod holes in my own image.
Skagsanden beach is somewhat unique on Lofoten in that the white sand of the beach often has lines and patterns formed from darker sand which flows down from a river coming from the mountains behind the beach. In this image, you can see the water of the river bubbling up through the beach sand to the surface, which then form the darker patterns in the sand when the water flows away. It’s a little bit like panning for gold, as the different rock types have slightly different densities.
Usually these more intense patters and designs form at the back of the beach, where all the seaweed and debris is also continually washed up, leaving a chaotic and messy scene. For whatever reason on this morning, the water was flowing much lower on the beach in the clean section of low-tide sand. It almost looks like an alien head or some kind of weird caterpillar.
Camera Info: Nikon D850 Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 ISO 31 f13 2 Seconda WB Daylight
Photo: Winter plumage willow ptarmigan flies though mountain landscape, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. April 6, 2026. 18:23
In the longer and warmer days of April the local wildlife is beginning to increase its activity ahead of the summer mating and nesting season. Over the last weeks I can hear a noticeable increase in noise as the resident birds, such as willow ptarmigans (this photo), as well as the newly arrived migrants such as oystercatchers, common gulls, curlews, and more look for mates and nesting sites in the fields and moorlands of my coastal valley.
This year’s warm March means some of the locals haven’t quite adapted to the lack of snow yet, such as this still winter-white willow ptarmigan seen flying here. In another month they will be brownish color and almost completely camouflaged in the heathery landscape. But for now they are quite easy to spot, little white dots on the brown landscape. Though perhaps looking more like gulls is also a good camouflage technique for this time of year.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 180-600mm f/6.3 600mm ISO 4500 f6.3 1/2000 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Fishing boat heading through Nappstraumen with Himmeltindan rising in the distance, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. April 5, 2026. 20:05
It is that time of year where Lofoten tries to decide if it is still winter or spring can finally begin. This year it seems spring is currently on the winning side as the storms of March have broken for a mostly sunny start to April. Perhaps winter was already over in March, as this year Norway recorded its warmest March ever – which any photographer who was here last month will be well aware of.
It is also that time of year where I slowly forget about time as the days become endlessly long. It will often be well into the evening when I look at the time and see it’s already 20:00 and I haven’t cooked dinner yet. Dinner is now becoming a daylight activity on Lofoten. Already this week sunset is at 20:40, and growling quickly later by the day.
Here, a lone Sjark (small fishing boat) sails below a still snow-capped Himmeltindan rising 962 meters from the sea. The lower foreground mountains of Mannen and Veggen are already mostly snow-free. Spring is hopefully on the way.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 270mm ISO 500 f8 1/320 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis rise into sky over Skagsanden beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 23, 2026. 21:26
The days of April are quickly growing longer as Lofoten enters the period of not-really-winter but not-quite-spring. How long this weather lasts is anyones guess and this year it seems to have already started at the beginning of March, as weeks of rain have already melted away all the low level snow across the islands, with only slight dustings temporarily returning the landscape white again for a short while. After a long winter guiding, it is that time of year where I want to go south and see some green grass and trees, which is still about 6-7 weeks away here in the north.
What is soon coming to an end though is Lofoten’s aurora season, with a little over 2 weeks left for your last chance to see the northern lights until they return again in late August. This winter started off pretty well, mostly helped by the stable and clear weather of January and February. However, as March arrived, the weather became stormy and unsettled, and almost consistently grey – especially the nights. There have been many difficult aurora years in the past during my workshop season, but finally, this year was the first time a winter photo tour did not get any northern lights over the course of a week since I started guiding on Lofoten in 2016. Frustratingly for them, both the week prior and after were lucky with 4 nights of aurora each. That is how the luck works up here sometimes, and after 10 years, it finally caught up with me.
This image is from a fantastic night in late February. I had the group on site early but the aurora were off to a slow start this evening. Though this is often helpful for groups, as everyone can get setup as a leisurely pace, get their cameras focused, etc., without panicking that they are missing a sky full of dancing aurora. That came later.
After some hours of the normal ebbs and flows, a little before 21:30 the sky finally decided to put on a fantastic show for the group as dancing streaks of magenta aurora shone from horizon to horizon – actually almost too high/south in the sky for Skagsanden beach.
In the above image, is the aurora near its peak brightness at 21:26: ISO 2000, f/2.2 1 second exposure. The below image was taken just 3 minutes prior, at 21:23: ISO 2000, f/2.2 4 second exposure. The aurora increased 2 stops in brightness in those 3 minutes, but it was really more like 1 minute, as I had stopped shooting to change compositions.
If I had not been paying attention to the change in brightness, I would have completely lost the magenta highlights in the above image. It also makes the aurora much brighter than the remaining night sky – with a quarter moon on this night, and a much more tricky exposure overall. In these moments the aurora is often moving quite fast as well, making it difficult to find a composition, especially while standing on a beach with multiple photo groups around. While better visually just watching the sky full of dancing light, it is a fast moving and difficult photographic scenario.
The below image, while lacking the intensity of the above, is a much easier shooting situation while on location, and easier processing once home, as the scene was already pretty well balance between the aurora and the night sky and foreground reflections. And while still moving slightly across the sky, the aurora is easier to compose with the surrounding landscape.
Two different northern lights images taken from the same spot only 3 minutes apart. That is the magic of it.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 16mm ISO 2000 f2.2 1 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis shine across sky over Skagsanden beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 23, 2026. 21:23
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 16mm ISO 2000 f2.2 4 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Drying stockfish under a rainy March sky, Reine, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 19, 2026. 16:47
It had been an almost perfect winter, until it wasn’t. As soon as March arrived, the cold and calm days of January and February were instantly replaced with wind and rain. It was almost like a light switch was flipped. Almost a month later, and Lofoten has since received only a light dusting of snow, which is now melting away in the next waves of rain. My hopes of much, if any, skiing this year have melted away.
It is always difficult to make an impression about one year’s weather. What will next winter bring? No one can say. But looking across the years, it seems Lofoten’s winter season is becoming shorter. Not in an abrupt end, but kinda just fading away never to fully return. This is where Norway’s ’11 seasons’ joke comes into play. Perhaps we are in Fool’s Spring, or maybe it’s already Spring of Deception. There is still time for lots of winter left, but it just doesn’t feel like it will return this year.
In this week’s photo, Lofoten’s stockfish attempt to dry beneath a rainy grey sky. You can see in the background mountains that most of the snow is gone – it is already looking more like May than March. Despite being out in the field guiding nearly every day of the month so far, my own photography slowed down to a handful of days – although this is also due to many perfect photography days earlier in the winter. Even a week up north on Senja was filled with positive temperatures and rain.
While the clouds did part at times, grey has been the dominant color of March this year and I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen the sun. A north wind in shaking my house as I write this and Thursday’s scheduled cruise ship guiding was canceled because of the weather – though a big storm and 10m waves down south are largely to blame for that.
I was out last night, the first clear night in a long time, waiting for the rocket launch from Andøya (it was canceled). A faint aurora was in the sky, which would have looked cool with the rocket launch. As it became clear things were canceled around 21:30, I began my walk home. Turning off my headlamp once back to the road, I could see the horizon was still glowing. Soon I can dream of summer…
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 14-30mm f/4 30mm ISO 200 f6.3 1/125 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2026/03/friday-photo-690-below-the-rain.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2026-03-27 03:00:002026-03-26 06:50:11Friday Photo #690 – Fish and Rain
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