Friday Photo #671 – Eggum Waves

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Photo: Misty waves crash along the Eggum coastline, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 2, 2025. 12:06

This was one of those days where the weather isn’t quite as bad as the forecast predicts. After a late night shooting aurora the previous evening, the forecast of a rainy day wasn’t too unwelcome as a bit of rest was needed. But, despite the dreary, grey sky, the rain was mostly staying further out to sea, and so we headed to the sea.

I don’t often take groups to Eggum, as it can be a tricky place to photograph and is highly dependent on what weather and light you arrive to. But with a moderate size swell still hitting Lofoten and the dark sky, I thought it could be a good place for some atmospheric seascapes along the rocky coastline.

I initially started out on the rocky part of the pay just out of frame on the right side of the image, and shooting towards my position here and the mountains behind me. But it wasn’t quite working for me. I wanted to be up higher, and shoot across the breaking waves. And so I walked some distance down the old pathway to the opposite end of the shallow bay.

Here, I had a higher vantage point, and also a better background – the dark mountains of Vesterålen, some 50km away.

Like with most seascape photography, I sat and watched the breaking waves, hoping for the elements to line up across the frame. I was also trying the hide the rocky shoreline before me, as the white-wash was too distracting from the rest of the scene. I stayed for a while, until the misty rain turned into proper rain drops and it was time to head back to the van.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
350mm
ISO 500
f7.1
1/640 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #670 – Autumn Tree

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Photo: Autumn tree and old stone wall, Slydalen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 3, 2025. 15:50

By now the autumn storms have blown the last leaves from Lofoten’s trees and the islands wait for the long dark night of winter to settle in. But only a month ago the landscape was full of autumn color – a short lived, but perhaps Lofoten’s most colourful time of the year – including the nights as well. Of all the season’s on Lofoten, autumn probably passes the quickest, with maybe 3 week of color from Sept 15-20-ish to October 5-10-ish. This year felt a little on the late side, as the temperatures remained quite mild throughout September and into early October. But while the cooling air gets the autumn season started, it is the winds of the first høststorm – autumn storm which bring it to an end as the leaves fly into the sea.

With flat light from a layer of high cloud on this day, I was looking to capture a little autumn color, as I had otherwise not done too much this year. I headed up the old mountain road to Slydalen, now a mostly empty place of long abandoned farms mostly used for summer holiday homes. Some of the trees higher up the mountain were already past their prime, while the main valley remained bright and vibrant.

This old birch tree growing from an old stone wall running through a fallowed field caught my eye. There aren’t many stone walls on Lofoten and to me this scene looks more like an image I might have taken in Scotland. I took some wider compositions as well, with the mountain Blåtind rising in the distance over the valley. But the sky and light weren’t quite right and the scene felt out of balance. In the end, I preferred this simpler shot of just the tree and the wall, together in their surroundings as they probably have been for a hundred years or more.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
220mm
ISO 200
f6.3
1/100 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #669 – Cormorant Sunset

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Photo: Cormorant spreads wings in front of setting sun, Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 1, 2025. 18:05

I must admit that a clear sky sunset at Haukland beach is no longer the most interesting thing in the world for me and so I had actually left my camera gear in the van as I walked down to the beach with my group. But when I saw a few cormorants sitting on the rock just off the beach, with the sun soon to be heading into the background, I thought there might be an image for me yet. So I ran back to the van, put a 1.4x teleconverter on my 100-400 lens and headed back to the beach – hoping the rest of my group hadn’t scared the birds away yet!

I’ve been drifting a little more towards wildlife photography over the last couple years, but most of that occurs outside of Lofoten, and so doesn’t get posted here. So while most people were focused on the beach, I was happy to see what I could achieve with the cormorants sitting on the rock. There were several compositions I worked with, including a bird directly in the sun itself. But overall, I kinda like the balance of this image the best, although overall, I’m happy with 5-6 different compositions I took.

Luckily, the birds were coming and going on a semi-regular basis. The spread-winged cormorant is a popular symbol on Lofoten and coastal Norway in general. So, keeping an eye on the returning bird, I knew they would eventually spread their wings to dry off in the setting sun. There was also a sitting seagull just out of frame to the right, on the highest point of the rock, which I found somewhat distracting, as it just looked like a blob with a head compared to the standing cormorants. Though this left me not quite happy with where I had crop the sloping rock. The cormorants will be there the rest of the winter, so maybe I’ll try again in March once the sun is high enough in the sky again.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 + 1.4x Teleconverter
560mm
ISO 32
f9
1/3200 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #668 – Unstad Storm

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Photo: Flowing waves at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 10, 2025. 14:19

Another image from Unstad beach, but this time on a much stormier day than last week’s (Friday Photo #667) image taken a few days earlier. This winds on this day were too strong for any surfers to be out and we were on the edge of heavy rain showers.

This is a pretty similar composition to last week’s photo as I was trying to capture a similar scene or the overall setting of the bay. I wanted to capture the flow of the waves, so I set my tripod next to my van for shelter from the wind, and used a 6-stop neutral density filter to get a longer exposure of 1/2 second.

The idea was good, but I didn’t quite capture the exact image I had in my mind. I wish I could have been 5-6 meters higher in elevation for a better look across the bay and the lines of incoming waves. The right side of the image is a bit boring as well, without much happening. I have a few images from the continuing of the wave, but I think it just wasn’t the best wave overall and perhaps the swell should have been 1/2 a meter higher.

What this image does show is how different the same location can be just a few days apart in the always changing weather of Lofoten.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120 f/4
92mm
ISO 100
f9
1/2 Second
WB Daylight
6 Stop ND filter

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Friday Photo #667 – Sunset Wave

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Photo: Breaking wave at sunset, Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 28, 2025. 18:19

The first afternoon of this year’s autumn photography workshop left us with a few hours between the arrival of the first half of the group and the second half, so we couldn’t go too far from Leknes before picking everyone up for the drive to our accommodation at Sakrisøy. Lucky for us, a nice swell was rolling into Unstad bay. And for me, there’s just about no place better on Lofoten than Unstad beach with nice waves. So it was an easy decision to pick our sunset location.

There was a layer of high clouds filling most of the sky, and so I spent the first half of the afternoon/early evening shooting surfers. As time passed by the sun eventually dropped below the cloud layer, casting a golden light across the bay. This light, combined with a strong off-shore wind created a golden spray on the breaking waves.

I should also add that I didn’t have access to my tripod, as one of the clients’ luggage never made it from Germany, so I lent them mine for the evening. This left me slightly limited on what I could do, but I eventually found a scene I was pretty happy with, where I tripod wasn’t needed anyhow. Then it was just waiting for the right wave to break in the right location, with the right amount of wind and hope everything came together. Which I think it did pretty well. Though maybe another partially breaking wave somewhere in the mid ground would have added a bit more depth. Overall, not a bad start to the week…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120 f/4
76mm
ISO 100
f7.1
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #666 – Aurora Fire

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Photo: Northern lights over beachside campfire, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 27, 2025. 21:48

I must admit that I’ve been rather lazy as far as northern lights have been concerned this year. Mainly because the weather hasn’t been all that cooperative – even during my hike along a section of the Kungsleden trail in Sweden in mid September and construction along both my road and Nappstraumen tunnel limit times when I’m able to leave my house or where I can access. And there is still a long winter of guiding ahead anyone, with many late nights I’m sure.

But as my friend and co-guide Alex arrived a few days before our autumn photo workshop, the clouds decided to clear and I was shooting aurora Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Saturday was even a nice enough day for my last BBQ of the year. Which makes sense as this September turned out to be the warmest one in Lofoten since 1934! Even now into mid October the weather is unusually mild, though a bit more on the rainy side now. I still haven’t changed to winter tires yet, but most likely will the next time the rain stops for a few hours.

As I shoot aurora at my beach quite regularly, including the previous night, I decided it might be good to do a little more lifestyle shooting and build a fire on the beach. I generally try and avoid any light pollution which might disturb others during northern lights – something that is becoming an increasing problem at many of Lofoten’s beaches as people sit in their rental cars with bright headlights shining across the landscape. But as my village is more or less closed to non-residents due to the road works, there was no one else around this evening.

And so we did out best to stand still as statues for the several second exposures, running back to check the cameras, and then try again. Once the aurora increased in intensity we put out the fire and shot the beach as normal. But I think these campfire images are more interesting, at least for my familiar location.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Viltrox 16mm f/1.8
18mm
ISO 2500
f2
3 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #665 – Mountain Layers

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Photo: View towards Skottind mountain peak from Kollfjellet, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 5, 2019. 17:28

Autumn is short in the north and already by early October the autumn color is slowly beginning to fade from the landscape. The leaves from the trees are the first to disappear, blown away from the frequent autumn storms. the grasses though, remain for a little while longer until they are eventually blanketed in winter’s snow.

I still remember this rainy afternoon hike up Kollfjellet for a few years ago, mostly because I forgot my rain jacket and had to hide under a small rock for a while as a rain shower passed overhead. But eventually the rain ended and I was alone on the broad, grassy summit of the mountain. The main view from the peak is the fantastic view over the colorforl water of Kilanpollen to the north.

On my way down from the summit in the fading light this subtle scene caught my eye. I liked the way the golden grass contrasted with the deep blue clouds to frame the distant mountain of Skottinden in the soft evening light. Just a couple quick photos before I continued my journey down the mountain before.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
56mm
ISO 100
f13
1/10 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #664 – First Snow

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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

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Friday Photo #663 – Reinebringen Aurora

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Photo: Northern lights over Reine from Reinebringen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 27, 2020. 22:32

The Midnight sun season on Lofoten often gets the recognition for insomnia and sleepless nights among visitors. But once the sun sets in the north, the sleepless nights continue, but for a different reason: Northern Lights. If I actually think about it, being a photographer in Lofoten means pretty terrible sleep patterns throughout the year – and mostly just staying up quite late, regardless of if it’s winter or summer.

On this particular evening, all the date was looking promising for a decent aurora and so I decided to head to Reine and hike up Reinebringen. I’ve made several unsuccessful attempts over the years, but at least with the Sherpa stairs having been mostly completed by this point in 2020, the mountain was much easier to ascend/descend in the darkness – and now that the stairs are fully completed, its even easier.

As evening progressed and I could see the first aurora, I could also see a lay of clouds approaching. And while I was able to get some ok compositions, the clouds eventually came in and blocked out the best of the evening’s aurora.

Compositionally, it is also quite a difficult location for northern lights, especially when they are in the more easter and southern part of the sky. I would have perhaps been better with a slightly less active aurora closer to the horizon so I could look more north. In the case of this image though, it is two images, a lower and an upper, both at 14mm, to get both the city and the northern lights in the image. A single image alone would not have worked under these conditions and I would have missed too much of the sky or foreground.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f2
2 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #662 – Solbjørnvatn

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Photo: Autumn rain showers passing over Solbjørnvatnet, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 3, 2021. 16:44

This afternoon didn’t start out as rainy as this as I was wandering round the hilly landscape on the southern side of Solbjørnvatnet on Moskenesøy. I was semi-planning to hike Narvtiden on this afternoon but as I gained a little more elevation, it became quite clear that the weather was going to shift, not the best time to be on the steep and exposed trail to the summit. And so I hid in a small cave I found and waited out the worst of the rain.

Eventually the heaviest of the showers began to break up and beams of sunlight shined through the clouds. While often wish there would be a little less rain during Lofoten’s autumn – mainly for better northern lights – the autumn rain does make for much more dramatic landscapes and light than what typically occurs in summer.

And so I returned to my van quite soggy after this afternoon.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200-f/4-6.3
37mm
ISO 100
f/8
1/1000 Second
WB Daylight

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