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Friday Photo #112 – Sailing at Helvete

Lofoten Islands Northern Lights

Photo: Northern light fill the sky over Lofoten, Henningsvær, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 24, 2014.  23:40

Another Image from my last night of northern lights in September 2014.

What started out as a nice display of auroras, finished with the sky completely full of light!  Even here, at 14mm, my entire frame was filled with light.  And even then, I was still left to look up ever further, with auroras filling nearly every part of the sky.  Probably one of my most memorable nights ever, and a good end to over a month on Lofoten.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 3.2
15 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #111 – Autumn Northern Lights

Northern Lights Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn northern lights over the coast of Henningsvær, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 24, 2014.  21:13

My last view of northern lights in what had been an absolutely fantastic month of September 2014;   probably the best month I’ve ever had aurora watching on Lofoten.

I had camped at this spot on a few previous nights, yet the lights had been elusive.  So when they finally showed up for me at this spot, I was more than happy.  Especially so, in that they were early enough in the night to still have some glow on the horizon, which helps the images in autumn when there is no snow on the mountains.

The aurora lasted late into the night, allowing me to also record a nice time lapse sequence to use for a future project…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1600
f 3.5
15 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #110 – Horseid Beach

Horseid beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 15, 2014.  14:19

The mountain view over Horseid beach has been a long sought after image for me.  And no doubt because this view is the hardest to reach of the three main beaches of Moskenesøy (Bunes, Horseid, and Kvalvika).

Having spent the morning on another peak, I almost forgot that in the shorter days of September that I could wait too far after noon to get to the view point, otherwise the beach would be in shadow.  Luckily, I made it to this view with a bit of time to spare.  By the time I reached the summit of Branntuva, about an hour later, the entire beach was cast in shadow for the remainder of the day.

I made note of a few possible camping places close to this view point, so hopefully I can return with a bit more interesting light one of these days…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/200 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #109 – Aerial Lofoten

Aerial view over Steine, Vestvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Aerial view over Steine, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 24, 2014.  11:44

This autumn I finally had the opportunity to fly in a small cesna and capture some aerial photos of Lofoten.

While it looks like a nice and calm day in this photo, it was actually quite windy and turbulent.  I had originally planned to fly over the western tip of the islands, but as I reached the airport and met with the pilot, Moskenesøy was still completely covered in cloud.  The east, however, was mostly blue sky.

This was my first, and only, experience shooting from a small plane, so I did my best just to keep my camera level and hopefully get something interesting in the frame as we bounced up and down in the turbulence created from Lofoten’s mountains.  Even the pilot commented that it was a rough day to be in the air!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
35mm
ISO 500
f 7.1
1/1600 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #108 – Mountains of Moskenesoy

Lofoten Mountain landscape

Photo: View over Moskenesøy from Branntuva, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Septermber 15, 2014.  15:10

Branntuva is lonely and rarely hiked mountain deep in the heart of Moskenesøy, with most of the upper part of the mountain trail-less.

After hiking Markan the previous day, Branntuva seemed like the next best target from my base camp at Fageråskaret pass. And unlike the day before, there was hardly a cloud in the sky this day, only a low fog approaching from the sea creating a light mist in the lower valleys.

Fromt the summit, there are fantastic view in nearly every direction, especially the overlook of Horseid beach.  But of all the choices, I found this scene of all these steep ridges leading towards the high peak of Hermannsdalstind to be one of the best.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 100
f 9.5
1/400 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #107 – Branntuva Sunset

Sunset over Branntuva, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Sunset over Branntuva from the summit of Markan, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 14, 2014.  19:24

Following up on last weeks image, here is another view from the summit of Markan.  The mountain to the left of the image is Branntuva, which was actually the original goal for this afternoon, until I figured I would not have enough time to get to the summit, so I made the wise decision to turn for Markan instead. – I hiked up Branntuva the following day.

For me, this part of Moskenesøy is one of the most scenic and wild parts of Lofoten.  And each time I reach the summit of one mountain, I’m looking at the dozen other peaks surrounding me and imagining what the views from they are like…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
19mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/30 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #106 – Markan Sunset

Markan, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn mountain light from the summit of Markan (600m), Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 14, 2014.  18:54

Waiting for sunset from the summit of Markan was one of the more memorable moments of my autumn travels on Lofoten.

It was one of those days that either turns out really bad or completely rewarding.  Luckily I had the reward this time, which is better than can be said for the last time I passed by Marken, hiking as fast as I could to keep ahead of an approaching storm.

On this afternoon it seemed as if rain would begin to fall at any moment, yet it never did.  All that happened was that the light got better and better until the sun was finally low on the horizon and the colors began to fade.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 200
f 9
1/160 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #104 – Storsandnes Northern Lights

Lofoten Islands Northern Lights

Photo: Northern Lights over Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 16, 2014.  22.10

Wow – it’s 2015!  And even more wow, this photo marks the 2 year anniversary since I started this Friday Photo series, mostly as a way to keep adding something fresh to the website when I otherwise had nothing else to add.  Hopefully I have enough words for anther two years…

Here’s another aurora image from the same night as Friday Photo #100.  I like Storsandnes as an area for auroras as the horizon is fairly open, giving you a decent overview of what the northern lights might be doing, allowing me to make the decision to stay or head someplace else with a better composition.

On this night, I had been contentedly sitting around the campfire we had made, so I decided to stay and just enjoy the night.  I set my little Fuji XT-1 up on some rocks to take a time-lapse sequence, then set about grabbing a few images myself.

When the auroras began, there was still enough glow on the horizon to add a bit of light to the overall scene.  One of the difficulties of shooting in autumn, and when the moon is not out, is the darkness of the land.  Without winter’s snow covering the mountains, the nighttime autumn landscape easily becomes nothing more than black silhouettes agains the sky, something which I’m not all that fond of, to tell the truth.

Yet, with day’s light still fading, the added color and brightness helps separate the horizon, adding a bit of depth to the scene which is otherwise lost as the sky grows darker…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1000
f 3.5
25 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #103 – Clouds and Light

Stornappstind, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Rays of light over Napp from Stornappstind, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 21, 2014.  14:38

Stornappstind is one of those mountains that I’ve driven by dozens of times and always think to myself, ‘I should hike up there soon.’  Yet that soon never seems to arrive.  But finally on this trip, the mountain found it’s place near the top of my ‘to hike’ list.

As morning arrived a cold wind was blowing from the east.  It had been several days since my last hike, and at other times I probably would have skipped going out on a day such as it was, but I was too restless to sit around.

Leaving the hostel in Stamsund, I still wasn’t sure which mountain to hike.  But with the strong wind, and at times rain and snow blowing across the islands, I though something on a western facing slope would offer the best shelter for most of the way up.  Stornappstind fit the description, and so I headed to the parking area.

Climbing higher up the mountain I was relieved when snow, rather than rain began to fall in wave after wave of passing clouds and wind.  And then it would clear and rays of light would break through the clouds and dance across the land below…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
38mm
ISO 200
f 131/100 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #102 – Markan Mountain Light

Markan, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn light over Kråkhammartind from the summit of Markan, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 14, 2014.  18:35

It was already late afternoon by the time I reached my planned mountain camp at Fageråskaret pass, deep into the mountains of Moskenesøy.  I had passed this way the previous year – while running from a quickly approaching storm – and figured it would be a good base camp to explore a few of the nearby mountains.

Initially, I thought of heading up Branntuva, but after a few minutes heading cross-country towards the summit – there is no trail – it was evident that it would take more time than there was light left in the day.  And so I returned to the pass and began heading up the ridge towards Markan.

The weather hadn’t quite cleared as much as the forecast predicted, and I was worried that I would get rained out.  But as I ascended higher and higher, I noticed a bit of sunlight beginning to break through the clouds.

Reaching the summit, the light was fantastic.  One of those perfect combinations of stormy mountain light, but still mild enough where you can take photos!  I rarely have mountain days like this, and I don’t think I could have chosen a better peak than Markan on this day.  It was fantastic to watch the light travel across the near vertical peak of Kråkhammartind.

You can checkout the hiking guide for Markan – HERE

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-240mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 200
f 11
1/60 second
WB Daylight
3 image pano

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