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Friday Photo #617 – Frozen November

Photo: November deep freeze over mountains of Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 10, 2023. 08:51

It was a frozen morning with temperatures dropping to -5.8˚c in which I caught the morning light over Ristind and Himmeltindan mountains rising over the frosty landscape. I had actually camped somewhere further east on my way back from Evenes airport after a photo workshop in Scotland, arriving to my van frozen like a block of ice in the cold darkness. This time I at least remembered to put my window scraper in the van, and even then, quite of bit of effort was required before I could drive.

Usually November is a bit more mild with maybe a short cold snap or two bringing a bit of snow. November 2023 was not that! With a -1.6˚c average temperature, it the coldest month of the whole winter. 28 out of 30 days dropped below 0˚c at some point and 21 days had a below 0˚c average temperature. It was cold!

The cold also brought many clear and calm days, and only 40% of average rainfall for the month. Visually it was probably the best ‘winter’ month of the entire winter. If every November was like this, I would schedule 1/2 my photo workshops then. Unfortunately, there is no way to know and it is just as likely, if not more to end up with November 2021 weather, where it rained/snowed 29 out of 30 days.

What will this year be like? I don’t know. But coming off a windy and wet October, I suspect the stormy weather will be quite frequent. Though maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised by clear and calm days and nice full of dancing aurora. We will see…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
98mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #616 – Winter Roads

Photo: Northern lights shine in sky over icy Myrlandsveien road, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 27, 2023. 22:13

Already in October, a Finnish tour bus full of passengers slid off Lofoten’s ice roads and multiple other cars have made it to the infamous ‘bil i grofta’ newspaper headline. Even a police car up in Finnmark while still driving with summer tires ended up sliding on ice: which according to Norwegian police themselves – no matter what the season, it is the driver’s responsibility to have appropriate tires for road conditions. In Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark the period for winter tires is October 16 – April 30. However, should icy/snowy conditions present themselves outside of this period, it is your responsibility to have correct tires. If it was you or I off the road with inappropriate tires for conditions, we would have a temporary loss of our driving license. The police have said they will investigate themselves about the incident… 😉

So, with November, and increasingly winter driving conditions just around the corner for Lofoten, this is my yearly reference to winter driving and safety on Lofoten. You can find the follow article below:

Winter Driving On Lofoten

With all the hype around the solar maximum this year, the coming winter is probably going to be the busiest ever on Lofoten. And that means many inexperienced winter drivers on Lofoten’s narrow and winding roads. I would roughly guess that a majority of traffic in western Lofoten will be tourists in rental cars, and probably basically every car driving around at night as people hunt for northern lights – rain or clear weather, snow or storms. And it will probably be sometime in mid February when I wonder why I work terribly long hours as a photo guide, when I could earn just as much money in a few hours driving a tow truck picking up rental cars from the side of the road.

If you are reading this, please drive safely! There might be some days during your trip where it is simply not safe to be on the roads. There is no shame in sitting around your cabin or hotel and waiting for conditions to improve. And if the weather is that bad, you’re probably not missing out on much anyhow. Weather caused travel disruptions are frequent throughout winter on Lofoten, so be aware that you might need a plan B, C, or D if severe weather hits at an in opportune time in your travel.

I almost forgot to write about the photo! With a nice full moon light I had been photographing the aurora over Nappstaumen and Himmeltindan looking towards the northeast. As the activity slowly increased and the aurora rose overhead, Looking west down the road from my current location provided a nice shot without having to drive anywhere else. Without the moonlight, I don’t think this image would have worked, is I feel in needs the bright snow to balance out the foreground and mountain. Ideally I should have been in a better location with a cleaner view to the west, but at the moment, this was the best I could do.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f 2
1.6 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #615 – Red Aurora

Photo: Colorful northern lights rise into the sky over Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 7, 2024. 21:06

Since one image was not enough, here is another photo from the fantastic October 7 aurora display on Lofoten. While globally overshadowed by the October 10/11 display that was visible across most of Europe and the US, this ‘smaller’ aurora was better photographically for Lofoten’s high northern latitude.

And we were quite lucky here on Lofoten, as it has basically been rainy and stormy every day for the last two weeks since then. While I generally like autumn auroras, the weather this year is proving to be a bit problematic in regard to clear night skies. When the weather statistics for October are published, I suspect this year will have been rainier than average, as by my rough calculations we have already almost met the average rainfall already by the middle of the month, with the forecast not looking to improve very much next week.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 1600
f 2
3 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #614 – Just Look Up!

Photo: Just look up! Colorful cascading aurora corona fills the sky, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 7, 2024. 20:38

It has been a crazy week for northern lights watchers! Last weekend brought strong auroras to Lofoten on Sunday and Monday nights. The Sunday aurora arrived quite late in the evening, while the Monday aurora was beginning already as it became dark.

Monday evening I rushed out of my house down to the Storsandnes beach once I could see a little green in the sky, which then completely exploded with color shortly after my arrival around 20:15. By 20:25 the whole sky was dancing in colorful aurora, with reds visible to the eye.

Storsandness was actually not the best location, as the aurora was quite far south in the sky, behind the 700m mountains which rise over the beach. But even looking straight up was incredible enough! The image is uncropped at 14mm and the cascading corona fills the entire frame. Crazy! It was one of those nights where you didn’t know where to look as it was dancing around the sky.

But Sunday and Monday were just a warmup for what was to come. Earlier in the year on May 10/11 was a ‘once a decade’ type solar storm, with aurora visible across much of Europe and even down to California and the southern US. Yesterday and today, October 10/11, was another such ‘once a decade’ aurora event. Perhaps even bigger than May. My brother at 33˚ latitude in southern California was able to see a red glow in the sky.

For Lofoten, it was actually too big! Combined with a partially cloudy sky, the northern lights were actually too far south for Lofoten to receive a spectacular show. So while they were visible across most of Europe and the US again, it wasn’t as spectacular in northern Norway as the weekend’s show had been. One of the rare times when bigger is not necessarily better in the far north.

With the sun’s increasing activity as it heads towards it’s solar maximum next year, hopefully this is a sign up things to come. And not just for aurora watchers in the far north, but middle European and North American latitudes as well.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f 2
1.6 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #613 – Unstad Surf

Photo: Surfer in wave at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 4, 2022. 17:19

The autumn storms bring nice swells to Unstad each year, which combined with the still mild water temperatures and autumn holidays make it a popular time for surfing. This day with one of my autumn photo workshops a nice clean slightly overhead swell was rolling into the bay. Though I don’t surf too much these days – hard to find the time! I still enjoy shooting surfing when I get the chance. And it’s usually a unique experience for workshop clients who often don’t associate the arctic and surfing.

As the afternoon light began to fade I decided to change things up a bit. Instead of continuing to increase my ISO to keep a fast enough shutter speed for the surfers to remain sharp, I did the opposite. Putting my ISO down to 31 and stopping the lens down to f22 – which unfortunately made every dust spot on my dirty camera sensor visible – I should have put on a 3 stop ND filter instead – I was able to get an exposure around 1/2 a second.

Tracking the waves and finding the correct movement and shutter speed is relatively straightforward enough. Adding a surfer onto the wave who then moves within a 3 dimensional space makes things a little more tricky. Ideally the surfer should move as closely with the wave as possible, without too much up or down motion, which then turns them into a mushy blur.

Once finding roughly the right settings its mostly down to a bit of luck to for everything to come together, which I think it mostly did with this image.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
300mm
ISO 31
f 22
0.3 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #612 – Sun and Rain

Photo: Autumn mountain birch trees in sunlight as rain conceals mountains, Haugheia, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 4, 2023. 13:59

More so than another time of year, autumn is the season of light and shadow. Or maybe light and rain. Or 4-seaons in one day – well, more like 3-seaons, as summer isn’t likely to show up. Some days it can be 3-seasons every 20 minutes where once you see the light on the landscape, it will be gone by the time you arrive. Or, you arrive in the last moments of sunlight before being greeted by showers of rain, such as the above photo, taken on a blustery autumn day on Haugheia.

The small grove of twisted birch trees on Haugheia is one of my favourite local areas at this time of year. Not in the sense of classical grand landscapes, but more looking for brief moments or details in the passing of time. Often, I just stand around observing, and never take a photo, while other days I wander around in circles with my camera as the light changes on the small hilltop. It is a place of subtleness and thought, which for me, is needed more and more in this busy world, or, perhaps I’m just getting old.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #611 – Moskenes Ferry Traffic

Photo: Summer traffic waiting for the Moskenes – Bodø ferry, Moskenes, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 8, 2023. 13:53

Anyone who has been near Lofoten this summer will have seen how busy it was with the islands seeing substantial growth in tourism numbers over the previous year and far exceeding pre-Corona numbers. And with this growth, tension is building both among the locals but also increased dissatisfaction among tourists themselves; finding Lofoten less pristine than the advertising and social media influencers lead one to believe.

The other week I attended a tourism conference in Lekenes, with speakers from the local municipalities and some running tourism management abroad. My impression in that Lofoten is still not ready to join the big leagues of tourism, even if those numbers are here already. There simply does not seem to be enough inter-island cooperation and communication and definitely no regional planning. Moskenes is too poor to do much of anything. Flakstad wants what is best for Flakstad – Which means paid parking and many parking tickets written. Vestvågøy thinks they are using their own money to gift the rest of Lofoten popular locations, with little income in return. And Vågan wants a tourist tax as they will earn all the income, having the most hotels and accommodation. So basically, the chaos will remain on Lofoten for years to come.

During the conference, several presenters gave usage figures about Lofoten. In July, Ramberg had a daily average of 4707 vehicles passing through. I didn’t think that sounded like much, but if you break it down a little and figure most of that will be from 09:00 – 21:00 – that is roughly 390 vehicles per hour, or roughly every 10 seconds. All traveling along the outdated E10 of west Lofoten. For comparison, the E6 over Salfjellet – Norway’s main north to south highway, only averaged 3359 daily vehicle crossings in July. Lofoten is basically 25% busier than the main highway of northern Norway.

There were also some troubling ideas to hear coming from the local authorities. Their main solutions to all the chaos seems to be further regulations and restrictions. With some even questioning if Norway’s tradition of Allemannsretten – the right to roam – can survive in the era of mass tourism. This would be a tragic loss. But every time I see a motorhome camped in the entrance to the farm field outside my neighbour’s house, or along narrow roads where it is clearly not allow to park, both which were many times this summer, the voices against Allemannsretten grow stronger. Which is strange, as Allemannsretten does not apply to motor vehicles, so traffic laws already existing should be enough, but they aren’t enforced for some reason, so the business unfairly gets blamed on Allemannretten.

And so I fear we will all lose the freedom that once was here on Lofoten. And what a sad day that will be.

Camera Info:
DJI Mini 3 pro

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Friday Photo #610 – Common Redshank on Fence

Photo: Common Redshank on fence under July midnight sun, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 11, 2024. 00:43

The islands have gone silent. After the 24 hour a day hustle and bustle of the summer birdlife in Lofoten, the land has now gone quiet. This year I have not gone far from home, so it was a slow, almost unnoticeable change until one day I stand in my backyard and notice the silence of the world. Now it is only the house shaking wind and window battering rain, hale, and snow which will wake me up at night.

In summer though, the islands are alive! This curlew fledgling from mid-July is just one of my many neighbours, which also include: oystercatchers, common gulls, arctic skua, sea eagles, ptarmigan, crows, and ravens. I think the sea eagles in particular are happy with the southern migration of most of the birdlife, as they can now circle overhead in the autumn sky in peace without a swarm of gulls chasing them away.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600 f/5.6-6.3
470mm
ISO 400
f 6
1/640 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #609 – Aurora Season Begins

Photo: Northern lights – Aurora borealis shine fill sky in late summer twilight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2, 2024. 00:43

After a slow start – due to weather, not lack of solar activity – I finally photographed my first northern lights of the 2024/2025 aurora season. I’m not sure if this is the latest ‘first aurora’ for me, but it is much later than normal, which is usually sometime in the last week of August. This year, it was mainly several weeks of near constant rain-filled sky that kept the aurora away for me, though some friends in other parts of Lofoten did get lucky a bit earlier.

Both Sunday and Monday nights provided clear sky and northern lights. And last night, even with a forecast of clouds, was my 3rd aurora of the week/season. Sunday night occurred quite late and I did not go down to the beach until after midnight. While Monday was much earlier and I think I was back home before midnight; having to be in Leknes early the following morning did not leave much motivation for a late night either.

If you missed Sunday or Monday night, no worries – the northern lights will be in the sky over Lofoten until April – weather permitting of course…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 200
f 2
6 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #608 – Rainbows and Storms

Photo: Afternoon rainbow in the sky over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 26, 2024. 17:49

The rainy weather has continued much of the last week in mostly two styles: Rainbow rain, and full storm rain. Both are wet, but very different visually. This week’s post is both those styles: a rainbow Monday and a full storm Tuesday.

It has been a wet August this year! It seems like a switch was flipped and the weather went from endless sunshine to endless rain. The good news is that it looks like this pattern might finally break after the weekend and the sun might be present a little more often now. I can see on the weather statistics though, that just two days this August will already have put the month at its average rainfall of 55mm. I suspect this August will come in at least double of the average – more like the rainier September or October.

Even though it is still officially summer, this past Saturday was a good reminder that it is always necessary to keep a close eye on the weather forecasts with the arrival of the first proper ‘Høststorm’ – Autumn storm of the season. It was a short one, but still brought wind gusts over 30 m/s and many ferry cancelations over the Vestfjord. Tuesday was also a stormy day with canceled ferries, high winds and near continuous rain.

Photo: Dark skies and wind-blown sea over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 27, 2024. 13:03

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
59mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

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