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Friday Photo #415 – Polar Night

Photo: Twilight glow of December’s Polar Night over Vestfjord from Ballstadheia, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 12, 2020. 13:04

It has been nearly two weeks since the sun left Lofoten, and still a few more days to go until the winter solstice, when the days will finally begin to brighten again. The weather of the last week has improved somewhat from the soggy grey of November. Yet, with the sun not rising above the horizon, Lofoten only gets twilight light spreading out from the southern horizon.

On day’s without clouds, it almost feels like daylight, but not quite. And perhaps it is because I’m already well used to the darkness by now. I see references to how some people like this time of year, but I am not one of them. Maybe they think the light is special because it happens at noon, whereas in summer they are probably sleeping while I’m out wandering among mountains in the midnight light. I prefer the endless light of summer.

But the good thing about Lofoten is that no season lasts too long. In a few more months the northern horizon will be glowing at midnight and soon after that the midnight sun will return.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
140mm
ISO 100
f 5.6
1/60 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #414 – Polar Night

Photo: Blue hour over Nappstraumen during December’s polar night, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 7, 2020. 14:05

The sun has left Lofoten for the year and will remain below the horizon until early January. Though, the reality of this year’s weather has meant the sun has been a rare visitor since the beginning of November – with almost constant overcast skies for over a month now.

Monday was a rare moment of somewhat clear skies, though a layer of cloud along the southern horizon blocked most of the light from coming through. But for the next weeks, twilight will be as light as it gets, with no direct sunlight reaching Lofoten. And while fantastic colors are still possible given the right cloud conditions, for the most part the islands are left in shades of blue and grey.

The polar night does not mean complete darkness, and as you can see, even at 14:00 there is still some glow to the sky – though with an exposure of 20 seconds without a Neutral Density filter – it is definitely far from daylight! Though the level of brightness is highly affected by weather, and on dreary, overcast days even noon can feel quite dark. And beyond weather, the level of snow also affects the feeling of brightness – and unfortunately rain over the last days has melted away what was only a light dusting of snow seen in this image.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
29mm
ISO 32
f 13
20 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #413 – December Rain

Photo: Rainy view across Nappstraumen to cloud covered peaks of Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 3, 2020. 10:35

The wet and soggy weather has carried into the first days of December, and judging by the forecast, carry on throughout next week. I’ve already given up hope on seeing the sun again this year, so it will just be the slow fade into the Polar Night which begins on Monday.

Last week (Friday Photo #412) I wrote that I was expecting this November to come in several degrees above the normal average. And I was close, it ended up being 4.2˚C warmer than normal for the month. And in fact, Norway as a whole had the warmest November (but also tied with 2011) since record keeping began in 1900. And I also wasn’t crazy to complain about all the rain either, as this ended up as the 9th wettest November since 1900 as well, with Lofoten at about 150% above normal rainfall.

I’ve slowly been working away on what I’m referring to as my ‘Lofoten 365’ project. Yesterday was one of the days I needed to shoot on. Unfortunately the weather was far less than cooperative. To by benefit, the wind was blowing the rain mostly sideways, so I was able to use my van as a wind/rain block while I took photos. There is already little light or contrast at this time of year, but with low, flat clouds covering the islands, the scene seemed almost empty.

The sea was rough, but not interestingly so. So I threw on a 6 stop ND filter to get me to a 30 second exposure (I probably should have gone up to 1 minute for a smoother sea – but I was lazy) to turn the scene into soft shades of blue.

I shot another version with a large rock in the foreground, and while it adds a nice piece of contrast to the scene, I feel its almost more of a distraction than anything.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
30 seconds
WB Daylight
Breakthrough Photography 6-stop ND filter

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Friday Photo #412 – Reflection

Photo: Mountain reflection in Farstadvatnet, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 24, 2020. 10:53

After last week’s brief cold spell, the mild and wet weather of this November has continued, with daily rain and overcast skies. With the sun disappearing below the horizon in 10 days, I’ve probably already seen my last sunlight of the year – unless I happen to get lucky and randomly be in the right place at the right time for a sudden hole in the clouds. I think by the time this month is over, the temperature will end up being 3-4 degrees above average for November.

Now of course this is Lofoten, and who knows what will happen over the next months and into winter. Last year November had the coldest day of the entire winter, which then turned into a rainy and warm January, and overall mild temperatures into the spring. While I wish for snow photographically, daily life is much easier without having to deal with constantly icy roads – there will be plenty of time for that later.

In the middle of the week, the wind dropped off sufficiently for some nice reflections of many of the lakes of Vestvågøy, as they are somewhat sheltered from the surrounding mountains. I was actually heading out to Unstad on Tuesday to shoot something when I passed the perfectly calm Farstadvatn. Normally I don’t stop here, but this day I think I had to, so I pulled over on one of the pullouts and walked down to the shoreline. I actually like that the lower ground is snow-free, adding a bit of separation from the mountains.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
45mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/10 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #411 – First Beach Snow

Photo: First beach snow of 2020/2021 winter at Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 19, 2020. 11:54

After some unusually mild November temperatures over the last weeks – and no shortage of rain! – the winds finally shifted to the north and brought a cold blast of winter snow across Lofoten. Although this looks to be fairly short lived for snow, as the winds will shift to the south again by Saturday, bringing more mild temperates and rain.

I had been at Haukland beach just a few days ago, working on one of my ongoing projects. Yet with Thursdays snow, and basically full blizzard conditions much of the day, I headed back to the area again, as it would at least offer me a fairly large choice of subjects depending on what the weather decided to do at any given moment. Though I could see on the weather radar that I would have a small 20-30 mininute gap between the super heavy stuff, I figured the beach would likely be possible.

Luckily I was also the first one of the day, having the fresh dusting of snow for myself, so I headed towards the river for the classic shot towards Veggen. The river and beach were nice and clean today – there had been quite some seaweed a few days prior – all blown away overnight I imagine. I Initially shot a few images at the river, but I’ve gotten better conditions before with pretty similar lighting and mood.

I liked the subtle cure and tone of this layer of sand on the right side of the image, created by the higher water flow overnight before the temperatures dropped. I couldn’t quite get the angle I wanted, otherwise Mannen, the mountain leading up to the right becomes too overpowering in the composition. But I still like the overall feel here – and finally some snow!

You can also see how dark it is getting on Lofoten now. Taken basically at noon, there is not much light on cloudy days like this. One month to the winter solstice and the beginning longer days again!

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
13 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom
Breakthrough Photography 6 stop ND filter

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Friday Photo #410 – Friday Sun

Photo: Friday Sun low in the sky over Rorbu cabins, Nusfjord, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Island, Norway. November 13, 2020. 11:01

After a rainy, grey, and windy start to November the sun finally reappeared today! Even better the temperature was also quite mild for this time of year, reaching over 9˚C in Leknes – Normally a clear day such as this would be cold and chilly. A photo project I’m working on with a friend took me to Nusfjord, on the south side of Lofoten in search of today’s light.

Even with a fully clear sky, the sun is only around for a few hours now that it is mid November and the Polar night is a little over 3 weeks away. You can see in this photo, taken at 11:00, that the sun is low on the southern horizon. So at this time of year, even with the sun shining as brightly as it can, much of Lofoten remains in the shadow of mountains. For sun over the next weeks, you have to travel to the southern side of the islands, or up a mountain…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/80 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #409 – November Storms

Photo: Storm wave crashes over rocks (and me) at Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 5, 2020. 14:17

I walked returned to my house with completely wet shoes today. Not from the normal hiking through bog or photographing down on the beach. Today the ocean came to me, fairly high up on the rocks. This was after I’d already been completely blasted with sea spray at another location a little earlier – after which when I bumped into a friend in the supermarket, they commented that I was dripping water.

November has been off to a mild but soggy start. But last night the first big winds arrived or a series of storms which will pass over the next few days. My weather station recorded over 33 m/s wind gusts this morning, and at times, if I closed my eyes, I could have imagined I was back home in a California earthquake, my house was shaking so much.

It was tough conditions to shoot today for sure. And it wasn’t just the sea spray to content with, but frequently passing hail and heavy downpours. I really should have gone out in full waterproof gear, but the mild temperatures lulled me into a state of complacency. But more that myself, the main struggle was often keeping the camera lens clear, as every crashing wave send up clouds of mist which blew across any downwind objects – me.

With all the chaos, I still managed several decent images. This one here isn’t what I would consider the best, but it the beginning of the last wave to hit, and completely soak me (if you follow me on Instagram: @distant.north, I posted the full time lapse sequence from the location yesterday). Luckily I saw it coming and made sure to shelter my camera as best as possible. After that I was done, my feet slopping away in my soggy shoes as I walked back to my van, assisted by the wind blowing me forward…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/20 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #408 – Haugheia Tree

Photo: Changing perspective – Late autumn tree, Haugheia, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 24, 2020. 16:06

I had been waiting for the right light to head back to Haugheia to spend a little more time in the small grove of trees I posted about a few weeks ago – Friday Photo #405. Though by now it was no longer the warm days we had in early October the the whole 2 kilometer walk was along ice covered trails, making it a little slower going to ensure I stayed on my feet!

But while the air was cold, the light was nice and warm, with the sun low on the horizon. I spent a little time in the other grove of trees, but the sun wasn’t in the right location for them and they weren’t as interesting as I remembered. This lone tree caught my attention more, and so I spent a little time with it.

The image below is the first composition that caught my eye, shooting wide at 14mm. But it also felt a little boring. The area is full of twisted old trees, so I wanted to incorporate some of those somehow. I tried putting something in the foreground, but never got anything I was content with as it then often became to busy of a scene – perhaps after the first snow I’ll go try again. Or maybe it was actually the sun itself which was distracting – maybe I also need to try on a completely overcast or foggy day.

In the above image, which I like more, maybe just because of the warmer tones, I switched to a 70-200 lens. My goal was still to isolate the tree but in a slightly more abstract way. I thought the framing of the branches in the foreground looked interesting enough and isn’t something I normally do.

I also eventually took a shot focused on the foreground tree branches with the background tree out of focus, but that didn’t look as interesting. And I should say that I actually don’t like photographing trees very much, so not sure why I’m actually going out hiking to find some. Perhaps it’s just trying to hold on to the last of autumn before the long winter sets in and most my images will be of snow. But one of these image will also likely be part of a long term project for a new eBook I’m working on, and I’m attempting to show more of Lofoten than just ‘pretty mountain views.’ It will be a struggle, especially in the coming two months, but hopefully it pushes me to something new, as I feel my photography have stagnated for a while now and I’m generally not impressed by anything I return home with.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200 f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/250 second
WB Daylight

Camera Info
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 14
1/60 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #407 – Ice Season

Photo: Frozen mountain pond, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 21, 2020. 17:16

The landscape has begun to settle into its winter freeze over the last week and many of the small mountain ponds are beginning to ice over. I went for a short hike on Wednesday up towards Solbjørnvatn, under the promise of a clear sky and good northern lights forecast – neither of which turned out to be true. Even the lower ground was mostly frozen and the hiking quite treacherous in places.

I had hiked higher into the mountains, where I was initially planning to wait for northern lights. But the route up over ice covered rock slabs required some tricky navigation, as I wasn’t entirely confident I could find my way down in the dark with the light of my headlamp, so I headed back to a lower spot just after sunset. By now the forecast showed a clear sky, while the scene before me was over ever thickening clouds in the fading light. My feet were wet from some of the bog which wasn’t yet frozen and a cold wind was blowing. It was barely 17:00.

So I took one last photo of this frozen pond, which I think ended up nicer than any of the sunset photos from earlier. I sat for a moment, glad to have my winter jacket on, as I took in the conditions. Should I stay and hope it clears? Or head down and try again another time. Had the evening been still, I probably would have cooked dinner and waited for a while. But as the conditions were, heading back to my van seemed like the better option. Which turned out to be the smarter choice in the end, as sky ended up fully cloudy and the aurora never arrived.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 9.5
1 second
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #406 – October Snow

Photo: October snow flurries over Moskenesøy and Sund, Nesland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 13, 2020. 16:32

The brief Indian Summer which I wrote about last week now seems to have come to an end and the normal cool-ish weather of mid October has now arrived. While no snow has made it down to sea level year, Himmeltindan is showing a light coating of snow in what is otherwise a cold, misty rain down below. It has been cloudy for the last week, but I think finally the sun is below my mountains for the year, not to return again until late February next year.

The trees have more of less lost their leaves for the year, and most of the small plants seem to be quickly turning to winter brown as well. But there are still hopefully some days left in the hiking season for the year – and by hiking, I mean in normal conditions and not winter hikes. So far over the summer I was able to get 5 new routes hiked for the next update of ‘West Lofoten Hikes’ ebook. There’s still a couple more mountains on the list, so maybe I’ll manage a few more.

I was a little late to hike on this day, last Tuesday. I can feel the days getting shorter, but somehow I haven’t realised that sunset is now at 17:30 already! After a few days of wind, the weather was finally a little calmer as I headed up Neslandsheia, overlooking my old home in Skjelfjord. Misty clouds were floating around and what initially was a light rain as I began the steep hike up an old sheep trail turned into a blowing snow as I reached 400+ meters elevation. Initially the sun was shining bright over the sea, but upon returning to one of the view points on my way down, it had moved to behind the mountains as another wave of autumn snow floated by.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
58mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/40 second
WB Daylight

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