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Friday Photo #659 – Aurora Season

Photo: September northern lights – aurora borealis rise into sky over Myrland beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2, 2024. 00:41

I had been hoping this week’s photo would be of my first northern lights of the season. After weeks of rain and cloudy skies, some clear skies were finally in the forecast last night and so I was optimistic for an early season aurora photo. But as the sky darkened near midnight, it was aided by a giant cloud that seemed to sit over my valley until after 01:00. I could see elsewhere on Lofoten some northern lights were spotted, but it wouldn’t be so for me. And with rain returning this afternoon and throughout the weekend, it will probably be some days before I spot my first green in the sky.

And so, this week’s image is my first aurora from last year, taken on the early morning hours of September 2. This is actually somewhat late for my first aurora of the season, but last year was a rainy autumn as well, which this year seems on track to repeat, unfortunately.

And realistically, while the northern lights become visible from Lofoten starting around August 16/17 at the earliest, the sky is still too bright for much photography and the aurora will mostly only be visible higher in the sky. By the first days of September though, the northern horizon has faded into a deep amber glow with sufficient darkness for the aurora to be visible from the horizon.

It might not be something people think about, but early season auroras actually become visible further south at first – assuming sufficient solar activity, and work their way north. This is because, at the moment, the sky is simply darker at 65˚N than 68˚N. The further north sky won’t pass the darkness of the southern sky until the autumnal equinox, at which point the high north becomes darker, eventually reaching the polar night north of the Arctic Circle.

For example, The Lofoten Islands, at 68˚N have a slightly longer aurora season than Tromsø which is at 69˚N. Tromsø’s sky stays brighter longer in the late summer, and gets brighter earlier in the early spring.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f2
6 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #658 – The Wind Trees

Photo: Mountain birch tree on Haugheia overlooking Nappstraumen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 14, 2025. 14:38

The weather has shifted and it feels like autumn is in the air. Last week I was down along the Helgeland coastline for a bit of a road trip and while the weather started off nice – too hot even – for a hike up Rødøyløva, it quickly deteriorated to wind and rain for much of the remained of the trip. I had planned to go to some mountain areas closer to the Swedish border as well, but it was evident that I would just get wet without much reward for photography. And so I headed back to Lofoten, where it is still rainy and windy, and looks to be so for the foreseeable future. I hope this year is not a repeat of last year.

With autumn around the corner and after a fairly lazy summer without much hiking, long overdue house projects had priority on any sunny days, it is time to get my legs moving again in preparation for planned autumn hiking season over in Sweden. Though this year I must say I don’t have too much motivation as I don’t currently have any ebook hiking projects underway. So I probably just go somewhere easy and hike for a week or so, and hopefully not the entire time in the rain.

Haugheia (hiking guide here), which I pass on the way to Leknes is my usual stop when I need to go for an hour walk just to get some movement in for the day. While most of the views are nothing too interesting, especially if I’m up there in grey-ish weather, the small grove of wind-twisted mountain birch trees on the western side is always an area I like to photograph. So even if just for a bit of exercise, I still always carry my camera just in case.

This tree here used to be part of one of my favourite compositions in the area – see Friday Photo #408. Unfortunately, the tree you see lying in the foreground also used to be part of the composition, but has since fallen in one of Lofoten’s many winter storms. It is a windy place up there along the ridgeline, which is what makes the trees what they are.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120 f/4
48mm
ISO 100
f5.6
1/320 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #657 – The Flow of Fog

Photo: Summer sea fog flows around the summit of Olstinden as seen from Reinebringen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 19, 2019. 20:32

This summer, like most summers had some foggy days on the Yttersia of Lofoten once the sun finally came out in July and the temperature rose over 20˚c. On several occasions I was taken by surprise on an otherwise sunny start to the day as the fog rolled in and interfered with bbq and beach day plans – its not really fun to sit outside in a cold, grey mist. One should always be weary of a north wind on a warm summer day.

Since I can’t move my house, I’m generally stuck on the foggy side of Lofoten. But on many occasions I saw camper vans and motorhomes camped along my road on these grey, dreary days. I wonder if they knew that just driving a few kilometres to the south side of Lofoten, they’s have full sunshine and a nice summer day. That it where I would go at least.

In this photo, taken on an August evening from Reinebringen, you can see the fog flowing in from the left and swirling around Olstinden. This was quite a strong layer of fog, as you can see it flowing over 600-700 meter mountains in the background. But even then, Reine village – out of frame to the bottom right, remained fog free. So being in the right or wrong location on these days can make a big difference.

If you are hiking, being in the mountains is usually the right location, as being above the fog in the evening light is one of the coolest experiences in my opinion, especially photographically. And I think using long-ish exposures to capture the flow of the fog works better than shorter shutter speeds, at least in situations like this where the sun is out of frame. In the 30 seconds of this exposure, you can see the flow of the fog as it attempts to reach Reine.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
62mm
ISO 100
f10
30 Seconds
WB Daylight
10 stop Neutral Density filter

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Friday Photo #656 – Curlew Twilight

Photo: Curlew in July midnight twilight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July, 21, 2025. 23:53

I haven’t had much luck with the Arctic Skuas in my neighbourhood this year. I have seen them flying directly over my house on several occasions in the last weeks, but anytime I head out to the moorlands to take a look, just silence… Silence from the Arctic Skuas at least, but the neighbourhood is still alive with life for the next few weeks as various types of young fledgling chicks gain strength for their long migrations south.

The curlew parents fly around in an attempt to distract you from their chicks, which sit absolutely still in the bushy heather attempting to remain unseen. The young chick from the curlew in this image happened to be just along the side of the trail as I was passing by. Had I been a hungry fox, it would have been an easy meal. But I was more interested in getting a nice shot of the parent, as it was obvious I wasn’t having any luck with the Skuas on this evening.

With the sun soon setting combined with a layer of fog out to sea, it was getting dark-ish for wildlife photography at midnight. The curlew was often in front of mountains and other vegetation most of the time as it flew around and landed on various small outcroppings. This was too dark and pushed my ISO up to 25600 at times. It wasn’t until it finally landed in an area overlooking the sea where I could get more light from the brighter open background and distant mountains. I could also drop my shutter speed a little as well as the bird luckily remained still for long enough to get a few shots.

The following morning as I was walking to the shower, two of the Arctic Skuas flew right outside my bathroom window… Perhaps I should just sit on the toilet for my future wildlife photography attempts.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/536-6.3
300mm
ISO 2800
f6.3
1/640 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #655 – Summer Harvest

Photo: Norwegian Marshmallows – Plastic wrapped hay bales from late July grass cutting, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 23, 2025. 03:16

The grass cutting in my area was late this year, not occurring until this week. Though reading the local news, it seems the cool and wet start to this year’s summer led to a smaller yield than normal. So perhaps they waited a little longer for a bit of extra growth. Or perhaps they were just busy during the week+ or sunshine and 20˚c summer days Lofoten has experienced recently. Though now as August approaches, it looks like the weather may be shifting with more rain and wind on the forecast.

I don’t know why, but I like to photograph the hay bales each year. By the time the cut the field the wildflowers and grasses are already too overgrown for the field to looking very nice as a photographic subject itself – This from late may until late June, after which the grasses grow taller than the flowers.

I usually go out at sunrise – 03:16 in this case, and wander around the fields. There has also been a lot of fog in my area the last week, which would ebb and flow throughout the day, but occasionally clear during the very early morning hours – the ‘clouds’ in this image are from clearing sea fog, not actual clouds.

Summer still has a long way to go on Lofoten – at least another month hopefully! But with the cutting of the fields, and now the setting sun as well, it begins to feel like the inevitable turning of the seasons is upon us, and the first autumn storms are not far away. Which I’m not quite sure why, as before I moved here, August was when I usually preferred to visit, as there was at least a bit of darkness for camping. And still for some weeks, the days are longer here than anywhere on the continent during midsummer, so it’s not like it’s really dark now. Perhaps it is just the observing the slow change of seasons and light, and knowing the summers are short here in the north – so you want to hold on to the sun for a little while longer.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm
39mm
ISO 100
f11
1/50 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #654 – New Parking Regulations

Photo: New 4-hour parking limit signs installed at Skreda rest area, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 15, 2025. 14:06

A couple weeks ago in Lofotposten it was announced that Statens Vegvesen (Norwegian road authority) was planning to install a dozen or so parking time limit signs along the E-10 in Lofoten, Driving to and from Leknes this week, I noticed one of the new signs had just been installed at the Skreda rest area, which is the marking parking location for the popular Offersøykammen hike. Parking is now limited to 4-hours.

In other locations, 2-hour limitations have already been installed – like the parking area at Skagsanden beach, a popular surf location for locals and tourists a like in winter. So I guess surf session will be quite limited.

With 20˚c weather finally arriving this week, the weather isn’t the only thing which has heated up as the usual parking chaos at Haukland beach even lead to a farmer abandoning is tractor in the middle of the road, as illegally parked cars blocked the roadway and he couldn’t drive further. I was at Haukland at 10:30 yesterday morning with my first group of cruise ship guests and the parking lot was already completely full.

The main intent of these new time limit signs is an attempt to stop every parking location across Lofoten from turning into de-facto free campgrounds, which has been the case. Part of this has also come from truck drivers who are required to take breaks by law, but find their parking areas already filled with motorhomes and camper vans staying for the night. But driving by Skreda a couple nights ago, it seemed the signs had only a little affect as a dozen or so people were still camped there at 03:00 – and its not like anyone is going out to write tickets at this hour. So, I imagine for Skreda at least, camping will continue as usual.

As always, the Lofoten communities have poor inter-island cooperation. So limiting the parking in a larger parking area like Skreda will now just push the 15-20 free-campers somewhere else and make it someone else’s problem. And then more new signs and fences will be put and and everyone will get moved somewhere else again. Until finally there is no place for anyone to park and enjoy Lofoten’s nature.

The Lofoten that existed 10 years ago is gone. The freedom to pull off alone in some quiet spot and camp for the night has been replaced with no-camping signs, fences, time limits, paid parking, full campgrounds, and, for the last few remaining free parking areas, motorhomes and camper vans packed in like sardines – defiantly not how I would enjoy things. And this then makes finding parking for hiking more difficult for everyone, locals and tourists alike. But no politician is creative enough here to come up with shuttle bus systems to relieve traffic to popular areas like Haukland beach or Fredvang/Kvalvika beach or other solutions to the growing traffic along Lofoten’s outdated narrow roads. And so Lofoten becomes a neglected victim of its own popularity to the benefit of few.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 25-120mm
57mm
ISO 100
f8
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #653 – Mountain Sunset

Photo: Evening sun over Slettind mountain peak, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 14, 2021. 23:18

There is just over a week remaining for this summer’s midnight sun season. It has mostly been a cool and grey summer so far, though not without some nice days here and there, now it is finally looking like a longer spell of sunny and warm weather will arrive after the weekend. Maybe Leknes will hit 20˚c for the first time this year – a bit of a slow start! Though I was down in Germany over the past week, so got to experience a mini heatwave of 35˚c in Berlin at my arrival – I think I prefer Lofoten’s 12˚c!

Two weeks ago – Friday Photo #651 – I posted a similar view of this mountain, taken at almost on the same date and same time, only 3 years later that this photo – today’s image being from 2021, and the other week’s from 2024.

I’m not sure which perspective I like better. In this image the mountain is much more prominent and the sun in a better position. And perhaps the background is a little more balanced, with mountains on both sides of the frame. With next weeks forecast, there is a rough prediction for some sea fog, which I had if ff651’s image, though it did not rise up to the lake. Perhaps if the fog comes in a little higher, this could be an interesting perspective with the mountain looking like a volcano rising out of a sea of fog – though I just have to not get lost getting there in the mostly trail-less terrain and short scramble up a steep ridge,

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
14mm
ISO 100
f10
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #652 – New Chicks

Photo: Common gull chick stands in driveway between vehicles, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 30, 2025. 19:28

You are being closely watched if you are on Lofoten at the moment. Not from people or any technology, but from the local birdlife. And if you walk in the wrong location, you are likely going to be made aware of the all seeing eyes in the sky as you are dive bombed and screeched at by angry parents.

Like every year, there has been an exponential increase in the already lively bird activity in my neighbourhood. And since it’s no longer spring and horny seagull season, we are onto the next stage of life in Lofoten’s short summer: new chick season. As I’m writing this now, I can see 3 young gull chicks occasionally make an appearance on the rock outside my office window – the same rock as the photo below with the curlew standing atop.

And it’s completely normal to see a pair of gull chicks walking along the edge of the parking lot in Henningsvær or an oyster catcher family in a round a bout in Leknes so you might be attacked just walking down a sidewalk or parking your car. Nature or village, it doesn’t matter to the ground nesting birds.

Growing up in southern California I only knew seagulls as birds that liked to eat trash, steal your food if you were near the beach, and try to poop on you when riding your bike. It was an adversarial relationship between a young me and the seagulls. Little did I know, there are actually many types of birds that I would just call a seagull. And only after moving to Norway, I discovered that the various gulls don’t like each other that much either. It turns out that the large gulls that would try and steal my french fries also like to eat the young chicks of the smaller gulls. Hence the noisy nights at this time of year.

It seems there is something of a peace between several of the birds in my neighbourhood, as the oystercatchers, Curlews, and common gulls don’t seem to predate on each other’s chicks. While the larger herring gulls and black-backed gulls, along with the ravens and crows will be quick to gobble up an unguarded chick should they get the chance.

In the photo below of the curlew on the rock, there are actually 3 common gull chicks at the base. One of the gull parents sits on my sauna, keeping a watchful eye, though doesn’t seem bothered at all by the curlew; whose chicks are also somewhere wandering around in the deep grasses. When the curlew eventually leaves, a parent gull will fly down and feed the 3 hungry chicks.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
370mm
ISO 1100
f6
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
600mm
ISO 1100
f6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #651 – Mountain Sun

Photo: Evening sun over Slettind mountain peak, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 16, 2024. 23:39

Yesterday was a bright and sunny day with the midnight sun shining over the sea. I had been hoping to go hiking in my local mountains, but a couple unscheduled meetings left me sitting at my computer until it was too late to head out. This left me a bit stuck today, as I was hoping to have shot something for today’s post.

Trying to figure out something else to post, I realised that I’ve never really posted the main viewpoint from the location I was planning to visit. I’m not quite sure why, as I’m in the area a couple times per year, but I always seem to post a different view than the main one. Friday Photo #447 is of the misty valley below, but not the mountain. Friday Photo #509 is an early autumn view of the mountain, so I guess that counts. Friday Photo #584 is the mountain with northern lights. And Friday Photo #602 is of the foggy landscape on return from the hike – taken on the same evening as today’s photo.

As summer in west Lofoten now often consists of crowded trails and expensive parking, I’m lucky to have a couple nice scenic views and mountains quite close to home. And as this view is actually quite close to a more popular mountain peak (though still relatively quiet), I’ve rarely seen anyone else in the area as its not really an obvious place to go, as there are just faint wanderings of sheep trails to follow once the route separate.

There is also nice, and perhaps even better, viewpoint off to the right and up onto the ridge from where this image is taken. Though the angle from that location means the sun will disappear behind the mountain around 23:30 or so. So it’s actually better to wait a little later into July with the sun getting lower on the horizon. Last night it would have just been a clear blue sky over the image and perhaps a bit boring.

One of the wonderful things about the sun north of the arctic circle: It sets or rises in all 360˚ of the compass. So with planning, you are able to position the sun to almost any location you want it across many locations and particularly coastal area with an unobstructed view of the horizon.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
18mm
ISO 100
f13
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #650 – Cool June

Photo: Meadow of yellow buttercup – smørblomst flowers overlooking Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:53

The Summer Solstice is tomorrow here in Norway, and with that, the official start of Summer. Although realistically, I consider all of June to be Summer here on Lofoten – Basically once the fields are green and full of flowers. It is in these next couple weeks, from the 2nd half of June into the first weeks of July that Lofoten is at its most vibrant and colourful stage of the year – all underneath the 24 hour shine of the Midnight Sun.

Many are hoping for a repeat of last year’s incredibly warm and sunny summer, but so far the Lofoten’s is remaining on the cooler and greyer side of things, with many days of misty clouds over the past weeks and only a handful of days even reaching 15˚C. Although this is not abnormal, a coolish June. And in fact, June has basically the September, 9.7˚C and 9.4˚C, respectively. It is only the months of July and August where the islands reach an average higher than 10˚C. With the new travel trend of ‘coolcation,’ Lofoten will generally always be a good place to escape the burning sands of southern European beaches.

On the brighter side, it looks like the sun will make a nice appearance for tomorrow’s Solstice and might even stick around the rest of the weekend! Hopefully it’s enough to dry out my overgrown lawn, with is about a month overdue for it’s first mowing of the summer, as I spend the end of May and the first half of June down in Scotland, mostly on Shetland and Orkney photographing puffins and gannets.

I had not actually intended 2 photos this week – usually I save for when I’m trying to illustrate some change in conditions or something. The second photo (below) is what I planned to post, to show the nice misty clouds over the mountains of Himmeltindan, Mannen, and Veggen, as they rise in the distance from Vestvågøy. But as I just got back home this week, the field has already become a little overgrown as the grasses begin the grow higher than the flowers, making the foreground a little busy.

The above image caught my eye better once I sat at the computer to look for an image to edit. It doesn’t really show what I wanted to illustrate or write about for this week, but I think it’s a better image overall.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
75mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Misty clouds hang over distant mountains rising over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 17, 2025. 22:52

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm F/4
70mm
ISO 500
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

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