Friday Photo #154 – Hustind Winter Hike

Winter climber ascending steep snow covered slopes towards summit of Hustind, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter climb of Hustind, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 21, 2015; 13:39

The weather was bad basically everywhere on Lofoten this day, however, with my friend Till having just arrived on the islands from Germany, we were looking to head somewhere into the mountain. Hustind seemed like a good option.

One of Lofoten’s more iconic peaks as the background of the popular Skagsanden beach, the summit is a rather lonely place much of the time, and even more so in winter.  With passing waves of snow and no trail to follow, the route simply takes you up, until reaching the top.

This photo is from about mid way, as the mountain begins to steepen before reaching the summit.  In the background, the next wave of clouds and snow are approaching, which would envelop us shortly after arriving on the summit, leaving us in a white-out until we descended back down the mountain.

You can checkout a summer hiking guide for Hustind HERE.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 400
f 8
1/400 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #153 – Haukland Beach Winter

Winter view over snow covered Haukland and Vik beaches from summit of Mannen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter view over Haukland beach from Mannen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 23, 2015; 13:24

A few weeks earlier I tried to take the normal trail to the summit of Mannen, but beneath the deep snow, I took a wrong turn.  Once my friend Till arrived on Lofoten from Germany, we took a look at the mountain and decided to take the ‘direct route.’ An hour plus of climbing the steep hillside, traversing thin passages of snow, and a final scramble up the rocky ridge, we arrived at the summit.

The weather was grim, with a strong wind blowing from the west, flying snow filling the air over Uttakleiv.  But a few parts of the mountain remained sheltered enough to keep my tripod steady as I took in the view over the snow covered Haukland beach.

While this location is better known for its summer view, I think I like the winter version better.

You can find a (summer) hiking guide to Mannen HERE.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
21mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/320 second
WB Daylight

 

Mannen Direct, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter ascent of Mannen, Vestvagøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.February 23, 2015

 

Hiker on winter ascent of Mannen mountain peak, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter ascent of Mannen, Vestvagøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.February 23, 2015

Friday Photo #152 – Bunes Beach Winter

Frozen sand of Bunes beach in winter, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Bunes beach frozen in winter, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 25, 2015; 12:28

After a night of rain while camping at Bunes beach in February the following day arrived with clearing weather and cooling temperatures.

In winter, Bunes doesn’t allow water to flow very easily to the sea, which means that a large part of the beach become a shallow 2-6 centimeter deep lake. With the addition of a night of rain, even more of the beach became waterlogged. As long as temperatures are above freezing, this is fine, just some puddles to walk through. When the temperature drops however, nearly the entire beach become a giant sheet of ice!

It is a long walk from the camping area at the back of the beach to the shoreline.  Now imagine the whole distance being frozen.  There were some awkward moments of time as we utilized our best skating techniques to cross the beach. If we weren’t lazy, crampons would have been a much safer option for walking…

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/200 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #151 – Bunes Beach Sunrise

Colorful sunrise over mountains at Bunes Beach, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Colorful summer sunrise at Bunes beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 17, 2013; 04:45

After having nearly slept in – see Friday Photo #44 for a bit more backstory – my second morning on Lofoten presented me with one of the most colorful sunrises I have seen while on the Islands. My only regret is that I was up on Helvetestind the previous morning, which would have been an absolutely fantastic location for light like this, but Bunes beach was a close 2nd!

It was one of those moments where there is almost too much light, not that I’m complaining! Making it a little difficult to concentrate and the actual scene you are photographing when there is so much around to look at.  And then I wonder how many compositions I have time for before the light runs out. Luckily, I had a second camera which I balanced on a rock to shoot a time-lapse sequence – which you can see as the opening sequence of my ‘Northern Light’ video.

I returned to my tent with a small across my face on this morning. It was a good start to another Lofoten trip. Though this was slightly made up for with the storm that blew over during the afternoon/night as I headed over to Horseid beach.

I know I mentioned it yesterday, but I have now released my 3rd Lofoten ebook: Beaches of Lofoten. While my first two books focused on the seasons, this book is a location guide to the fantastic beaches of Lofoten, Bunes being on the the best.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
52mm
f 13
ISO 50
.5 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #150 – Storsandnes Beach Winter

Winter twilight at Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter blue hour reflection at Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  January 19, 2015; 15:03

Friday photo #150 – Wow! Little more than a month away from 3 years of this. Not sure how I have managed, but I have. And I hope you guys have been finding these posts a useful look at what might exist behind an image, otherwise I’ve wasted a lot of time! 🙂

I’ve previously written about how I seem to have a regular rotation of locations I go over a series of years. For the past few years I have been visiting Storsandnes quite frequently. This image is from the final evening of a winter photo tour with Muench Workshops which I was guiding in January.  With a light dusting of fresh snow of the beach, we spent several hours from late afternoon until darkness.

I always think the winter blue hour on Lofoten has a special feel to it, especially as the mountains seem to glow so bright agains the sky, it is almost like they have their own light from within.

I have also chosen a beach image this week as I will hopefully announce the release of my 3rd Lofoten ebook in a few more days. Can you guess what it will be about? Did you guess Lofoten’s beaches?

I was intending for it to be a mini guide, but this wouldn’t have done proper justice to the variety of beaches which Lofoten has. And then including images from winter, summer, spring, and autumn, the book is now over 130 photos and over 12,000 words for the first draft. So it’s looking like it might be my biggest book yet!

PS: If you’re on my email list you will get a 25% discount for a limited time… 🙂

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
42mm
f 13
ISO 40
2.5 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #149 – Reinebringen Twilight

Evening twilight over Reine from summit of Reinebringen, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn twilight over Reine from Reinebringen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 25, 2013. 19:00

The promise of a clear September sky brought me up Reinebringen for the night with hopes of northern lights. But even in the north, not every clear night brings auroras, and so, despite my 360˚ views, the sky remained quiet until a faint glow arrived at midnight, before quickly vanishing again.

But simply being alone, high in the mountains of Lofoten is a pleasant enough experience in and of itself. The northern lights would have just been an added bonus.  This night was cold, with a bit of frost beginning to form, the first signs that winter wasn’t too far away. A spent most of the night laying half-way out of my tent, so I cold keep an eye on the sky without having to move around too much and get out of my sleeping bag. As time passed, I eventually had to begin setting the alarm on my watch to go off every 20 minutes as my eyes grew tired and I drifted to sleep beneath the million stars overhead.

You can checkout the hiking guide to Reinebringen on my Lofoten hiking page.  The mountain is perhaps the most popular summit on Lofoten at the moment – more because the name has enter the public consciousness, rather than the view being so much better than anything else; I have several mountain views I like better myself.  But with the popularity, the fragile arctic landscape is beginning to suffer. Places that used to be trail are now blank, slippery rock as the covering dirt and vegetation have become warn away.  Be conscious of the impact each step makes; the land can handle 100 feet, it can’t handle 10,000.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
f 11
ISO 100
1/8 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #148 – Hustinden

Mountain landscapes from the summit of Hustind, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Snowy summit of Hustinden on summer night, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands. June 12, 2015; 22:31

I’ve already posted a couple other Friday Photos of Hustinden, but here’s one more. Though today it’s a little more relevant as I just released a new hiking guide for this mountain.

Checkout the guide HERE.

When I first hiked/climbed Hustind a few months earlier in February, I imagined it would be a good place to return to and camp on a nice summer evening for some midnight sun photography – but more so, that I just like camping on mountains peaks, as I’m too lazy to get up early to hike up for sunrise. However on my June trip this year I had a few other mountains that were priorities for some new ebooks and other stuff, so I never had the time for that nice summer evening. I did have time though for a miserably cold (i.e. snowing) night with the summit in and out of the clouds, near constant snow flurries and a bitterly cold wind.

And so while I was braving the elements on the Summit, I could see the folks down in Ramberg enjoying a bit of nice evening sunlight.  But even so, I’d still rather be in the mountains…

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
f 10
ISO 125
1/20 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #147 – Haukland Beach

Haukland beach in summer and winter, Lofoten Islands, Noway

Photo: Haukland beach summer and winter, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 23, 2015; 13:24 – June 3, 2015; 14:43

I thought I’d show something a little different this week.  This images is more of a happy accident than something I intentionally planned; I stood on top of Mannen two times this year and took the same picture twice: once in winter, once in summer.

I thought this would be a cool way to show how different the same location can look just a few months apart.  I have been receiving a lot of emails lately asking for the ‘best’ time to go, and this is something I struggle to answer. Is winter better than summer? I don’t know. If you want to hike, enjoy the midnight sun, camp at Kvalvika, etc, then summer is better.  If you want bleak, abstract landscapes, chances of northern lights, and short, atmospheric days, then winter is better. I guess in a round about way, and the way my journey has taken me, you just have to see the islands at every time of year; every season is different and unique in its own way.

So which view do you like better: summer or winter?

Camera Info: winter
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
21mm
f 8
ISO 200
1/320 second
WB Daylight

 

Friday Photo #146 – Northern Lights

Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis shine in sky over abandoned Rorbu cabin, Valen, near Reine, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Northern Lights over Rorbu, Reine, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 11, 2014. 23:01

One of the benefits of shooting the northern lights along the fjord near Reine is the multitude of compositions that exist.  I had previously taken a number of images of this empty Rorbu in the area of Valen, and on this night, after shooting the northern lights in a few other areas, I decided to take my tour group here for a different scene.

And due to the low snow of February 2014, the mountains themselves weren’t in their top shape, so it was beneficial to use some local architecture as a foreground element in the photo.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 4.5
20 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #145 – Unstad Summer

Summer view over Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Summer over Unstad, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  June 5, 2015. 22:00

It is always hard to decide how long to wait around the mountains. The light of the midnight sun is on of the main draws of summer on Lofoten, but a relatively cloudy horizon such as this day, you might not end up getting any light as the sun hovers over the sea. So, if you’re wanting better odds of sunlight on your scene, you need to head up a bit early. In this case, I left the car around 19:00 – with plans not to return until 02:00 at the earliest.

It was a 1 hour hike up the ridge towards Nonstind (see hiking guide HERE) to get to this view point. By the time I arrived, there was still enough gaps in clouds to allow brief moments of golden light to shine across the beach and valley below.  Soon enough though, the clouds thickened and Unstad was left in shadow for the remainder of the night.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
17mm
ISO 160
f 8
1/320 second
WB Daylight