Friday Photo #257 – Night Hikes

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Winter Moonlight - Friday Photo #257

Photo: Winter moonlight on Mannen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 30, 2017. 20:32

The polar night has arrived on Lofoten, and with it means that most of our lives take place in darkness these days. And so when the weather is calm, somewhat rare in the last weeks, and the moon is bright overhead, why not go hiking? And with the fortune of having a fresh layer of snow, headlamps were hardly needed either.

There were some small aurora this evening, but not enough for me to spend much time shooting them. I found this composition to be much nicer, opposed to looking north over Uttakleiv – where the northern lights were. The moon almost makes it look like daylight though we were still a few days before the full moon. But with a clear sky and fresh snow, it is actually much brighter than one might think.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 4
60 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #256 – Polar Night

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Polar Night - Friday Photo #256

Photo: Twilight glow of winter’s polar night, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 11, 2016. 10:49

As December arrives the Lofoten is soon about to enter the mørketid, otherwise known as the polar night – the time in which the sun does not rise above the horizon here in the north.

It has already been dark for a while, and so the sun a little above, or a little below the horizon doesn’t make too much of a difference to the day during the last weeks. But as the sun finally drops into the sea, even that weak bit of direct light will be missed as we enter a month of twilight and darkness.

Last year, living in Skjelfjord, I think I noticed the change to the mørketid much more as the sun was visible over the southern horizon until it finally vanished into the sea. Where I live now, with mountains closing in my valley to the south, the sun hasn’t been visible from my house since mid October. And so if I don’t leave home, as when I was stuck for 5 days due to a rockslide, I can only see the sun shining on the distant mountains.

I took this image on my way home from Leknes one morning. After what had seemed like endless weeks of storms and wind, the Islands suddenly fell silent. With an hour to go till noon, the day would become a bit brighter, but not much.

For the time being, I still enjoy the experience of the darkness. But next year I’ll probably find myself in Spain or Portugal for a week or two to refill on the vitamin D!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
32mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/4 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #255 – Winter Hiking

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winter hiking - Friday Photo #255

Photo: Winter on Volandstind, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 13, 2017. 12:19

It is getting to be that time of year in which I’m receiving an increased amount of emails asking if it’s possible to hike such and such mountain on so and so day, what the weather will be, and what gear is needed.

I don’t know.

I will reiterate some things here, but if you are thinking about coming here in winter for some hiking, then you should first read my article:

Winter Hiking on Lofoten

When I get an email about hiking some mountain – and unfortunately, Reinebringein is the most commonly referenced one – I always struggle with what to reply. Should I be blunt, and simply say it’s impossible? Should I give some advice about gear? But if you don’t know what gear to use, then you probably don’t have the proper experience for hiking here in winter. Do I remind people that there is little to no daylight in January? Or do I just say: Sure, everything is possible. Which it is – given the correct experience.

From an email, I don’t know anything about you. Have you hiked before? Have you seen snow before? Do you know how to judge avalanche risk? Can you navigate in a whiteout? Are you going to go hiking in a full storm because you only have 2 days on Lofoten and need that photo for Instagram? And a million other things…

So it is more or less an impossible question to answer: If _you_ can hike something.

There are some relatively easy mountains during winter on Lofoten. The locals are out all year round and the same with myself. However, as a whole, Lofoten in winter is not for the inexperienced and the mountains here need to be respected.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
27mm
ISO 400
f 10
1/50 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #254 – Isolated

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landslide - Friday Photo #254

Photo: Large rock-slide blocks the road to Myrland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 17, 2017. 12:14

Thursday evening sometime between 20:00 and 22:00 nature send a reminder of who is in charge. A friend and come over for a short visit to checkup on a project we are working on, leaving after a couple hours. But soon I heard a knock on my door and she had come back, saying there were some rocks in the road. There had been a large rock in the road earlier in the day, but it had been cleared, so maybe she though it was just the darkness that made it look like more. So we hopped in my van to check things out.

Approaching the scene in the darkness, my headlamps lit up the first initially small boulders – which hadn’t been there when I passed by in the late afternoon, before illuminating large blocks in the distance, completely covering the road. Hmm, no one is getting by that this night…

In the morning I returned to checkout the scene again. It was indeed the largest rockslide I’ve seen since moving here. As information spread, I was interviewed by the news agency NRK, and we began to find out that my little village, of merely a dozen residents, would be cut off for a while – The original estimate of a Saturday opening being extended to Monday.

And so I sit at home, with unexpected guests and glad I generally keep enough food on the shelves for just this type of situation. Saturday I will miss an event I was hoping to attend, but that is life up here…

As a bit of a side note. Despite the fact that there are clearly posted ‘no stopping’ (not just the ‘no parking’) and rockfall signs for this section of the road, many people car/van/motorhome camp along there all summer long. If it is not too late in the evening and I see people out and about, I will often stop and give them a bit of a warning that they might not be in the best place. On any given night it is not likely that something will happen, and it makes me feel like an asshole, possibly interrupting some romantic moment or ruining their perfect camping spot with the midnight sun shining in the north. But I drive this road on an almost daily basis and see what falls from above. It would be nice if people listened the signs, but they don’t. So I’ll probably have to be an asshole next summer as well, telling people that they should move along…

And in fact, along with some friends, I remember telling a van to move which was parked in this exact spot of the avalanche sometime in July. The amount of fresh small rockfall and debris present there should have already indicated that it was a poor camping location. Had they been there this Thursday evening, they would now be buried under tons of rubble.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
200mm
ISO 320
f 5
1/125 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #253 – Winter’s Arrival

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Winter's Arrival - Friday Photo #253

Photo: Winter arrives in the north, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 29, 2017. 14:55

It is hard to say exactly – when autumn ends and winter begins. Every year is slightly different, but usually sometime in the end of October or early november as the days grow darker that the weather becomes darker as well. This year autumn seems to have held on as long as possible. Yet, there is no escaping the arrival of winter here.

The weather of the weeks has now made that turn. Winter is here. I’m not as eager to go outside anymore – I actually haven’t done any hiking in several weeks – good I joined the Gym! Any thoughts of long nights alone in my tent are easily chased from my mind.

Winter does not have a single look, it is more of a mood and a feeling. Dark days and stormy nights. Wind and snow blowing sideways across your face. Running from the parking lot into the supermarket. And sleep, lots of sleep.

It likely wont be until after the new year that there is enough snow for me to pull out my skis. And even then, it is a fine balance between snow or rain.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
180mm
ISO 250
f 5
1/160 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #252 – Aurora Camping

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Aurora Camping - Friday Photo #252

Photo: September northern lights camping under full moon, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 8, 2017. 01:25

…Continuing on from last weeks Friday Photo #251. This is now a bit later in the evening. I had begun to crawl back into my tent when the aurora began to fade. Luckily I wasn’t in a hurry, because that was the moment the lights really began to get active.

Unfortunately though, clouds had also come to take over a large part of the sky, inhibiting many of my potential compositions. Needing something in the foreground, my tent was the only real thing I had available. Though it was also on this night I realised I should bring 2 headlamps – 1 for the tent, and 1 for me so I don’t walk off a cliff in the dark!

I shot numerous different compositions, however, I think I like this one, with the bright moon, the best.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1000
f 3.2
2 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #251 – Horseid Aurora

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Horseid Aurora - Friday Photo #251

Photo: Northern Lights over Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 8, 2017. 00:27

I already posted a photo from this trip last month for Friday Photo #247, the night after this while down on the beach itself. The first night I headed up high, in hopes over Aurora over Horseid from above. I was somewhat successful.

In my mind I have a continually growing list of images that I would like to take. Normally it’s when I’m standing on some mountain and think to myself, ‘wouldn’t it be cool to be here if such and such happened.’ Some of these ideas I’ve had in my head for years, just waiting for the right opportunity and conditions. And only since moving here full time have I been able to dedicated a little more time to these ideas, as they take much more time and luck that I could commit to on a 2-3 week trip where I would need to focus on more productive endeavours. Northern Lights over Horseid beach has been one of these images.

Good weather forecast, (almost) full moon, and a solar storm were the conditions that drove me up here. But even as I boarded the ferry from Reine, I wasn’t quite sure where I would go: should I play it safe, and go somewhere where I had a higher chance of a good image, and still something quite unique for Lofoten. Or should I take a bigger gamble, where I could perhaps completely miss things all together. I chose to gamble.

The aurora started early, even before the sky was dark. But they were mostly faint. And in what had been forecasted clear skies, a layer of clouds was approaching. Shit! The moon soon rose and illuminated the beach far below me, adding much needed contrast to the otherwise dark scene. The aurora came and went in waves, but nothing too brilliant.

Content I had something decent, at least for a first attempt at this image, I returned to my tent. Clouds now began to fill more and more of the sky. As I was walking in circles while brushing my teeth, the aurora erupted overhead. I quickly went back to shooting, but I could already see that the sky above the beach was mostly filled with clouds, blocking the aurora there. So I made the best of the conditions and started shooting my tent instead (perhaps I’ll post that image soon).

If I had a time machine, I would stayed on the beach the first night, and camped up here the 2nd. But even so, it was a productive two nights, both of which created some unique images! And, even better, I have plenty of time to go back and try again – maybe even for a winter version…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 3.2
8 second
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #250 – Aurora Campfire

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Campfire and Northern Lights - Friday Photo #250

Photo: Campfire below northern lights, Storsandnes, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 28, 2017. 22:33

Sometimes life is best enjoyed simply by being there. The final evening of my 2017 Exploring Autumn photo tour, this was the 4th night (of 6) where we had northern lights in the sky overhead.

We had already spent sunset this evening in the mountains above Unstad, returning to my van by headlamp. And already on the way down, the aurora had begun dancing in the fading twilight. A quick stop for pizza in Leknes, we hurried to another beach, eating on the way.

Normally, this night alone would have been good and everyone would have been shooting as much as possible. But they had been slightly spoiled by the previous night, which was one of the best aurora shows that I have ever seen!

And so I did what I might do had I been on my own or with a few friends – build a campfire! From time to time, when the lights got strong, we would go wander off and take some photos, only quickly to return to the warmth of the fire. As the hours passed, the photography time lessened and the fire time grew. Until finally we decided to call it a night.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f 2.8
5 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #249 – Veggen Coffee

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Veggen Coffee - Friday Photo #249

Photo: Dinner and a coffee on the summit of Veggen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 4, 2017. 20:16

Despite the mild, and almost hot, weather this September, as each day passes, the sun sinks a bit lower in the sky. As much as I love autumn, and am looking forward to ski on my feet again in winter; it is hard to say goodbye to summer. But there is no sense in resisting – all one can do is take as much advantage of the sun as possible. And for my friends that have normal working hours, this means the evenings.

One of the best things about Lofoten is that the mountains are so accessible. An hour or less of hiking is all that is needed to find yourself surrounded by vertical peaks rising from the sea. And so I’ve started to change my flow of life a bit. Why should I always cook dinner at home? Why not throw some food and cooking gear into your backpack and eat dinner at 500 meters while watching the sun fall into the sea. It seems like a completely obvious thing to do – and I’m sure many people do it. But I was either focused on photography and hiking, or photography and camping. It is only somewhat recently that relaxation has begun to play a bigger role in my mountain summits.

And so September saw me on several of these ‘enjoy the sun and relax’ hikes. How long can it continue before the days are too short or the weather too cold? I don’t know. Maybe a few more weeks. Soon there will only be enough light for small little hills. But as long as the sun is shining and the wind is calm, hopefully I’ll be out there somewhere…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 200
f 3.5
1/60 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #248 – Haukland Beach Aurora

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Haukland Aurora - Friday Photo #248

Photo: Haukland aurora, Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 27, 2017. 22:04

Had my tour finished before this night, I already would have been content that my clients had already gotten some decent aurora photos. On this evening, they got the show of a lifetime. Perhaps one of the best nights I have seen in all my time here in the north.

With the mild September weather this year, we decided to have an evening bbq and campfire at Uttakleiv while waiting for darkness. Something a bit special, and what I would do if I was on my own. Uttakleiv is generally a good spot to wait for Aurora. And on most other years, we would likely have had the place to ourselves for the evening. But even with October just around the corner, the islands remain busy this year, and the constant buzzing of drones in the sky has been almost ever-present at every beach and even half the mountains – there were 2 drones flying on Ryten a couple nights previous!

So as night arrived, so did car after car of people. And then, the first aurora appeared in the sky over Himmeltind. Not a good direction for Uttakleiv. I knew the aurora eventually move to a more compositionally pleasing location, but as an increasing amount of headlights began to fill the beach, I made the decision to get out of there and try somewhere else.

that somewhere else is just a couple minutes away. Haukland beach. And though the main parking lot seemed full, it was mostly just campers, many of whom seemed to be sleeping already. Luckily, there was no one at my intended destination on the left side of the beach, where the river had formed a perfect reflection pool.

Shortly after we arrived, the real show began. For some moments, the entire sky was seemingly full of aurora. I often didn’t know which way to look. But I was waiting for the lights to come into the sky over the beach, giving me a reflection I wanted. Eventually they did.

Car after car drove by, continuing to Uttakleiv. While here it was just the five of us, standing in the darkness and occasionally shouting towards the sky. What a night to be in the north!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
14mm
ISO 2000
f 3.2
5 seconds
WB Daylight

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