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Friday Photo #114 – Lofoten Mountain Panorama

Moskenesoy Mountain Lanscape, Lofoten Islands

Photo: Twilight mountainpanoramic, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 14, 2014.  19:56

After the light began to fade from the summit of Markan, it was time to descend the narrow ridge back down to camp at Fageråskaret pass.  More than content with the evening, I packed up my gear and prepared for the steep descent in the fading autumn twilight.

Yet, I didn’t make it more than a few meters from the summit before I came across this scene.  I contemplated walking on; the light wasn’t as good as it had been over the previous hours.  But then I though to myself, if this was the only light I had this day, would I take a photo.  Of course.

So I pulled freshly packed gear back out of the bag and re-setup my tripod for one last image of the day…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/4 second
WB Daylight
2 images – left, right

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Friday Photo #113 – Reine Cod Racks

Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Empty cod drying racks, Reine, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 3, 2014.  20:19

Some days of stormy weather finally caught up with us during the second week of our sailing trip around Lofoten in the late summer.  Over a particularly grim couple days we moored to boat in Reine.

Most of the time I just hung around on board, the desire to keep dry stronger than the desire to explore Reine by foot, a place I’ve been to numerous times anyhow.  But on the second evening, it seemed as if the rain might hold off for a bit, so I went out with the group for a bit of a wander.

The cod drying racks of Lofoten, wether full of fish in winter, or empty the rest of the year, are always something I find interesting.  This particular set of racks I had never come across before, and was immediately drawn to their shape.

With the fast moving clouds and the fading light, I knew I wanted a long exposure to soften the detail of the sky and bring out the shape of the racks on the barren rocks.  This is one of the ‘dark’ moments of Lofoten that I like to capture.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
30 seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop ND filter
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #112 – Sailing at Helvete

Lofoten Islands Northern Lights

Photo: Northern light fill the sky over Lofoten, Henningsvær, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 24, 2014.  23:40

Another Image from my last night of northern lights in September 2014.

What started out as a nice display of auroras, finished with the sky completely full of light!  Even here, at 14mm, my entire frame was filled with light.  And even then, I was still left to look up ever further, with auroras filling nearly every part of the sky.  Probably one of my most memorable nights ever, and a good end to over a month on Lofoten.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 3.2
15 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #111 – Autumn Northern Lights

Northern Lights Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn northern lights over the coast of Henningsvær, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 24, 2014.  21:13

My last view of northern lights in what had been an absolutely fantastic month of September 2014;   probably the best month I’ve ever had aurora watching on Lofoten.

I had camped at this spot on a few previous nights, yet the lights had been elusive.  So when they finally showed up for me at this spot, I was more than happy.  Especially so, in that they were early enough in the night to still have some glow on the horizon, which helps the images in autumn when there is no snow on the mountains.

The aurora lasted late into the night, allowing me to also record a nice time lapse sequence to use for a future project…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1600
f 3.5
15 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #110 – Horseid Beach

Horseid beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 15, 2014.  14:19

The mountain view over Horseid beach has been a long sought after image for me.  And no doubt because this view is the hardest to reach of the three main beaches of Moskenesøy (Bunes, Horseid, and Kvalvika).

Having spent the morning on another peak, I almost forgot that in the shorter days of September that I could wait too far after noon to get to the view point, otherwise the beach would be in shadow.  Luckily, I made it to this view with a bit of time to spare.  By the time I reached the summit of Branntuva, about an hour later, the entire beach was cast in shadow for the remainder of the day.

I made note of a few possible camping places close to this view point, so hopefully I can return with a bit more interesting light one of these days…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/200 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #109 – Aerial Lofoten

Aerial view over Steine, Vestvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Aerial view over Steine, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 24, 2014.  11:44

This autumn I finally had the opportunity to fly in a small cesna and capture some aerial photos of Lofoten.

While it looks like a nice and calm day in this photo, it was actually quite windy and turbulent.  I had originally planned to fly over the western tip of the islands, but as I reached the airport and met with the pilot, Moskenesøy was still completely covered in cloud.  The east, however, was mostly blue sky.

This was my first, and only, experience shooting from a small plane, so I did my best just to keep my camera level and hopefully get something interesting in the frame as we bounced up and down in the turbulence created from Lofoten’s mountains.  Even the pilot commented that it was a rough day to be in the air!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
35mm
ISO 500
f 7.1
1/1600 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #108 – Mountains of Moskenesoy

Lofoten Mountain landscape

Photo: View over Moskenesøy from Branntuva, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Septermber 15, 2014.  15:10

Branntuva is lonely and rarely hiked mountain deep in the heart of Moskenesøy, with most of the upper part of the mountain trail-less.

After hiking Markan the previous day, Branntuva seemed like the next best target from my base camp at Fageråskaret pass. And unlike the day before, there was hardly a cloud in the sky this day, only a low fog approaching from the sea creating a light mist in the lower valleys.

Fromt the summit, there are fantastic view in nearly every direction, especially the overlook of Horseid beach.  But of all the choices, I found this scene of all these steep ridges leading towards the high peak of Hermannsdalstind to be one of the best.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 100
f 9.5
1/400 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #107 – Branntuva Sunset

Sunset over Branntuva, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Sunset over Branntuva from the summit of Markan, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 14, 2014.  19:24

Following up on last weeks image, here is another view from the summit of Markan.  The mountain to the left of the image is Branntuva, which was actually the original goal for this afternoon, until I figured I would not have enough time to get to the summit, so I made the wise decision to turn for Markan instead. – I hiked up Branntuva the following day.

For me, this part of Moskenesøy is one of the most scenic and wild parts of Lofoten.  And each time I reach the summit of one mountain, I’m looking at the dozen other peaks surrounding me and imagining what the views from they are like…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
19mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/30 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #106 – Markan Sunset

Markan, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Autumn mountain light from the summit of Markan (600m), Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 14, 2014.  18:54

Waiting for sunset from the summit of Markan was one of the more memorable moments of my autumn travels on Lofoten.

It was one of those days that either turns out really bad or completely rewarding.  Luckily I had the reward this time, which is better than can be said for the last time I passed by Marken, hiking as fast as I could to keep ahead of an approaching storm.

On this afternoon it seemed as if rain would begin to fall at any moment, yet it never did.  All that happened was that the light got better and better until the sun was finally low on the horizon and the colors began to fade.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 200
f 9
1/160 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #105 – Sailboat Mooring at Helle

Sailboat Anchorage in Buvågen Bay at Helle, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Sailboat anchorage in summer twilight at Buvågen bay at Helle on the westernmost tip of Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 31, 2014.  21:48

Helle it the westernmost tip of Moskenesøy (and more of less Lofoten itself).  I’ve been wanting to get here for a few years and have tried to research any hiking routes, which would likely take several days over the steep mountains.  So when I learned visiting the location would probably be part of the summer sailing trip with Vertical Shot Expeditions I was a part of, I was quite excited.

We were racing an incoming storm to get here before bad weather arrived – the sea outside the bay is some of the roughest waters in Norway, with strong and turbulent currents.  The weather cooperated and we arrived on a brilliantly calm afternoon, with enough time to get out the following morning.

As evening came, we built a campfire on the shore and cooked up a big meal.  With the sky getting dark, I walked up a small hill to get one last view over the scene.  A little while later, northern lights were filling the sky as we rode the dinghy back to the boat.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 640
f 6.3
1/6 second
WB Daylight

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