Friday Photo | 68 North

Friday Photo #94 – Autumn Color

Photo: Colorful blueberry bush in autumn, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Oct 3, 2012. 11:09

For those of you who’ve followed this site for a while, you’ll know that I’m not much of a macro/detail photographer. But sometimes getting close makes the most sense for what you’re trying to show, and thus you have today’s photo.

2012 was a brilliantly colorful autumn on Lofoten. After having spent close to 2 weeks in Sweden on the Kungsleden trail, and then this, I was about on color overload – which is a good thing!

Everywhere I was surrounded by golden birches, yellow grasses, and red blueberries. Entire hillsides filled with a multitude of colors. This particular day however, I couldn’t put light and landscape together in an effective way. I was always 5 minutes too late for whatever scene I was trying to capture. So finally I kind of gave up (I would later this day hike up Offersoykammen just to be in one place and quit chasing light) and looked for tiny elements that could somehow show what I was seeing. And so I changed my attention to the mountains and sky to a few small bushes around my feet.

While this image could have been taken anywhere in northern Europe, it still feels very ‘Lofoten’ to me somehow…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 50
f 11
1/4 seconds
WB Daylight

October 24, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Autumn, Friday Photo, Vestvågøya

Friday Photo #93 – Stamsund Aurora

Photo: Northern lights rise into the sky over Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Oct 8, 2011. 23:14

Good things (sometimes) come to those who wait. In my case, this was my last night of a 2 week trip on Lofoten. A trip which thus far the northern lights had failed to appear. For the most part it had been a fairly stormy and turbulent autumn on the islands, with only rare moments of clear skies. But on this final night in Stamsund, the weather calmed and the sky cleared. I could sense something would happen.

It was a small group of us left at the hostel and as usual were spent our evenings sitting around the table, warmed by the fire and hopefully some good food in our stomach (on this evening, young Nicola, the wandering French chef, had prepared quite a feast for the group as an end of season party).

Well after dark we heard a knock at the window, followed by ‘come outside quickly!’ Everyone rushed to put on their jackets, grab their gloves and head out into the night. Me, I had to run to grab my camera and tripod.

Entering the darkness of the night, the sky was filled with green. I immediately climbed the hill behind the hostel, and then headed out to the coast, joined by Nicola. Roar took the others out on the boat to watch from the calm waters of the Vestfjord as the aurora danced and filled the sky in every direction. Another one of those moments where I wish I could have had 10 cameras!

This was my best night of northern lights to date. My next best night occurred again on October 8th, the following year, where I was unfortunate enough the be aboard the Hurtigruten while sailing across the Vestfjord and northern lights filled the sky from horizon to horizon.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 1250
f 3,2
15 seconds
WB Daylight

October 17, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Autumn, Friday Photo, Vestvågøya

Friday Photo #92 – Holandsmelen Autumn

Photo: Autumn light shines across the rocky summit of Holandsmelen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 26, 2013. 17:35

Day 3, mountain 3. After having spent a rather sleepless (because I was trying to keep an eye out for northern lights) night on Reinebringen and descending in the morning, I was feeling somewhat lazy and more or less content to sit around the Stamsund hostel eating popcorn. But as the hours of the day passed, it became evident that I couldn’t just sit around. So it my best ‘I’m lazy but need to do something’ mode, I headed towards the small peak of Holandsmelen.

I was a bit worried about the views, due to the close proximity to Leknes and the urbanized areas of Vestvågøy, but I figured there would at least be some decent views of Vik beach, and perhaps something else. I arrived on the summit with the sun hanging low on the horizon, quickly approaching a thickening layer of clouds out over the sea.

The best images were towards the beaches, where I managed to get a few exposures off before they fell into shadow. Luckily the sun remained shining a bit longer on the summit, giving me some time to explore the unique rocky texture of the otherwise ‘soft’ mountain. Holandsmelen is an easy hike and probably a place I’ll be back to to explore again with some different light, maybe I can even find a flat enough spot to sleep for the night, hopefully without too many rocks poking into my back.

The pointy mountain in the center of the image is Skottind.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 200
f 14
1/40 second
WB Daylight

October 10, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Austvågøya, Autumn, Friday Photo

Friday Photo #91 – Kroktinden View

Photo: The wild mountain peaks of Lofoten from the summit of Kroktinden, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Sept 27, 2013. 15:40

Day 4, mountain 4. After having dropped my camera in a lake in Sweden a few weeks earlier, by the time I received a new one I only had a week left on Lofoten. Luckily the autumn of 2013 was a calm and mild one for the most part and once I had a new camera, it was up to the mountains for four consecutive days before the weather finally deteriorated.

The 707 meter high Kroktind is a somewhat obscure peak in the Sydalen area of Austvågøy. But with legs getting a bit sore, my Swiss hiking partner Monika and I both figured this would be an interesting hike for the day.

By the time we reached the summit a layer of white cloud was beginning to conceal the sun. But being late September, it was t-shirt weather on the summit, as we sat and watched sea eagle circling around on nearby thermals. I nearly every direction mountains rose into the distance. And there were even some reflections of glaciers, somewhere far off on the Norwegian mainland.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f 14
1/250 second
WB Daylight

October 3, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Autumn, Flakstadøya, Friday Photo

Friday Photo #90 – Myrland Beach Sunset

Photo: Myrland beach sunset, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Sept 1, 2013. 20:24

I’ve probably mentioned it before, but Myrland has become one of my favorite beaches in the last couple years. Perhaps I’ve just become over saturated by the other beaches (as nice as they are) or perhaps I like it because it is still a relatively seldom visited places and I will likely find the sand free of footprints, even on a sunny evening.

Normally I would have tried to pick a more mountainous location for a sunset such as this, but a few days before, I had sprained my ankle while hiking down from Ryten at Kvalvika beach. So I wasn’t exactly in any position to be hiking up mountains. And it was trouble enough just getting down to the beach. Not to mention that I like to stand a little too close to the water, which on this day, meant I had to painfully hobble out of the way of incoming waves at just the last minute.

Perhaps I would have been a little more tolerant of pain were I not planning to begin a hike into Sweden’s Sarek national park just 10 days after this photo, so my ankle needed all the rest it could get. Though I ended up dropping my camera in a lake just one day into that hike, so my autumn didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3,5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 200
f 9.5
1.3 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom
B+W 6 stop neutral density filter

September 26, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Summer

Friday Photo #89 – Kjerkfjord Sunset

Photo: Setting sun behind Kjerkfjord from the summit of Reinebringen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 25, 2010. 11:13

For my first hike up Reinebringen I decided to to the most obvious thing one getting to the top; spend the night on the summit. Well, It can hardly be considered night in late July, but the sun still sets for a couple hours at this point in the year.

Having spent the previous two nights at Bunes beach, at night on Reinebringen wasn’t really in the plan. But as my friend Søren and I walked off the ferry back in Reine, looking at the clear blue sky and mountains all around, the choice was made for us.

Unfortunately I hadn’t decided to gather any more water while at Bunes, so I had to buy an overprice 0.5 liter bottle from the StatOil station in Reine. By the time I reached the summit or Reinebringen this had turned into 0.2 litters, with about 18 hours remaining on the mountain.

It perhaps the most absolutely perfect day of the whole summer. Blue sky, warm temperatures and no wind. I setup my tent on the summit, not to protect me from the weather, but as the only place to escape from the sun. The hours passed by and hikers came and went. Finally as evening began to arrive, we found ourselves alone on the summit.

As evening passed the sun grew low on the horizon. Sometimes concealed behind peaks before shining for a few more moments, the descent into the sea was underway. A cloudless sky stood overhead as we sat up there alone, waiting for the end of a Lofoten summer day to slowly arrive.

We camped out in the open, no fear of rain this night. Several times I tried to go to sleep, only to crawl out of my sleeping bag to take a few more photos; finally giving up on getting properly dressed and just standing there, bare footed and in my underwear. A night I will always remember.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 200
f 16
1/60 second
WB Daylight
3 images – left, center, right

September 19, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo, Summer, Vestvågøya

Friday Photo #87 – Stamsund Sunset

Photo: Pink sunset over Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 22, 2010. 00:51

The year 2010 was my first summer back on Lofoten for four years, having spent my last few trips getting to know the islands in the other seasons. As usual, my first stop on the islands was the Stamsund hostel, where I had arranged a meeting with a German friend whom I had spent some weeks with during the previous autumn: a fellow Lofoten addict.

Despite the village of Stamsund not being the most interesting place on Lofoten, there is still something of a wild and unspoiled coast just a short distance from the harbor beyond the hostel. I have stood upon these rocks dozens of times in all sorts of weather. They are one of those places where I can be sitting inside and eating dinner and then Roar will come knocking at the window, ‘ Come outside, the sky is pink!’

And so I gather my camera and run out across the rocks, sometimes a little slippery if it has been raining, and head towards the sea.

This evening a bitter wind was blowing, but the light was brilliant. I found a somewhat sheltered spot on the rocks to take this photo, the waves crashing at my feet.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 16-35mm f/4
23mm
ISO 200
f 16
0.3 second
WB Daylight

September 5, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo, Summer, Vestvågøya

Friday Photo #85 – Uttakleiv Light

Photo: Afternoon light at Utakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 28, 2013. 18:14

For the last few years I’ve tried to tell myself that I have enough photos of Utakliev beach. Yet, like clockwork, each time I’m on the islands I head out there, ‘ just the check things out…’ Often I find the place windswept and barren. Yet on certain days, where the rest of the islands are under gale force winds, Utakleiv can be the place where a tripod wont blow over.

This was a particularly blustery summer day. I had stopped at a few different locations, but most were more windy than I would have liked. The clouds were moving fast through the sky and the fleeting moments of sun were separated by spells of heavy, sideways falling, rain.

I headed out to Utakleiv in the rain and waited in the car until I could see the rain beginning to pass. Soon enough a bit of sun began to shine in the distance. Looking to the left, I could see the next front quickly approaching. I had time for a few photos and then drops of rain began to fall again while the distant mountains disappeared behind the clouds.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3,5 tilt+shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 16
8 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom
6 stop B+W neutral density filter

August 29, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo, Moskenesøya, Summer

Friday Photo #85 – Vestfjord Moonrise

Photo: Moonrise over Vestfjord from summit of Hermannsdalstind, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 23, 2013. 21:15

It was early evening by the time I arrived on the summit of Hermannsdalstind, the sun hanging low on the western horizon. I didn’t really have much of a plan, other than I would sleep on the summit if possible, which I didn’t really know before arriving. I had heard there was some place to put a tent, but if so, I didn’t find it. Luckily for me though, the weather was calm, for Lofoten standards. I found a mostly flat rock just below the summit, which didn’t look too easy to fall off of, and decided that is where I would sleep for the night.

With the sun setting into the Norwegian sea to the west, a near full moon was rising across the Vestfjord to the east. The sky was becoming a little hazy, and the light wasn’t as brilliant as could be, but it was one of those ‘wow’ moments.

I go up into the mountain and suffer discomfort in an attempt to capture beautiful images of scenes that not many people will ever see. Sometimes conditions work photographically and I come away with something nice. But more often the moment of just being there is the reward for all the sweat of carrying a heavy backpack up a steep mountain.

It was only me up there, alone on the top of Lofoten, the surrounding world in perfect calm. I only had a little water and a little food, but even without, the views for my eyes would have been enough to sustain me for the night. Had the rain soon come, I would have been thankful for my few hours up there. Some (many) moments are better in reality than photographs.

In our over saturated, super dynamic, focus stacked, and micro contrasted world which is the current state of online landscape photography, it is good to remember why we began our journeys to these places in the first part. For the experience, for the adventure, for the being…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt+shift
85mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/25 second
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

August 22, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo, Summer, Vestvågøya

Friday Photo #84 – Stamsund Twilight

Photo: Summer twilight, Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 31, 2010. 01:19

Summers on Lofoten mean sleepless nights. With the sun finally setting in mid July, the following weeks provide magical twilight nights as the end of summer begins to approach. It is in these weeks that I like to head out at midnight and see what I can find.

Stamsund was my base for all of my first visits to Lofoten. I was poor in those days and more or less happy just to be on the islands. I couldn’t afford a rental car, so I would spend many of my days wandering around the coast and nearby mountains of the hostel.

Even to this day, the coastline just a short walk from the hostel remains one of my favorite places to photograph. Over the years I have seen everything, from the seasons first snow, northern lights from horizon to horizon, gale force storms, and calm silence. It is someplace I will return to again and again, always finding some new light to photograph.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 85mm f/2,8 tilt+shift
85mm
ISO 200
f 8
121 seconds
WB Daylight

August 15, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

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