Friday Photo #542 – Over Unstad Beach

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Photo: Evening view over Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 29, 2022. 22:29

With no darkness for the next 2 months, May is the beginning of my midnight sun hiking season. I typically don’t camp too much at this time of year unless I’m heading to a more distant location. Otherwise, I find it easier just to pick a location, start walking, then return home sometime in the early morning hours. And then hope my neighbour doesn’t knock on my door at 09:00!

This evening I actually had no plan. First I headed up Saupstadtind, then over to (lower) Skrådalstind, and then I just wandered along winding sheep trails until I was over Unstad. I’ve hiked the mountains in the background of the image numerous times, but this was my first time on this side of the valley. And I think overall, this is an infrequently visited part of Lofoten. I attempted a bit of a shortcut on the way down, but it turned into something of a bushwhack at times.

With June just a few days away in this image, you can see the difference between the already green fields of the valley vs. the still relatively brown mountains rising above. The transition from winter to spring to summer is a gradual process on Lofoten; beginning at sea level and then rising higher up the mountains as time passes.

This image also shows the difference between Innmark, the green fields, and utmark, the mountains rising above. This is important in the regulations of Allemannsretten, which most people just think of as, ‘it’s free to camp where you want in Norway.’ This actually only applies to utmark. Though it is generally tolerated in many roadside areas and beaches, even if they are innmark. However, for Lofoten specifically, the increased pressure of tourism has seen more regulations and controls put in place in recent years. And there are even some calling for an end to Allemannsretten in the utmark. Only time will tell if these old traditions and freedoms still have a place in the modern world. But if everyone is respectful of the landscape, hopefully future generations can still enjoy the right to roam!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
21mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/60 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #541 – Common Gull

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Photo: Common Gull swoops in for attack, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 31, 2021. 21:53

With summer just around the corner, many of Lofoten’s migratory birds will have chosen their nesting sites and begin laying eggs. In my valley, I can already see dozens of pairs of mostly common gulls spread out across the moorland. Every once in a while when something passes through, they will scatter to the sky in a flurry of noise and commotion.

Most of the migratory bird species on Lofoten are ground nesting: the various gull types, arctic skuas, oystercatchers, curlews, geese, and more. The result is the parents can have various levels of aggression when one passes too closely – particularly the arctic skuas, which might actually physically contact you, while most of the others just do a near flyby.

If you are just passing though an area, then there is not too much to be done, but do keep an eye out of where you are walking to hopefully avoid stepping on a nest full of eggs. The most common nesting areas are in the wild, coastal heather terrain which offers plenty of cover. But not all birds are this smart, and if you’re walking around the villages in late June, its likely you’ll see fresh chicks walking around the sidewalks and harbours at times.

If you are camping however, it is best that you pay attention to any annoyed birds. Camping too close to a nest will cause the parents to keep away, which might cause the eggs never to hatch, or, allow predators like stoats to approach and eat them. I’ve seen a few abandoned nests, still with eggs, in areas where it was obvious people had been frequently camping over the summer.

Just something to keep in mind while out enjoying Lofoten’s nature.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
135mm
ISO 400
f 4.5
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #540 – May Grey

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Photo: Mountain birch tree in grey clouds on Haugheia, May 10, 2023. 14:53

May is usually the start of sunset-to-sunrise season of Lofoten, and I had actually already written an article about that for this weeks post. However, May this year has been on the grey side and there hasn’t been too much in the way of colourful nights lately. Even when the sky has been clear overhead, there’s oven been a layer of cloud over the northern horizon, which largely blocks any color which might occur.

The last few days have actually felt like cold summer days, with a mild temperature around 10˚c, still air, and low, misty clouds concealing the peaks. Even on a Wednesday hike up the low ridge of Haugheia for a bit of exercise, clouds were blowing across the summit forest leaving me wanting around in a sea of grey. Although for the wind twisted mountain birch grove at the summit, I actually like this type of low visibility and it removes the distractions of the background or sky and allows more of an emphasis on the shapes of the trees. Even better is when this occurs in winter.

I only shot a couple images on this hike as I often prefer the shoot the trees from a low vantage point, but the flip screen on my camera stopped working a couple months ago, and I’m too lazy to otherwise have to lie on the ground for some trees I’ve already shot dozens of times. One difficulty with living in Lofoten is that any sort of equipment repair takes a long time! So I would like to fix my camera soon, but I also can’t be without one for a month or more in the height of summer…

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-120 f/4
110mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #539 – Between Seasons

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Photo: Dark clouds over Bulitind from Smordalskammen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 1, 2023. 16:36

It is that time of year that locals often call false spring, winter part 3-4-5, the May summer tire club, and various other jokes about the weather. After a few ‘warm’ days in April it’s easy to think that the trend will continue. But almost reliably, the the temperature will drop as winter fights to hold on a little longer. This last week has been a perfect example of that weather as the wind shifted north and snow flurries have been passing over the islands, with Wednesday’s temperature dropping down to -4.8˚c and leaving my backyard and surrounding fields with a layer of snow.

Once the sun returns however, the snow quickly melts until the next wave of snow passes. Winter takes over the shadows while the sun brings spring. But overall, the snow is slowly melting away and the coastal farmlands are beginning to turn green. I kinda lost track of time a bit this week noticing a few flowers on the side of the road and thinking it was an early spring. Until I remember that it was already a few days into May! So the pace of ‘the greenening’ (not a real word, but sounds cool) of the land seems normal this year.

On a May day hike in the cold blustery wind on Smordalskammen a small recent dusting of snow survived in a few places while in more exposed areas it had melted, creating these cool patterns across the land. The sun was high over Bulitind, but luckily the clouds concealed it from time to time for a slightly more balanced image.

Loosing track of time again while planning where to hike today, I suddenly realised that sunset is now at 22:20. I always find it hard to image that it’s still snowing but the days are already longer than midsummer in Berlin or London, for example. Winter weather but summer light. The midnight sun is now only 3 weeks away!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
14mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/1000 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #538 – Misty April Mountains

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Photo: Mountains emerge from misty clouds, Eltofttuva, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. April 24, 2022. 14:19

Last week I was somewhat optimistic that it would be an early start to barbecue season this year. But unfortunately, what I thought would be a warm April has cooled again and a layer of snow was once again sitting in my yard over the past weekend. So I think I’ll have to wait a little longer this year. But that is almost always Lofoten at this time of year – sitting in a limbo of not-winter and not-summer. Up north they are still getting good ski days in the mountains, while down south the land is already turning green. On Lofoten, we just wait.

I actually haven’t been out shooting too much lately. There has been some nice light, but I’m often stuck on the computer most of the day and then the thought of sitting up on a mountain in the cold wind waiting for sunset at 21:45 turns me a bit lazy. Though I guess I probably need to get the legs moving soon in preparation for summer, as even after my winter photo workshop season ended, I only managed a few days on skis before the snow melted away. But if I have to be stuck on the computer, I’d rather it be now than during the summer.

Another reason is that my photographic focus isn’t on Lofoten at the moment. In 2020 I had meant to spend most of my time hiking and photographing in the eastern parts of Lofoten for a new ebook companion to my West Lofoten Hikes ebook. But it is actually a lot of driving for me to get to the eastern parts of Lofoten, and with everything surrounding Corona, I had to put that project on the shelf for a while as I simply couldn’t afford the driving required.

But as the world normalised again, I found I had a new interest, which is my current ongoing ebook project. This one is my most ambitious one to date and I’ve already put in a few weeks on it during the last couple years. If I am lucky I might finish up most of the photography by this autumn and the writing over winter. I guess I found it easier, and more interesting, to take a longer trip a bit further to new places, than just driving around in circles over Lofoten all summer. And there are so many beautiful regions in Norway, that I sometimes wonder how they are so overlooked. I guess it’s just branding and name recognition, like any other commercial product. I could spend 10 lifetimes just trying to photograph Norway.

So, with my mind on big plans for other parts of Norway, I’m a bit lazy about day to day photography on Lofoten without having a project to work on. Though the good news is that I still have a backlog of hikes that I’ve never added to the website for some reason. Mostly this will be some mountains on Vestvågøy which I don’t have anywhere else to use at the moment, and a few ones from West Lofoten Hikes ebook that never made it online. Though some of those hikes in that will remain only in the ebook for the time being.

This week’s photo is from one of those new hikes on the website, taken on a misty and rainy April hike to Eltofttuva – hiking guide here. I think I’ve probably skied from the summit of Eltofttuva 10x more than I’ve hiked it, but as a fairly easy short hike just east of Leknes, I still usually make a couple trips a year, mostly for a bit of afternoon exercise with friends.

On this day, we were mostly in thick grey clouds and minimal visibility. I could see on the radar that the rain would (mostly) pass shortly after arriving at the summit, so we waited around a bit until I could at least see some distant peaks begin to emerge. I actually think this shot came out quite nice for what the day looked like. My only complaint would be the unfortunate location of the power lines running though the bottom of the frame. But nothing I can do about that…

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200 f/4-6.3
175mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/250 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #537 – Spring Thaw

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Photo: Spring mountain reflections in Selfjord, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. April 17, 2023. 10:17

Some years the weather seems to switch as quickly as if one is turning a light off and on. What was an unseasonably cold March has now (mostly) turned into a sunny and warm April, and now finally a bit of rain. The snow which I thought would last well into May seems to be melting away quite quickly, especially in western Lofoten, and many of the coastal mountains below 500 meters are already snow free. Though as I write this, the weekend’s weather is supposed to be cold with the chance for some fresh snow – so don’t change to those summer tires just yet!

I’ve probably written a dozen times before that I always find this an odd time of year for my photography. The clean beauty of winter is over and I know the lush greens and flower fields of summer are only a few weeks away. April and early May on Lofoten is often just a waiting period for me – which is needed, as I have a ton of computer work needed to finish up ongoing projects and prepare for new ones during summer. But I also find it frustrating, as I enjoy the light of this time of year and the nights get brighter and the midnight sun approaches. So I find myself inspired by the light, but bored by the brown and tired landscape itself.

Today’s image is a rare calm moment in Selfjord, taken from the side of the road. I was on the way to Reine to attend a conference, but out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something in the water. The back story to this is that there have been some humpback whales in the area of the last few weeks. They were first spotted in Svolvær harbor at the end of March. I saw them briefly in stormy water near Reinehalsen as I was headed to Moskenes to catch the ferry before easter, and then over easter they spent several days swimming around Hamnøy and Sakrisøy. So a few days after they had last been spotted, I thought maybe I was lucky and there they were!

So I quickly pulled over and scanned the fjord. Nothing. It was, however, a quite nice reflection, so I took a few quick snapshots before continuing on my way to Reine for the day. Had it not been for the possible attempt at whale watching, I most likely would have just driven by without stopping.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
50mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/320 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #536 – Hamnøy Aurora

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Photo: Northern lights – aurora borealis shine in sky over red cabins of Eliassen Rorbuer, Hamnøy, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 19, 2023. 23:30

The arrival of mid April means the end of aurora season on Lofoten. By next weekend the sky will no longer be dark enough for the northern lights to be visible as the sun continues its journey towards the northern horizon.

Overall, this year has been a pretty good year for northern lights. My season started on August 27th while just outside of Kvikkjokk in Sweden before heading out to hike sections of the Padjelantaleden and Kungsleden trails (eBooks available here). Once back in Norway, the aurora continued on a fairly regular basis throughout the autumn and into early winter. Some heavy weather arrived with the beginning of photo workshop season in mid January, but every group managed to get at least one night of northern lights during their workshops, and many groups got lucky with multiple nights.

I was over on the mainland with perfectly clear skies March 23 when a G4 solar storm hit, in one of the best and most colourful northern lights displays I’ve ever seen. This was the biggest solar storm in 6 years, and was visible throughout Europe and down to the southern US. Crazy! Not sure if I’ll ever post any of the pictures here, but maybe they’ll eventually show up over on distantnorth.com.

By now, only the brightest displays are visible in the hours around midnight. Have I seen my last aurora for the season yet? I’m not sure, but probably. The chances grow lower with each passing day. And by the 20th, I’ll be pretty confident the aurora will be over.

This image was the last stop of what had been 4 hours of dancing aurora this night with a workshop group. Usually I don’t like to put too many signs of civilisation or light pollution in my images, but as it had already been a good night for the group with multiple other locations visited, we decided on one last stop just around the corner from our cabins at Eliassen rorbuer – so we were actually shooting out cabins from this location.

On a lower activity night, this would normally be a somewhat risky location, if the aurora only remained in the north. But luckily, the activity pickup up after 23:00 and the aurora moved to the southern part of the sky. The exposure was quite tricky, and I was bracketing with 0, -1 stop exposures just to be on the safe side with the bright lights of the cabins. Though this photo is from a single image. A bit of moonlight would have definitely helped with this scene to balance out the light. Overall, still a nice shot I think, and one that I’ve not previously taken, despite the amount of time I spend in the area each winter.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 20mm f/1.8
20mm
ISO 1600
f 2
3 Seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #535 – March Freeze

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Photo: Snow from sea to summit across over western Lofoten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 18, 2023. 13:29

This week, more weather news! Perhaps I’m getting a little too repetitive and basically just turning into a weatherman these days. But after 10 years of these Friday photo posts, I often find myself struggling with what to write about. I’ve even thought of reducing the frequency to every other week, but I fear that would allow me to become too lazy. So once a week it will remain, but likely with a fair amount of ‘here’s what happened this week on Lofoten…’ type of posts. I’ve also contemplated on maybe switching over to a YouTube type vlog post for each week, but I also don’t really think I have the personality to be a YouTuber. I’m better with just written words.

Anyhow, last week (Friday Photo #534), I wrote that I expected March to come in around 3-4˚c degrees below average for the month, which is 0.1˚c. And I was pretty accurate! The average temperature for March 2023 was -3.3˚c, so just in the middle of my guesstimate. I’m actually surprised the average didn’t come in a little colder as there were 14 days which fell below -10˚c. My hands can still feel the cold of many days and nights out guiding!

But now with April, ‘mild’ weather has arrived. Though this was not before a moderately intense storm last Friday brought a lot of chaos to northern Norway, mostly in Troms and Finnmark. Tragically, 4 people died in 3 separate avalanches on Friday, two skiers, and two people sitting at home when their house and farm was hit by an avalanche and pushed into the sea. Such an occurrence also occurred in Skjelfjord, here in Lofoten, I believe in 1998 or so. By modern safety standards, many houses here in Norway would not be allowed to be built in the locations in which they are. The same for many roads.

This week’s photo is a drone view showing the beautiful white snow covering off west Lofoten in mid March. Often these last years, Moskenesøy on has periodic snow cover as longer spells of rain and warm southern wind seem to be more common. But this image is how Lofoten should look! Snow from sea to summit.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
DJI Air 2s

Friday Photo #534 – Clear And Cold

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Photo: Clear blue sky and crisp winter air over partially frozen shoreline of Flakstadpollen at low tide, Kilan, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 28, 2023. 11:20

It is the last day of what as been a wonderfully cold and (mostly) calm March. The best extended period of winter weather that I can remember for several years. If you have been traveling Lofoten during the last weeks, you’ve been lucky – especially compared to the terrible weather during January and February this year.

Last year, March saw an extended warm period for most of the month, ending up with an average temperature 2.5˚c above normal, of 0.1˚c. I won’t see the weather average for this March until tomorrow, but I would not be surprised if the average comes in at 3-4 degrees below average. The average temperature on the day of this photo was -5.2˚c, whereas 0.8˚c should be Normal. And while it’s easy for one day to be an anomaly, so far 13 days this march have had temperatures fall below -10˚c, with the coldest temperature recorded at -15.3˚c. So far, only 3 days this March have had an average temperature above 0˚c. Though it has now warmed substantially since yesterday as the cold weather finally seems to have broken with the arrival of April.

Looking over the weather across the years often brings me back to questions about or suggestions for the ‘best time to visit’ Lofoten. The reality is: it is an unanswerable question. Or at least not answerable if you need to make your travel plans more than a few weeks ahead. March 2022 and March 2023 have almost been completely different seasons; with 2022 feeling like early spring and 2023 being a winter wonderland with deep snow from sea to summit. What will next year bring? Nobody knows. And don’t trust anyone who tries to suggest otherwise. With Lofoten’s weather, you won’t know what you get until you arrive here and see…

With that said. I am looking forward to spring and warm sunny days!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
15mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #533 – Skrei Season

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Photo: Arctic Gold – Skrei hang to dry in the cold winter air to become dried stockfish – tørrfisk by early summer, Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 18, 2023. 09:46

The winter fishing season is well under way in Lofoten. After a windy and stormy January and February, the March seas have calmed and the drying racks are beginning to fill up with skrei. Here the fish will hang to dry in the cold and windy Lofoten air until they are collected in sometime in June to be sent overseas as one of Norway’s oldest commercial exports, dating back hundreds of years.

Having spent a lot of time eating in local restaurants during a busy winter of photo workshops, the various types of cod, skrei, and stockfish – tørrfisk are often on the menus, which often then requires further explanation on my behalf as to what the differences are – as essentially, it is all cod.

Cod – This is ‘normal’ Atlantic cod, genus Gadus. Cod live year round along the Lofoten and Norwegian coastline.

Skrei – Skrei is also Atlantic cod, genus Gadus. But more specifically, it refers to mature cod migrating from the Barents sea to spawn in the Vestfjord and waters around Lofoten from January to April. The life in cold water and long migration make skrei a more delicate and fine tasting fish as compared to the normal year round cod. If you see skrei written anywhere, then it is specifically in reference to the winter migratory cod.

Stockfish – Tørrfisk – Dried stockfish is the end result of the skrei that is caught and hung to dry in the cold and windy winter climate of Lofoten. While much of the skrei caught each winter is exported as fresh/frozen fish, the tradition of drying stockfish still continues to this day, and is also a popular menu item around Lofoten.

All stockfish is hung by hand, after two fish have been tied together in the factory. The winter climate of Lofoten, with temperates averaging around 0˚c and a near constant wind, provide perfect conditions for air drying the skrei. Too cold and with outside of the fish freezes before it can dry and too warm and it become rotten and mouldy. Though like any crop, so years are better than others for stockfish production and quality.

Traditionally, the stockfish was often hung on wooden racks on small rocky outcroppings such as in the above photo. As things have become more mechanised, newer drying racks are built in flatter areas where tractors can drive directly underneath, hoisting buckets of fresh fish for the workers to hang. Such as in the photo below. Even with the help of modern tools, the hanging (and removal) process is still done by hand.

I personally enjoy photographing the more traditional stockfish racks which still remain. They can often have interesting abstract shapes and are a unique part of Lofoten’s history. If you’re out photographing, be careful and observe the freshness of the fish before walking below! Or you might have every cat in the neighborhood trying to break into your cabin in the evening.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
20mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/200 Second
WB Daylight