Friday Photo #91 – Kroktinden View

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Rugged mountain landscape viewed from summit of Kroktind (707m), Austvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

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

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Friday Photo #90 – Myrland Beach Sunset

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Scenic Myrland beach, Flakstadoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

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

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Friday Photo #89 – Kjerkfjord Sunset

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Sunset behind rugged mountain peaks and Kjerkfjord from Reinebringen peak, Reine, Lofoten islands, Norway

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

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Friday Photo #87 – Stamsund Sunset

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Rugged rocky coastline and mountain view at Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten islands, Norway

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

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Friday Photo #85 – Uttakleiv Light

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Waves break across rocky coastline at Unstad beach, Vestvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

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

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Friday Photo #85 – Vestfjord Moonrise

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Moon rises over Vestfjord and Moskenesoy from summit of Hermannsdalstind, Lofoten Islands, Norway

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

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Friday Photo #84 – Stamsund Twilight

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Summer twilight over mountains of Lofoten islands, Stamsund, Norway

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

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Friday Photo #83 – Sea And Sky

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Late summer sun low on horizon over Norwegian sea, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Evening sun over Norwegian sea from Ryten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 26, 2012.  20:38

An hour after I took last week’s photo, the sun was finally beginning to near the horizon.  It had been a long, cold wait on the summit after being rained on while only having my fleece, but as every minute passed the light got better.

The sea was actually pretty calm as the only wind was up high on the summit.  A few rain showers still threatened, but they remained out at sea fortunately.  One more and I probably would have given up and hiked back down to the warmth of my sleeping bag.

The simplicity of this view, sea and sky, might not be something that exists forever.  While the current Norwegian government has (thankfully) put a stop to oil exploration off the Lofoten coast, these waters are still under threat and one day this view might be blemished by a row of oil platforms.  A tragedy in my opinion!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 200
f 10
1/200 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #82 – Kjerringa Rain

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Mountain peak rises from sea as viewed from Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Summer showers over Kjerringa from Ryten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 26, 2012.  19:40

This photo is from almost exactly a year earlier that last week’s image, taken during my first hike up Ryten.  I actually hadn’t really planned, nor prepared to hike up the mountain, but when I was a little way up the trail from Kvalvika, a young German guy (the only other person camping at Kvalvika that night) asked me if I was interested in going up the mountain.  Standing there only in a light fleece, no rain jacket, no water, no food, no gloves.  My answer was obviously yes.

The weather looked good enough as we set off up the hill.  But upon reaching the approximately half way point, this nice little cloud appeared from behind Kjerringa.  A little further up the mountain it caught up with us.  Heavy, cold drops of rain which quickly soaked through my fleece.  We ran to the largest boulder we could find and did our best to shelter from the rain, which was also falling quite sideways, thankfully.

As the rain passed a brilliant rainbow soon formed over the land, which was now golden in the low evening sun.  Cold and wet, I remained on the summit until sunset.  One of my most memorable days on Lofoten.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2,8
35mm
ISO 200
f 9
1/320 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #81 – Ryten And Kvalvika

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hiker enjoying view of Kvalvika beach from near summit of Ryten, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Evening light over Kvalvika beach from Ryten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Noway.  August  30, 2013.  19:53

I think the view from Ryten down to Kvalvika beach is perhaps one of the most spectacular scenes on Lofoten.  I know Reinebringen gets a little more press, mainly because it’s easier to get to, thus climbed more often, but the view from Ryten definitely holds its own in my opinion.

Having been up the mountain a few times now, I’m always left with the dilemma of how early to begin hiking.  I like to catch the afternoon/evening (depending on time of year) sun shining into Kvalvika bay (whale bay bay for you Norwegians 😉 ), yet I also like to try and remain on the summit for sunset.  Unfortunately, these events can be rather far apart, and usually involve a long, cold wait between the two.

This afternoon was one of those cold, windy days.  While the photo and light might look somewhat peaceful, a harsh, bitter wind was raking across the summit.  My partner is sitting down because it was quite possible for her to safely stand!  I could barely focus the image as my eyes were watering up so much every time I looked through the view finder.  And it’s a near miracle I managed any sharp images.

Despite the wind, the light was so nice.  I wanted to remain until sunset, but it was obvious I wouldn’t get any sharp images once I needed longer shutter speeds as my tripod blew over a few times (without my camera) which is never a good sign…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2,8
26mm
ISO 250
f 7.1
1/200 second
WB Daylight

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