Friday Photo #80 – Bunes Beach From Helvetestinden

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Bunes beach as viewed from Helvetestinden, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Bunes beach from Helvetestind, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 15, 2013.  11:54

Helvetestind is one of those mountains I got to know from the ground before the summit.  A massive, solid piece of granite, it rises nearly vertical from the vast sands of Bunes beach to a narrow summit some 600 meters above.  From sea of summit, the mountain is something to look at, or from.  But now having stood on top, the view from up here is much better!

My journey to the summit was a long one, have been traveling non-stop since I walk out my door in California some 38-40 hours before.  In my usual style for heading to Lofoten, I like to leave my schedule as open as possible once I arrive on the islands as you never know what the weather will do.  Rain usually means I go and hide in Stamsund, while sun means sleep might still be some hours away as I journey strait into the mountains.

For some strange reason, the islands greeted me with sun.  And not just normal sun, but a day with some fantastic puffy white clouds gently floating against a background of blue.  I shot a few time-lapse sequences this day, which may or may not ever be put to use (I need a new computer first).

I set up camp lower down on the ridge, thinking the summit would be a bit too exposed if the weather turned, though maybe I will try it out next time.  Though I did hike back towards the summit at dusk, it was somewhat dull and uneventful, so I didn’t miss too much being lower down.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 16-35mm f/4
16mm
ISO 250
f 9
1/800 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #79 – Hermannsdalstind Storm

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Dramatic clouds over summit of Hermannsdalstinden, Moskenesoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Darkening sky over Hermannsdalstind, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Aug 24, 2013.  08:46

After having spent the night out in the open on the summit of Hermannsdalstind, the highest mountain in the western half of Lofoten, I was unsure of how my day would continue.  Since I had arrived rather late in the afternoon on the previous day, I figured the best plan would be to wait around on the summit for a few hours and see what the light would do.

Within a couple hour of sunrise, still quite early in the morning, being summer and all, I noticed an ominous cloud beginning to form over one of the nearby peaks.  One of those clouds that in the mountains means ‘something is coming.’  The winds had slowing been increasing over the course of the morning as well, so I took these as signs that I shouldn’t wait around too long.

As I began to descend a thin wisp of clouds began to swirl over the summit.  Further down the mountain the sky became ominously dark and I was wondering if I’d be able to get to Munkebu hut, where I was planning to camp for the night, before rain began to fall.

With the sun nearly concealed behind the clouds I stopped to take a few last photos of the mountain before the day’s light was gone.  Soon after the summit was hidden and the already cool day grew colder.  I passed a few groups making their way up the mountain, bad timing.  I was glad to be going down!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 320
f 10
1/320 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #78 – Ice Puzzle

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Frozen sea ice along winter coastline, near Nedredal, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo:  Ice puzzle, Nedredal, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 7, 2014.  15:23

Despite the cold temperatures and traces of snow on the higher mountain peaks, Winter in the low grounds was particularly difficult to find this year (2014).  With barely any snow to speak of, I was left looking for other ways to show that it was February and not May on Lofoten.

The southern road, 815, on the Vestfjord side of Vestvågøy is a seldom photographed area of the islands, but a location that often provides a variety of compositions in changeable light.  Or in the case of Winter, the low, boggy sections of coastline where fresh and salt water meet tend to freeze and break apart after a sufficient period of cold.

The result can be a scenic coastal landscape covered in puzzle-like sheets of ice.  Exposed to the southwardly setting sun, what looked like a promising sunset unfortunately faded away into Winter’s usual combination of a deep blue-gray color as the last light faded from the sky.  But I still like the abstract and complex, yet simple, composition of the image.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 13
.3 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #77 – Coastal Twilight

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Rocky coastline of Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter coastal twilight, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 5, 2014.  15:48

A weird series of clouds had hung over the islands the entire day.  While some interesting texture formed from time to time, I spent most of the day doing my best to fight of boredom.  In this effort I took to wandering around the rocks on the inner coast of Moskenesøy; sometimes taking photos and sometimes just jumping around and climbing up stuff.

With the arrival of late afternoon a bit of color finally began to appear in the sky.  I had wandered down to this part of the coast earlier in the day and so returned once again as the light began to fade and I could open up the shutter for a couple minutes to smooth out the otherwise choppy water of the Vestfjord.

While I like the image well enough, it lacks a sense of place for me.  There is nothing here that says ‘Lofoten,’ or even ‘Winter’ for that matter.  I would generally like to give a better sense of place to an individual image.  But when I view it with the whole of my work from February, it helps tell a little more of the story about the islands.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 16
151 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom
6 stop B+W ND filter

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Friday Photo #76 – Utakleiv Beach Winter

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Dusting of snow covers sand at Uttakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Dusting of snow covers Utakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 9, 2014.  11:41

Walking out of the hostel in the early morning hours it was an unexpected surprise to find a light dusting of snow had fallen overnight; an otherwise rare event during my previous 9 days on Lofoten thus far.  We chased the promise of a nice sunrise to another location, which failed to appear, before making our way towards Haukland and Utakleiv.  Being a Sunday, I was eager to get to the beaches before the snow was filled with footprints from other photographers and locals on their afternoon walks – do you know how much damage a single dog can do to an otherwise pristine beach?  Some might say, ‘just photoshop out the footprints.’  But I don’t agree with that.  Better to come back another day and try again.

With luck, and it being nearly noon, no one had thus far decided to walk along Utakleiv beach, or at least not the majority of it.  So I was pleasantly surprised to come across some untouched sections of beach to photograph.

Had there been no snow on the beach, I probably would not have taken this image.  The light is quite flat and I already have a decent collection of images from Utakleiv that I’ve taken over the years.  But with a little snow, I had the opportunity to produce something somewhat new in the otherwise familiar setting.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 13
13 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #75 – Unstad Beach

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Waves flow among boulders at scenic Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo:  Dark sky over Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 10, 2014.  10:30

Heavy clouds greeted the arrival of dawn and it was obvious that there would be no colour to chase.  Back to bed for a little more sleep, as if more sleep is needed in the long nights of winter.  Later, we slowly made our way to Unstad beach to see what we could find.

A lone surfer was out, the head-high turquoise waves all to himself; if only I had had a lens longer than 85mm with me.  The beach was otherwise empty as I made my way down among the rocks and to the tide line.  What a change of scene from my pervious visit a week prior, where I was hardly able to stand in the gale force winds.  This day was how I like it, calm and gentle.

While clouds still filled the sky from horizon to horizon, the light had an eerie clarity to it, something more than the drab grey which can be all to present.  There was sharpness and contrast with a softness and depth as the clouds traveled across the sky.

Though I have spent hours on this beach, I contented myself with a few more before moving on the see how the frozen Utdalsvatnet would appear – not that interesting as it turned out.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 11
15 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom
6 stop B+W ND filter

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Friday Photo #74 – Myrland Beach

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Waves wash over snow covered sand in winter at Myrland beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo:  Winter dawn at Myrland beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 2, 2014.  09:14

I still hadn’t quite gotten my timings quite right, but I was expecting to see a glow beginning to appear on the horizon as I lifted my head from the sleeping bag.  Instead, my first morning on Lofoten arrived in the swirling darkness of snow.  Snow!  I knew the islands were having a lean year thus far, so it was an unexpected, and un-forcasted, surprise after arriving on the islands the previous afternoon.  I did not know it at the time, but in 6 weeks on Lofoten this year (2014), this would be one of the rare times I saw snow fall.

I left Utakleiv, where I had spent the night sleeping in my rental car and drove into the morning darkness.  I was not sure how big of a storm I was in, but by the direction of the wind, I figured Myrland or Storsandnes beaches would be the best locations to shoot away from the wind if the storm continued past sunrise.  Pulling up at Storsandnes I could see nothing but black beyond the glow of my headlights.  Time for breakfast I guess.

After an hour the snow began to lighten and I could begin to see something of a horizon, dark and grey, emerging from the distance.  I headed to Myrland and negotiated the icy trail down to the beach just as the last snowflakes were beginning to clear.

The beach was covered in a delicate layer of snow, barely cold enough to keep from melting.  An incoming tide of gentle waves was washing against the snow line as the world grew brighter while snow covered rocks formed white islands in the blue sea.

I feel there is alway a delicate balance for snow covered beaches:  you want an incoming tide at dawn after an overnight coating of snow.  If the tide had been high when the snow fell, then it leaves too much of a transition between the snow line and the water line.  This morning I was lucky, and found a near perfect balance of conditions.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 160
f 8
30 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #73 – Vaeroy Sunset

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Værøy islands rise over sea while illuminated by winter sunset, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo:  Winter sunset over Værøy, Å I Lofoten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 11, 2014.  15:11

The island of Værøy is located some 16km over the sea from the ending of the E10 in Å.  With the winter sun setting towards the southwest, just towards the right of the islands, they are often illuminated in the in the days last light as the sun passes low overhead before sinking into the sea.

Sunset images over Værøy are a winter and late autumn event only; the sun rising too high in the sky and setting too far west/north at other times of the year.  Often the lower horizon can be cloudy, so some of the best light will occur some 1-2 hours before sunset, particularly if the sky is partly cloudy.

With this image, I borrowed a friend’s 70-200mm lens and shot a series of frames at 200mm for a panoramic image.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8
200mm
ISO 320
f 10
1/320 second
WB Daylight
3 images – left, centre, right

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Friday Photo #72 – Winter Mountain Light

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Winter sunset illuminates snow covered mountain peaks, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo:  Winter sunset over mountains, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 9, 2014.  15:35

This week’s image is not something spectacular, but more to illustrate wonderful light that I was in the wrong place for.  Other than the light, the image is rather boring as I feel there is no focus or subject to the scene.  From the position I was at, and with quickly changing light, It was all I could do at the moment.

By late afternoon, it had become evident that there might be some nice light for sunset.  But how nice it became was truly unexpected by me, as it appeared there would be some clouds on the horizon, blocking out the final moments of light as is generally quite common on Lofoten.  But instead of fading, the light just kept growing and growing in intensity, lighting the cloudy sky in bright orange and pink while casting a brilliant light across the mountain peaks.

In mid to late winter, the sun sets over the ‘end’ of the islands in a southwestwardly direction.  This makes getting a direct view of the light with a scenic composition a sometimes challenging task.  It is already too west for anything around Reine, yet not high enough for any of the beaches on Vestvågøy.

Ideally, I would have positioned myself on top of Ryten or perhaps Offersøykammen, but it would have been impossible to know this at the time.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 50
f 8
1/25 second
WB Daylight
3 images – left, centre, right

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Friday Photo #71 – Horseid Beach Camping

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Tent with scenic mountain backdrop while wild camping at Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Tent and mountains at Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  March 3, 2014.  16:40

With each visit I make to Horseid beach, I’m more and more convinced that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and perhaps my favourite (non-mountain) place on Lofoten.  Even though you are not that far from civilisation, there is something so wild and rugged about the place and you could as well be on some lonely island on the edge of the world.

It was a snow-less winter this year, which made access to the beaches quite easy, relatively speaking on general winter conditions.  With a good weather forecast, I decided to take an overnight trip to Horseid.  My favourite camping location is on the grassy hill at the far end of the beach, right above the water.  The view from here is one of the best as you look back towards the mountains now in the far distance.

In this image I tried to capture a sense of the scale of the mountains and my tent.  I would have shot with a longer lens to give more compression to the image, but 85mm is as long as I typically carry these days, so I had to make due with that.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 200
f 4
1/250 second
WB Daylight
3 images – left, centre, right

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