Photo: Dark skies over Horseid beach, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 22, 2012.  15:51

I arrived on Lofoten early the previous morning and immediately caught the ferry to Kierkefjord to make the hike to Horseid beach.  Exhausted, I fell asleep in the early afternoon to the sound of a gently rain falling on my tent.  15 hours later I finally emerged.  The sky was still gray, but at least the clouds had risen and the rain was now only arriving in passing showers several times per hour.  As time passed the northwestern sky began to clear and moving beams of light would shine across the beach.

With the right tide (high), the small peninsula of land at the far end of Horseid beach provides an almost perfect view directly back towards the pass; the mountains in almost perfect symmetry.  Now it was my task to wait around for a bit of light.  When the sun happened to pass across the beach, the water was a brilliant turquoise. I knew I wanted to highlight this aspect of the scene, while not minding so much about the lighting on the background, or actually preferring it to remain dark and dramatic.

With the quickly moving light, I first shot with ‘normal’ exposures, but wasn’t getting the mood I was looking for out of the scene.  So I added my 10 stop B+W neutral density filter and then waited for the next found of light.  Shooting with 30 second exposures, it took a while for the elements to align themselves: a pleasing blur in the water with the correct timing of the waves and a long enough moment of sunlight across the beach to bring out the exposure and add some contrast against the mountains in the distance.  And even though the wind was fairly soft by this time, the 30 second exposure helps soften up the clouds a little, giving a bit more separate between them and the mountains.

For reference, I’ve included the following ‘outtake’ photo of the scene exposed at 1/250 sec.  While you can tell it would be something pleasant to sit there and look at in person (albeit a bit on the chilly side), visually, there is nowhere near the impact of the above photo.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 80
f 11
30 sec
WB Daylight
2 images – top/bottom
10 stop ND filter

Photo: Camping at Horseid Beach, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 22, 2012.  19:32

I think Horseid beach is one of the more wild and dramatic locations on the Lofoten Islands to set up a tent.   With a multitude of camping places available, heading out to the furthest reaches of the beach to a small grassy headland is a slightly exposed, but unforgettable place to pitch your tent.

Normally I don’t like to hike in the rain, but immediately upon departing the ferry in Moskenes on a late August morning I was already changing into my rain gear.  A steady line of cold, tired looking backpackers was waiting for their departures from the islands, the Summer in the north quickly coming to its end.  My journey was just beginning however…

The Reine ferry to Kierkefjord – Vindstad was more crowded than I was expecting, however only three of us exited in Kierkefjord.  Despite the fact that the pass through the mountains is quite low, it was thoroughly concealed in clouds.  Heading higher and higher up the trail the rain fell harder and the visibility dimmed, until it was barely possible to follow the trail.  At one point I wasn’t sure if I was still going the right direction and it was only until I stopped for a second and heard the faint crashing of waves in the distance that I knew I was still on the right path (there is really only one way to go, so it’s a bit hard to get too lost.).  Finally I descended below the clouds and could see the beach, still a few kilometers away.

From the distance, Horseid beach doesn’t appear all that big, but it is a deceptively long hike from the back of the beach until finally reaching the edge of the sea.  Still raining, I immediately set up my tent and crawled into my sleeping bag.  And due to my exhaustion from 30 hours of travel, I was quickly asleep.  Not that I was missing any photo opportunities anyhow.

Gray skies greeted the next morning, with elusive moments of sunlight appearing every now and again between passing bands of rain.  Most of my time was spend gathering wood for a campfire and figuring out the best place to gather fresh water (the small waterfalls on the right side of the beach).  But every time the sun would pop out for more than a minute, I’d grab my camera and try to get a photo or two.  And hence, sometime in the early summer evening, I turned my attention to my tent as a bit of weak light arrived.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 5.6
1/80 sec
WB Daylight
2 images – top/bottom