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Friday Photo #646 – Ryten and Fuglhuken

Photo: The twin peaks or Ryten and Fuglhuken rise over a twilight reflection on Kvalvika beach, Lofotodden National Park, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 16, 2021. 00:09

By mid-May the nights are no longer dark and its possible to be out all night long without need for a headlamp, so this is usually the start of my summer’s midnight hiking season on Lofoten. This evening’s forecast was for a nice clear sky so I headed out to Vestervika – West-Kvalvika beach to watch the sunset, which is already at 23:30 at night and sunrise again at 02:30 the following morning.

The slightly hazy but otherwise clear sky actually resulted in a fairly boring sunset of soft light just slowly fading away. But after the sun had been below the horizon for some time, this night pink twilight afterglow began to emerge and light up the landscape. This is basically the same light as the twilight nights in the 2nd of July, which is perhaps my favourite time of year for camping on Lofoten. It is generally too bright for me to do much camping during the midnight sun period these days when I can simply hike back out and have a nice bed to sleep in.

From this side of Kvalvika I always like the symmetry of the two peaks. And though it looks slightly smaller, Fuglhuken is 557 meter hight, while Ryten is slightly smaller at 543 meters. Though from the other side of the beach, standing directly below the vertical cliffs of Ryten, it is an impressive mountain to look at. I guess both views are nice in their own way.

After this shot, I packed up my back for the 4 kilometer hike back to my van and then the 40 minute drive home. Not a bad evening.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
26mm
ISO 64
f11
20 Seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop ND filter

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Friday Photo #645 – Volandstind Sunset

Photo: May sunset over summit of Volandstinden, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 16, 2020. 22:46

From mid May it is not long until the midnight sun arrives. Though as I often write, the light and temperature often do not match well at this time of year. Tomorrow the 17th of May is Norway’s constitution day – a day of parades and flags and bbq and more. And while down in Oslo it will be a sunny 20˚c, up here on Lofoten it will be a grey and maybe misty 6-7˚c – not exactly bbq weather!

Today’s photo is also from the 16 of May, but from several years ago. Lofoten had received a nice mid May snowfall, and so I headed up the mountains in the evening for a rare-ish combination of winter conditions and sun location. A couple days prior I had been on Ryten, for the evening sun to shine across the snowy bay (Friday Photo #384) , and it was a tough hike through the deep snow. On this day I took a little easier option of Volandstind, for a little rest of my sore legs.

I have already posted a different image from this evening (Friday Photo #595), showing more of the wintry landscape. This image is of the setting sun itself over the 2nd summit of Volandstind. Even at 22:46 at night, the sun still won’t set for another 45 minutes.

I was actually shooting a timelapse sequence as well. I actually shot a lot of timelapse sequences in May 2020 planning to put a short little video together, but 5 years later, I still haven’t found the time for that. Maybe one of these days, as there was some amazing light that year…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 100
f11
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #644 – Maybe Spring

Photo: The first signs of spring as the fields begin to turn green in mid May, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 9, 2025. 14:27

While the landscape is still dominated by the brown dead grasses of winter, the fresh green growth is finally becoming more visible with each passing day. Sometimes it’s hard to believe, but in only a couple more weeks, this field will be full of yellow wildflowers under the 24 hour daylight of the midnight sun.

Here you can see this same location in early June 10 years ago – Friday Photo #131. Quite a difference from today’s photo! And probably easy to see why this time of year I’m always sort of just waiting for summer to arrive…

Just a short post for today as I’m deep into a long overdue update for the Seasons on Lofoten – Summer ebook. A lot has changed in Lofoten since the last update and all the Covid related chaos. Hopefully I’ll have the update out by next week – at least the mostly gloomy weather makes it easy to spend all day on the computer…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
85mm
ISO 100
f7.1
1/320 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #643 – Changing Seasons

Photo: Willow Ptarmigan in flight over grassland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 1, 2025. 15:30

April and May are always a strange time of year for me in the mix of summer daylight but winter-ish temperatures and landscape. I’ve already made a few trips down south this year and have seen green trees and meadows and fields of flowers and flying puffins. Yet returning north to Lofoten is like taking a time machine back to the brown cold of winter while the islands wait several more weeks to catch up to southern Norway.

I know it will be summer soon, so I find it difficult to photograph the drab, brown landscape which exists at the moment. Though the forecast for the weekend is calling for up to 20cm of snow in some places, so maybe a bit of white winter will make a short return; though soon to be melted away by the high May sun.

The local wildlife don’t really care about the looks of the landscape, but they too are under transformation from winter to summer. From late March and into early April a large majority of the migratory birds arrive and fight for nesting grounds and mates. The moorlands around my village have been a bustle of activity for weeks now.

The year round residents like the mountain hares and, in this photo, the willow ptarmigans are in various phases of change from winter white to summer brown. The remaining white hares looks like ghosts as they hop around the fields in the twilight nights – probably easy pickings for any eagles flying around.

But just a couple more weeks and all signs of winter will be gone. Hopefully we have a repeat of last years fantastic summer, but that is yet to be seen…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
600mm
ISO 280
f 6.3
1/2500 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #595 – Two Seasons

Photo: Mid May snowfall over mountains of Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 16, 2020. 22:45

This week’s photo is a nice example of the duality of May – Endless days and and snowy mountains. There have been many weeks of winter in the last few years in which the mountains don’t have such a nice fresh layer of snow. So for it to happen in May is a bit more unusual, but not too out of the ordinary.

If I didn’t know the location of this photo, and that the light is coming out of the north at 22:45 in the evening, I could think this was more of an autumn image, judging by the defined snow line half way down the mountains to about 300m. Although fro the closer observer, the snow filled gullies running down to lower elevations give way that this photo must at least have been taken after a significant snowfall and colder period. And then knowing the sun is towards the north means spring is the likely timing.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/15 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #594 – Still Snow

Photo: May sunset over Skrådalstinden, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 20, 2021. 23:33

With June and the summer hiking season just around the corner, the early season can still present significant amounts of snow in the inland mountain areas. So if you are looking for snow free routes, it is important to choose more coastal facing mountains early in the season.

Also note: Late spring and early summer is a time of increased rockfall. It is best to avoid hikes below steep terrain and stick to ridges and other open areas.

In this photo, on what turned out to be a fantastic sunset which I kind of wasted up on a mountain without any ability to change location, you can see the snowfields on the southeast face of Skrådalsdinen (770m), taken from Eltoftuva (361m). Most of the other inland mountains across Lofoten will look similar as well, especially the further east you go.

While there are still dozens and dozens of mountains accessible for snow-free hiking across Lofoten in the early season, you should be prepared for snow and ice across any inland or higher terrain. Which, if you are not planning or equipped for snow, will likely make many of Lofoten’s higher elevation peaks inaccessible until later in the year.

And watch out for falling rocks!

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
200mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #592 – Late Nights

Photo: Evening sun shines over Kvalvika beach, Lofotodden national park, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 15, 2021. 22:55

Lofoten’s midnight sun season officially begins next week on May 24th. But for the whole of May, there isn’t really darkness, and in the last days before the midnight sun, it is practically daylight all night long already. Photographically, I actually prefer the weeks pre/post midnight sun, as this is when the chances for colourful twilight nights are best, while there is actually less color during the midnight sun itself, as the sun is never below the horizon.

I often use mid May to visit some of Lofoten’s more popular locations before they become too busy for my liking once summer fully arrives. One of these may trips is usually to Kvalvika beach for one of the last sunsets before summer. Maybe I camp, and maybe I just hike back out, but usually I’ll spend about 4-5 hours out there, hopefully alone in the last calm before the chaos. Although in the coming years, even in May I will probably need significant luck on my side to ever have a night alone at Kvalkiva again.

As a side night, having just returned from a long overdue trip back to California, I found an old hand drawn map for Kvalvika/Ryten in my travel journal from the summer of 2006 – when I camped alone at Kvalvika for 2 nights. The old days of limited internet info, no smart phones with GPS guided hiking apps, no social media hotspots. Guided instead by word of mouth, shared knowledge, and hand written maps. How the times have changed. And I’m not sure if I would say for the better…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 31
f 16
1/4 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #592 – Waiting For Summer

Photo: Oystercatcher in evening sunlight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 10, 2021. 22:11

I’ve probably written this every year for the past 10 years, and I’ll write it again now: I find the month of May a strange season on Lofoten. It is a weird balance of summer light in a (brown) winter landscape. Knowing that the lushness of summer is only a few weeks away, I often feel that the often wonderful light of may is wasted on the boring and drab landscape.

Oystercatchers are typically the first of the migratory bird arrivals, typically showing up around mid/late March. By now though, the fields are full of birds, chirping away all night long as they look for mates and nesting locations. I could probably search why oystercatchers are called so, as I never see them eating oysters and they are more typically eating in the fields around my house. Maybe if I lived at a beach I’d see them eating some oysters.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 200-500mm F/5.6
500mm
ISO 500
f 5.6
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #591 – May Or Winter

Photo: Cold weather and fresh snow leaves mid May looking like winter, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 8, 2022. 18:08

By early May the nights are no longer dark and the midnight sun is only a few weeks away. The light says summer! The weather however might not always agree, and winter fights to maintain its old on the islands. Summer will eventually arrive, but it can take until June or even July for that to happen.

This day was particularly dreary looking. Had I been shown the image and asked when I thought it was taken, I would have guessed anytime from November to April. I probably would not have guessed mid May. Aside from the snowy mountains, the landscape itself is still quite brown and wintry looking. I’m sure if I looked closer at the scene I would have seen the first signs of new grass growing, but from this distance, it just looks like winter brown.

This is one of the reasons why I find May a slightly frustrating month photographically. I know summer is coming soon and the landscape will be green and full of flowers. But the brown, dead grass and leafless trees of late April and early to mid May I find uninspiring. Even in the nicest light – which May often has as the days to the midnight sun approach, I wish the landscape was more vibrant and alive. But the winters are long here in the north, and so summer must wait a little while longer.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3
85mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/100 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #590 – Northern Lights Over Nappstraumen

Photo: Northern Lights swirl in the sky over Himmeltindan, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 19, 2024. 23:38

The nights are now no longer fully dark on Lofoten, and that means the northern lights season has come to an end. But don’t worry, it will be back soon as the next season begins already in late August, only 4 months away.

For Lofoten, the northern lights season is roughly: August 20 – April 20

Last year, the season started early for me and my first aurora sighting was in the early morning hours of August 19 while on Værøy. This was the earliest in the year I’ve seen northern lights on Lofoten.

Overall, I spent much of the autumn and winter traveling down south in Germany, Scotland, and Spain. So I was gone for most of the first half of aurora season here on Lofoten, and I know I missed some good nights! Luckily I was also around for some good nights, the best two being December 1 and March 3 while guiding on Senja.

It was also a difficult winter at times, with lots of cloudy weather over Lofoten, and, despite all the media hype about the approaching solar maximum, a largely quiet sun for much of January and February. So even when the clouds parted, there was not always something to see.

This image, from January 19, was one of three nights of clear sky and moderately active northern lights. I was mostly focused on getting the 5th edition of Seasons on Lofoten – Winter eBook out before the start of the winter photography season, so I didn’t travel from home. But luckily I don’t have to go too far for a decent image light this one.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 20mm f/1.8
20mm
ISO 200
f 2
2.5 Seconds
WB Daylight

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