
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