Photo: Summer fog flowing over Vindstad from Helvetestind, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 13, 2017. 23:06

I wasn’t planning to post another photo from Helvetestind, but I also hadn’t planned on making my second trip up the mountain in 2 weeks. I guess these things just happen.

While guiding a small private tour over the last two weeks, decided to take some of the group out to Vindstad and Bunes beach for the evening. After a cold spring, summer had finally arrived and we were now a full week into t-shirt weather and non stop clear skies. As we caught a boat out to Vindstad in the early evening, I noticed some signs of fog out over Bunes. As the minutes passed, the fog increased, until it became a heavy cloud of grey flowing over the pass towards Vindstad.

The original plan had been to shoot the midnight sun from Bunes and some of the nearby view points. However, the beach was now fully concealed beneath a layer of heavy fog, the location of the sun barely distinguishable. ‘Should we go up?’ I asked. And with that I began my 2nd hike in the same number of weeks up Helvetestind.

Arriving at the summit, we were high above the fog, the wind was calm and it was t-shirt weather under the bright sun, now somewhat low in the northern sky. The beach was concealed, but the flowing fog more than made up for that! Just one of those magical nights in the mountains of Lofoten.

We hung around until just after midnight before heading back down again to catch our ride back to Sakrisøy at 02:00.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 50
f 11
61 seconds
WB Daylight
10 stop B+W ND filter

Photo: Midnight sun over Bunes beach from Helvetestind, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 3, 2017. 23:56

On my first visit to Helvetestind some years ago I wasn’t sure if it was possible to camp on the summit, so I left my backpack lower down on the mountain before proceeding up, and seeing that the summit was a perfect place for a tent! Next time I said to myself. Well finally, last weekend was the next time.

With the controversy over whether Reinebringen is closed, can be closed, should be avoided, etc. going on at the moment. I often wonder why there is so much attention paid to one or two specific mountains on Lofoten. I knew Helvetestind to be one of the best views on Lofoten, and yet it has taken me years to get back there. Why? Because there are many other, equally fantastic views across these islands which have also kept me busy over the years. And it will probably be several more years before I return again. There are simply too many mountains here!

This summer has been off to a bit of a slow, cold start. I’ve been waiting until the landscape turns a bit more green before beginning with my mountain projects for the summer – most of which will focus on Vestvågøy this year. But for some reason, I had the strings pulling me back to Helvetestind for my first midnight sun summit of the season. And so, with a promising weather forecast over the weekend, I decided to go for it.

The light had been more dramatic over the previous days, but it was also far too windy for summit camping. And while I would have liked a bit more drama in the sky, it was a fairly calm and peaceful summer night. Although, it is rare that one can ever truly escape the wind here on Lofoten, my tent was a bit noisy as I went to bed around 02:00

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 9
1/20 second
WB Daylight

Photo: Fjordkyss arrives in Vindstad, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 30, 2016. 16:32

It is now mid September and the long days of summer are already feeling like a distant memory. The green fields and leaves of summer are now taking on the golden tones of autumn and the nights feel like they are becoming oppressively long. Where has the midnight sun gone? Next year I guess.

This image is from an evening camping above Vindstand on the second night of a mountain adventure to one of Lofoten’s rarely visited valleys. The forecast called for rain overnight and in the morning, so we though it best to head a little further out of the mountains to not have such a wet walk in the morning. Turns out the forecast lied, but I won’t complain this time!

I didn’t plan to photograph the ferry, but as I saw it coming across Reinefjord on its second run of the afternoon – the summer crowds at Bunes beach fill the boats beyond capacity, I thought it would possibly make a good photo for the next edition of my Summer ebook. Lucky for me, the sun was also cooperating, with a nice light shining on the foreground, and I actually like that the background mountains are in shadow. Summer on Lofoten…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
20mm
ISO 125
f 8
1/320 second
WB Daylight

Photo: August twilight, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 14, 2016. 03:00

The nights are finally beginning to grow dark here on Lofoten, a sign that the short arctic summer will soon be coming to an end. The streets grow emptier by the day as visitors return to their homes in the south while the mountain birch are beginning to show the first yellow of autumn. Even lady aurora has returned to the late August sky – though I have not managed any images yet – nights seem to be cloudy while I’m in the mountains.

Tired from two long days of hiking, I was awoken from my sleep and told I should come outside. This night was cold as a north wind blew across the mountains, shadows of clouds dancing around the nearby peaks rising beyond our campsite. With sunrise still more than an hour away the northern horizon held the color of dark amber in its struggle to hold on to the light of the ever sinking sun. Soon even this will be gone from the nights…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/10 second
WB Daylight