Photo: Misty clouds swirl over the landscape after a night of summer rain, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 7, 2021. 06:53
This was one of those weather forecasts where it could be very good, or it could just be ‘ehh.’ It ended up more on the ‘ehh’ side of things.
I had been hoping for some nice evening light over Horseid beach while camped high on the ridge between Markan and Branntuva peaks. But what I had hoped to be some stormy-ish light just ended up being a mostly grey sky – until the midnight rains arrived and I headed into my tent.
Despite missing any evening light, the one benefit of the rain was misty clouds rising across the landscape in the early morning hours. The light was still flat and grey – the sun hidden behind thick clouds. But at least the rising low clouds added some depth and contrast to the otherwise completely flat light. Not what I had hiked up the mountain hoping to find, but it could have been worse…
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3 38mm ISO 100 f7.1 1/250 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Willow Ptarmigan – Rype in Norwegian – enjoying the evening summer sun, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 18, 2026. 23:05
With Lofoten’s roads filling up with motorhomes and the mountains with hikers it is good to remember that most of Lofoten’s breeding birds are ground nesting. And in the case of the common gulls – sometimes this nest can be in the middle of a parking lot. Not always the best of locations.
When out hiking or camping at this time of year it is important to be mindful of where you walk. Even when I’m going out to take photos of the flowers in the fields outside my house, I have to be careful where I step, even though I’m generally aware of where most of the nest are, some can be extremely well hidden amongst the growing grass and flowers.
The Ptarmigan in this photo is just a visitor. What you can’t see because of the lighting is a common gull – Fiskemåke – sitting on a nest in the grass on the edge of the rock. Even knowing it’s there, I have to look closely. Though as soon as I walk out into my backyard, I’ll receive a close dive-bomb by one of the parents – which trade of pooping on the roof of my sauna as they keep watch from the chimney.
The Ptarmigan here was a tolerated visitor on an otherwise claimed piece of property. Had ravens or crows made a visit, they would have quickly been mobbed away. But for now, most of the birds are at peace with each other. Once the chicks hatch in a another week or two, then all peace ends and the fight for survival begins.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 180-600 f/5.6/6.3 250mm ISO 280 f5.6 1/1000 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Midnight sun under Fredvang bridge, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 29, 2021. 00:43
The midnight sun season has officially begun on Lofoten! The sun will be in the sky 24 hours a day from now until mid July, when it finally sinks below the northern horizon again. As I like to repeat, the term midnight sun is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, the sun is above the horizon at midnight – but its actual lowest point in the sky will be around 01:00 – where it still remains above the horizon as well. But ‘midnight sun’ just sounds nicer.
I took this image completely by accident. I was driving home from an evening hike in the Reine area and when I passed by the bridge with the sun underneath I had to turn around and go back for a photo.
My timing was slightly off by about 5 minutes or so. It would have been nice to get the sun centered under the bridge. I’ve kept it in my mind over the years to go back and try again, but it has never quite worked out. One of these days…
Camera Info: Nikon D850 Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 320mm ISO 800 f5.6 1/1000 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Arctic skua flies low over moorland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 18, 2022. 00:22
This week’s photo is one from the archives as I’m fully concentrated in ebook editing mode to get my hiking guides updated for the upcoming summer season. West Lofoten Hikes has already been updated, and the Kungsldeden guides are up next; hopefully finished by the end of next week.
But this photo, an artic skua flying at midnight over the moorlands of my valley is not completely random. It should be sometime soon in which the skuas hopefully return to Lofoten. Every time I see a flutter of bird activity over in the moorlands I give a quick scan with my binoculars looking for a dark shape flying swiftly through the sky. No luck so far, but maybe soon.
Though the last years I haven’t had much luck with my neighbourhood skuas. They were here, as I’d see them flying right outside my windows once a week or so – obviously with no camera nearby. Or on several occasions they were sitting on some rocks down on the beach as I would drive by. Again, with no camera nearby.
On the random occasions I would head out into the moorlands with a bit of purpose, nothing. Well, plenty of gulls of course, but no skuas to be seen. Hopefully this summer I have a bit more luck.
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 360mm ISO 250 f5.6 1/4000 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Beam of light shines from behind Breiflogtind, Lofotodden National Park, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 9, 2020. 21:51
There are many days in which I wish I could instantly teleport to several different mountain tops at once. This sunset was one of those moments. I wouldn’t even have needed to go far, just to one of the mountains you can see here, or perhaps the summit of Smeden, which is out of frame on the right, but would have a fantastic view towards the twin-peaked mountain, Breiflogtinden.
But I was on the other side of Kirkefjord, in steep and trail-less terrain, and camp already setup for the night. So I wasn’t going to get far on this evening. There were also some nice compositions in my vicinity, but had I known the rainy day was going to turn into this sunset, I would have chosen to go elsewhere…
Camera Info: Nikon D850 Nikon 70-200mm f/4 70mm ISO 100 f6.3 1/60 Second WB Daylight
Photo: A faint midnight aurora over glowing horizon of late August, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 29, 2025. 00:10
After weeks of clouds, rain, and wind this August, last finally showed a weather forecast for a cloudless sky. The aurora season has already started here on Lofoten and so I was optimistic for my first shots of the season. while the northern horizon still glows bright at this time of year, the hours around midnight to two am are sufficiently dark for any moderate aurora activity to be visible, especially if it heads in a more southernly direction. And so I kept a close watch out the window has the evening hours progressed.
Around 23:30 I saw a first faint glow of green over the mountains of Himmeltindan and so I grabbed my camera and headed down to the beach. I actually drove down instead of the 2 minute walk, because I was hoping I’d eventually drive elsewhere as the night progressed. But it didn’t
The faint soon disappeared. Though that is being generous, as it was barely visible anyhow. From time to time, a little green would brighten here and there, mostly keeping low to the glowing northern horizon. I stayed on the beach until well after midnight until I decided it wasn’t going to be my night and went home – though still keeping an eye out the window for a little while longer.
Had this been April, I wouldn’t have even bothered going out. But for my first aurora of the season, I guess I need to put in a little bit of effort, even if that effort is just standing on an empty beach for an hour.
The weather still looks good for the next days, so maybe tonight or tomorrow I’ll have a little more luck, and a better picture to post for next week.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 20mm f/1.8 20mm ISO 640 f2.2 2.5 Seconds WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2025/08/friday-photo-660-glimpse.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2025-08-29 04:26:532025-08-29 04:26:55Friday Photo #660 – A Glimpse Of Light
Photo: Mountain birch tree on Haugheia overlooking Nappstraumen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 14, 2025. 14:38
The weather has shifted and it feels like autumn is in the air. Last week I was down along the Helgeland coastline for a bit of a road trip and while the weather started off nice – too hot even – for a hike up Rødøyløva, it quickly deteriorated to wind and rain for much of the remained of the trip. I had planned to go to some mountain areas closer to the Swedish border as well, but it was evident that I would just get wet without much reward for photography. And so I headed back to Lofoten, where it is still rainy and windy, and looks to be so for the foreseeable future. I hope this year is not a repeat of last year.
With autumn around the corner and after a fairly lazy summer without much hiking, long overdue house projects had priority on any sunny days, it is time to get my legs moving again in preparation for planned autumn hiking season over in Sweden. Though this year I must say I don’t have too much motivation as I don’t currently have any ebook hiking projects underway. So I probably just go somewhere easy and hike for a week or so, and hopefully not the entire time in the rain.
Haugheia (hiking guide here), which I pass on the way to Leknes is my usual stop when I need to go for an hour walk just to get some movement in for the day. While most of the views are nothing too interesting, especially if I’m up there in grey-ish weather, the small grove of wind-twisted mountain birch trees on the western side is always an area I like to photograph. So even if just for a bit of exercise, I still always carry my camera just in case.
This tree here used to be part of one of my favourite compositions in the area – see Friday Photo #408. Unfortunately, the tree you see lying in the foreground also used to be part of the composition, but has since fallen in one of Lofoten’s many winter storms. It is a windy place up there along the ridgeline, which is what makes the trees what they are.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120 f/4 48mm ISO 100 f5.6 1/320 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2025/08/friday-photo-658-wind-trees.jpg15001000Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2025-08-15 05:38:162025-10-16 08:22:58Friday Photo #658 – The Wind Trees
Photo: Summer sea fog flows around the summit of Olstinden as seen from Reinebringen, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 19, 2019. 20:32
This summer, like most summers had some foggy days on the Yttersia of Lofoten once the sun finally came out in July and the temperature rose over 20˚c. On several occasions I was taken by surprise on an otherwise sunny start to the day as the fog rolled in and interfered with bbq and beach day plans – its not really fun to sit outside in a cold, grey mist. One should always be weary of a north wind on a warm summer day.
Since I can’t move my house, I’m generally stuck on the foggy side of Lofoten. But on many occasions I saw camper vans and motorhomes camped along my road on these grey, dreary days. I wonder if they knew that just driving a few kilometres to the south side of Lofoten, they’s have full sunshine and a nice summer day. That it where I would go at least.
In this photo, taken on an August evening from Reinebringen, you can see the fog flowing in from the left and swirling around Olstinden. This was quite a strong layer of fog, as you can see it flowing over 600-700 meter mountains in the background. But even then, Reine village – out of frame to the bottom right, remained fog free. So being in the right or wrong location on these days can make a big difference.
If you are hiking, being in the mountains is usually the right location, as being above the fog in the evening light is one of the coolest experiences in my opinion, especially photographically. And I think using long-ish exposures to capture the flow of the fog works better than shorter shutter speeds, at least in situations like this where the sun is out of frame. In the 30 seconds of this exposure, you can see the flow of the fog as it attempts to reach Reine.
Camera Info: Nikon D850 Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 62mm ISO 100 f10 30 Seconds WB Daylight 10 stop Neutral Density filter
https://www.68north.com/content/2025/07/friday-photo-657-flow-of-fog-1.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2025-08-08 03:00:002025-07-26 11:13:44Friday Photo #657 – The Flow of Fog
Photo: Curlew in July midnight twilight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July, 21, 2025. 23:53
I haven’t had much luck with the Arctic Skuas in my neighbourhood this year. I have seen them flying directly over my house on several occasions in the last weeks, but anytime I head out to the moorlands to take a look, just silence… Silence from the Arctic Skuas at least, but the neighbourhood is still alive with life for the next few weeks as various types of young fledgling chicks gain strength for their long migrations south.
The curlew parents fly around in an attempt to distract you from their chicks, which sit absolutely still in the bushy heather attempting to remain unseen. The young chick from the curlew in this image happened to be just along the side of the trail as I was passing by. Had I been a hungry fox, it would have been an easy meal. But I was more interested in getting a nice shot of the parent, as it was obvious I wasn’t having any luck with the Skuas on this evening.
With the sun soon setting combined with a layer of fog out to sea, it was getting dark-ish for wildlife photography at midnight. The curlew was often in front of mountains and other vegetation most of the time as it flew around and landed on various small outcroppings. This was too dark and pushed my ISO up to 25600 at times. It wasn’t until it finally landed in an area overlooking the sea where I could get more light from the brighter open background and distant mountains. I could also drop my shutter speed a little as well as the bird luckily remained still for long enough to get a few shots.
The following morning as I was walking to the shower, two of the Arctic Skuas flew right outside my bathroom window… Perhaps I should just sit on the toilet for my future wildlife photography attempts.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 180-600mm f/536-6.3 300mm ISO 2800 f6.3 1/640 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Norwegian Marshmallows – Plastic wrapped hay bales from late July grass cutting, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 23, 2025. 03:16
The grass cutting in my area was late this year, not occurring until this week. Though reading the local news, it seems the cool and wet start to this year’s summer led to a smaller yield than normal. So perhaps they waited a little longer for a bit of extra growth. Or perhaps they were just busy during the week+ or sunshine and 20˚c summer days Lofoten has experienced recently. Though now as August approaches, it looks like the weather may be shifting with more rain and wind on the forecast.
I don’t know why, but I like to photograph the hay bales each year. By the time the cut the field the wildflowers and grasses are already too overgrown for the field to looking very nice as a photographic subject itself – This from late may until late June, after which the grasses grow taller than the flowers.
I usually go out at sunrise – 03:16 in this case, and wander around the fields. There has also been a lot of fog in my area the last week, which would ebb and flow throughout the day, but occasionally clear during the very early morning hours – the ‘clouds’ in this image are from clearing sea fog, not actual clouds.
Summer still has a long way to go on Lofoten – at least another month hopefully! But with the cutting of the fields, and now the setting sun as well, it begins to feel like the inevitable turning of the seasons is upon us, and the first autumn storms are not far away. Which I’m not quite sure why, as before I moved here, August was when I usually preferred to visit, as there was at least a bit of darkness for camping. And still for some weeks, the days are longer here than anywhere on the continent during midsummer, so it’s not like it’s really dark now. Perhaps it is just the observing the slow change of seasons and light, and knowing the summers are short here in the north – so you want to hold on to the sun for a little while longer.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm 39mm ISO 100 f11 1/50 Second WB Daylight
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