Photo: Ominous clouds fill the sky as I make my way towards Kvalvika beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  July 22, 2006.  19:24

I’m digging pretty deep into the archives for this one, mainly because Kvalvika beach has been on my mind a bit lately as I’m trying to come up with some plans for February, and this image is from my first ever camping trip to Kvalvika in the Summer of 2006.

It was early evening when my friends dropped me off at the trailhead for Kvalvika beach.  The clouds thus far in the day had been dramatic but the rain had held off so far.  Leaving the car and looking around, I was not quite sure what I was getting myself into.  I gave thoughts just to heading back to Stamsund, but I had already mentally committed myself to a couple nights camping at the beach, so I continued on with my plans.

A little ways up the trail I turned around for one last look over the fjord, this is the sight my vision brought.  I will admit to being slightly scared and worried if my tent would survive the night.  I have never seen a sky like this again in Lofoten.

By the time I began my descent to the beach a light rain was falling.  I managed to set my tent up among the grazing sheep of summer before the torrential rain began, and that it did.  Continuing more or less unbroken for the next two days until I packed my wet tent up and began the hike back over the hill.

Camera Info:
Nikon D200
Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5
46mm
ISO 100
f 5.6
1/200 sec
WB Daylight

Photo:  Summer evening on summit of Hermannsdalstinden, Moskenesøy. Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 23, 2013.  20:57

The sky overhead was still blue as I reached the summit of Hermannsdalstinden early on a Friday evening.  Catching the ferry from Reine meant I had a shorter overall distance to travel, but meant that I had to get a later start than if I had hiked via Sørvågen; but this is not of too much importance with the long days of summer.  Though they are quickly shortening by the end of August.

A wall of low cloud hung over the western horizon, so I knew I would lose direct sunlight a bit earlier than I was hoping for.  But in the last moments as the sun neared the sea and began to soften in the thickening layer of haze, the light softened to a gentle glow across the endless line of mountain peaks of Lofoten.

Luckily for me, the summit of Hermannsdalstinden seems almost perfectly made for light light this, with an endless assortment of rocks and boulders providing the photographer with a multitude of foreground subjects with which to compose a photo.  I wandered around a bit, but finally found this vantage point on one of the ridges just below the summit to be one of the better views to balance light and shadow across the rocks.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 200
f 13
1/8
WB Daylight
3 images – top, middle, bottom

Photo: Aurora over Kvalvika beach campsite, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Aug 30, 2013. 22:54

As August (and summer) comes to an end the Arctic sky finally begins to darken enough for the Aurora to return from their summer Holidays.  Well, they’ve been in the sky all along, but it was never dark enough for them to shine.  This year, might first sighting of the Northern Lights was on August 21st, Though they were quite faint against the twilight night.  The night of this image, August 30, the sky was significantly dark and the Aurora strong enough for a decent image to be made.

This is also an image that I nearly missed, as a few hours earlier I had sprained my ankle while coming down from sunset up on Ryten, and was thus is a fair amount of pain and without the ability to move much.  But as soon as I saw the Aurora, I left the warmth of the campfire and did my best to hobble and crawl around the ground to get myself in position.  And with the fairly dark foreground of the campsite, and the Aurora high overhead, I needed to keep my camera quite low to the ground to capture more of the sky.  Thus I would probably would have ended up laying on the ground anyhow, sprained ankle or not.

The Aurora only lasted for a few moments and then disappeared as quickly as it arrived.  But due to the high cliffs surrounding Kvalvika beach, it is probably not the best location for Aurora watching anyhow, most of the lower horizon is hidden from view.  Had I still been up on Ryten, it probably would have turned out to be quite a nice display.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 16-35mm f/4
16mm
ISO 800
f 5
10 seconds
WB Daylight

Photo: Reinebringen Mountain Sunset, Moskenesøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  July 26, 2010.  00:35

The sky was a perfect blue as my friend Søren and I arrived back in Reine after two nights camping at Bunes beach.  The original plan was to head back to Stamsund, but such a day was too good to spend sitting on buses and waiting around Leknes.  Not having planned ahead for such a situation when leaving Bunes, my water bottles were empty and so I resorted to purchasing 1 liter of overpriced water from the small store in Reine.  And at that, we were on our way towards Reinebringen.

Despite our heavy overnight packs we made good time up the mountain, with a few odd comments and looks of surprise from the people we managed to pass.  We were on the summit before noon, with hardly a cloud in the sky and barely a wisp of wind to be felt.  Absolute perfection!  After some time of sitting in the sun, I set up my tent for the sole purpose have having some shade.  And by mid afternoon I was down to about 200ml of water.  But we were determined to stay on the mountain and so the hours slowly passed by as the sun sunk lower and lower on the horizon.

Not trusting if the weather would last, I took the tent down around 11pm, deciding that it would be safer just to sleep in the open; allowing a faster escape if the weather turned.  By midnight I was in my sleeping back, trying to get a few hours sleep before our 5am wake up call.  Though some 20 minutes later I opened my eyes to this scene emerging. Shit!  Time to get up…

I didn’t even bother getting dressed or putting shoes on.  So there I stood, barefooted and only in my underwear on the summit of Reinebringen as I photographed a midnight sunset.  It probably would have been a pretty funny looking scene had someone else decided to show up then.  By 5am we were on the way back down the mountain for the 6am bus back to Stamsund, where I slept the rest of the morning away on the deck outside.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/40 sec
WB Daylight
2 Images – Top/Bottom

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