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Friday Photo #642 – The Sea Road

Photo: Mountains of the ‘Lofoten Wall’ rise from the sea while traveling on the Bodø – Moskenes ferry, April 24, 2025. 19:52

20 hours after I should have originally been home from a short trip to Scotland, Lofoten’s mountain wall was finally growing larger as the ferry approached Moskenes harbor. The pervious day I had not planned to be on the ferry as I flew into Evenes airport where my van was parked. Unfortunately though, I large rockfall across the E10 just west of the intersection to Henningsvær meant I could not make the 4 hour drive from the airport and would instead need to make a long detour via Bodø.

I generally don’t like to fly from Evenes during winter and the weather is too unreliable and the driving conditions often difficult. Last year after dropping off clients I made it past a stuck semi-truck only minutes before what resulted in an 6 hour road closure in blizzard like conditions. Long winter journeys in northern Norway always bring a bit of uncertainty if they will go as planned. And this week, despite the weather almost being spring-like, things did not go to plan.

Rock slides of such, while rare, do happen every couple years here on Lofoten. As I was sitting in Oslo I still wasn’t sure what my plan would be. Normally I would have had some camping gear in my van and could just wait things out for a day or two by making a short road trip to Vesterålen or somewhere else. But unfortunately for me, I had been lazy after a long winter guiding season, and had not converted my van back to road-trip mode. Stupid mistake.

As they were uncertain with the actual opening dates for the road, but said it would likely be today at the earliest, I decided the best plan of action would be to stay at the airport hotel in Evenes and then make the 6 hour journey to Bodø in the morning. Snow showers were in the weather forecast, though the roads remained mostly snow free for the long and winding drive and so I made pretty good time to Bodø – with enough spare time for a quick stop at Bilthema. Once on the ferry I could tell I was not the only one making the long detour around the road closure – and the waiting line in Moskenes at arrival also looked overly full for a random day in late April.

Once on the ferry it was announced that the road would open at 21:30 that evening, so I could have driven back directly and just sat some hours in Svolvær had I know this. But I didn’t. And for people leaving Lofoten, there is only one ferry per day while on the winter schedule, so you had to commit to the ferry already before the info got out about the opening of the road.

And my 4 hour drive turned into a 21 hour detour through northern Nordland and a calm sailing across the Vestfjorden – which I seem to be doing a lot in recent years as I spend more time down along the Helgeland coast and Islands.

Snow showers were passing intermittently and I was hoping that the ferry’s arrival on Lofoten would be timed with some backlit snow from the evening sun. But the snow showers were too far to the east or had already passed before arrival, so I was presented with the south faces of the mountains in shadows and the sun shining from overhead. I should have switched to longer telephoto lens and focused in a bit more on the backlit blowing snow on the ridges. And even this image is somewhat cropped to remove the sun out of the top of the frame, but I still feel there is too much water in the foreground which doesn’t add much to the scene.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/3200 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #641 – Stornappstind Reflection

Photo: Bluehour reflection of Stornappstind with dusting of snow, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 28, 2025. 06:37

For many weeks this winter even just a dusting of snow mid-way down the mountains like this morning was a welcoming sight. The temperatures for the entire week prior to this morning had been averaging over 6˚C and this was the first time in 8 days to fall below 0˚C again.

It takes close inspection of the image to know it was taken in winter, as it looks more like a typical autumn dusting of snow or maybe something from late spring. If you look closely, you can see some small patches of snow here and there on the mountain as well as some remaining snow in the gullies on the right of the image. These are small signs that more snow had previously been present but that almost everything else had melted away at some point. It has not been a good year for us skiers who live in the western half of Lofoten.

And while the image doesn’t look very wintry to me, I actually do like the look of the image overall and think the snow line helps add a little depth to the scene. Luckily, this was also a rare morning of still wind, so the reflections in these small tidal pools near Gravdal worked out quite nice in my opinion. Perhaps some areas are a bit dark and heavy – it was low tide – but I think it works as a nice framing of the mountain as it rises into the deep blue of the early morning sky.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
48mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
6 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #640 – Unstad Waves

Photo: Setting winter sun behind misty waves at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 25, 2025. 16:47

One benefit to this year’s windy and stormy winter is that the sea is anything but boring! Unstad in particular is always better photographically when large swells are rolling into the bay and I always try to take my groups there in such conditions.

This day was quite a stormy one, with the strong offshore wind blowing mist off the tops of the waves as they broke across the bay. At first I was just shooting the waves themselves with a telephoto lens from up near the parking lot. But as the setting sun emerged from behind the mountain Helligberget (the Holy Mountain), I headed down the the shoreline to see if I could come up with something different.

And while I love this conditions, it is also quite hard to capture the sense of being there amongst all the chaos into a single, still image. The wind, the mist and spay, the rumble of the waves, the smell of the ocean, the approaching storm, the surrounding mountains – there is a lot so see! For me, I was manly looking at the atmosphere of the mist blowing into the air and the atmosphere this created with the sun setting in the background.

Unfortunately though, the angle needed to get the mist blowing into the sky meant getting down by the beach where visibility of the larger waves breaking further out in the bay was lost. Overall I like the feeling of this image, but it does fail to capture much of the drama and the size of the waves on this day.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
97mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/50 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #639 – Aurora

Photo: Northern lights dance over Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 6, 2025. 20:46

Like every year, the ever shortening nights of April mean Lofoten’s northern lights season is quickly coming to an end. This season has been a good one. Especially so for my photo workshop clients, which, despite some challenging weather, each group had at least 2 nights of aurora, and some 3-4 nights. And not just nights of a bit of green between some clouds, but nights of dancing light across the sky.

This image was taken on the last night with my fourth group of the winter. It was raining and heavily clouded as we showed up to the beach after dinner. But as the forecast said, the clouds began clearing after 20:00 and soon enough the sky was dancing with light! This particular moment was so bright that I only needed a 1 second exposure.

Not a bad way to finish an otherwise stormy week on Lofoten.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Viltrox 16mm f/1.8
16mm
ISO 2500
f 2.2
1 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #638 – Snow and No Snow

Photo: Snow and no snow at Haukland, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 17, 2025. 09:55. And March 6, 2025. 12:40

In the last days of March it finally feels like spring is in the air and that winter is coming to an end. However, much of the winter so far has already felt this way already. For many visitors to Lofoten this winter season, snow has been a rare element on the islands, and many weeks looked more like May or October than January, February, or March.

That is not to say there hasn’t been a lot of snow this winter as well, as there has been. But more often than not, a nice snowfall has been followed by warm rain and then an extended period of mild weather. Particularly so in February, which ended up being 2.8˚c warmer than normal. For Lofoten’s already fine balance between snow and rain, this tipped the scales heavily in the rain direction this year.

Lofoten was not alone in the mild weather this year. Much of northern Norway experienced the same and rain was no stranger in Tromsø or Senja either. So the difference of winter wonderland or brown dead grass was just a bit of luck this year – more so than most years. Hopefully a little more snow falls in the following weeks, as after two months of back to back photo workshops, now that I have some free time, I’d at least like to be able to pull out my skis for a mountain or two!

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
40mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
41mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #637 – March Aurora

Photo: Aurora Highway – moonlit northern lights rise into the sky over Gimsøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 24, 2024. 22:17

Eight months after their first appearance in Lofoten’s night sky, the northern lights will soon be making their departure for brief summer break. Out of all the weather, seasons, climates, etc of Lofoten throughout the year, the northern lights are actually the longest lasting of all. They are not there every night, of course, but nothing else in Lofoten’s natural world hangs around for 8 months of the year. So, with as much mystery and awe there is, the northern lights are one of Lofoten’s most frequent events.

I guess what makes them special is they only occur in the north, where few people live. Anywhere else there can be a nice sunset, pretty autumn colours, etc. But the aurora are in the north. Though personally, the longer I’m here, I now probably get more excited about a 20˚c summer day – which is definitely more rare!

But at this time of year, I’m content with my last aurora nights, which are actually my favourite, with the horizon still glowing in the north. Now it’s hopefully time for a bit of skiing in the last of the snow and then waiting for summer green to arrive and all that brings with it. But this year will also be a busy one and hopefully some long term projects I’ve kept a bit quiet about with will find completion.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Sigma 14.. f/1.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 2.2
2.5 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #636 – End Of The Road

Photo: View across the sea from the cliffs at Å to Værøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 18, 2024. 13:49

I make frequent visits to the end of the road at Å each winter and despite being quite familiar with the location, still find it a bit of difficult place to photograph. I think mainly that the mountains of Lofoten – mostly out of frame on the right of the image – can be so dominant, that it’s often hard to find balance in the scene.

The best conditions are when there’s a moderately stormy sea – which can be safely approached – to use the flowing waves as a foreground while looking a bit more towards that mountains than in this photo.

The 2nd best conditions are probably in this image, when there is a nice fresh layer of snow all the way to the edge of the cliffs. Without the snow the rocks and grass are a bit too messy for my general preference. But I nice layer of snow cleans up the foreground allowing for a little more balance to the location, and in this photo, almost mirroring the sky.

Overall, I’m usually quite happy if I can come away with a decent image from here.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
46mm
ISO 64
f 9
30 Second
WB Daylight
10 Stop Nisi ND Filter

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Friday Photo #635 – Winter Cormorants

Photo: Cormorants at dawn, Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 15, 2024. 09:11

As the blue hour light over Haukland beach faded into early dawn I was ready to head off to the next location. But walking back to the van, I thought this row of skarven – cormorants had a nice profile against the distant mountains. And as a beginning wildlife photographer, I thought I might try and get a photo.

I would have liked to shoot a little wider, capturing the whole rock, but unfortunately with the tide level, there was a small rock to the right of the frame which I found too distracting. But in this image I also find the sloping of the rock on the right side a little distracting as well. I think this image has potential, but needs another attempt or two for something better.

The main difficulty though, was waiting for all the birds to have their heads up and in a sideways profile. Had they been sitting in this position the whole time, I probably could have gotten a better composition immediately. But as they were constantly cleaning themselves and moving around, it was really a bit of luck to get them all with their heads up, and not much time to do much else. Next time…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
360mm
ISO 800
f 6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #634 – Winter Light

Photo: Soft dawn sunlight shine over Flakstadtind, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 6, 2024. 09:24

Before this moment I had actually been shooting pretty wide in the 14-20mm range with some nice foreground wave action over the rocks along the coastline at Vareid. In that situation, these background mountains are quite far away and small – though there tends to be a lot of ‘creative interpretations’ among many photographers these days. Suddenly, the sky began to glow and a nice light lit the distant mountains.

I would have actually liked to continue shooting wide, but the sky was also beginning to clear from the right side of the scene. Had the clouds continued across the sky, I think it would have been better. But now I was left with a colorful sunset on the left side of the image, and a dull-ish blue sky on the right side of the image. For me, this didn’t feel very balanced. So I changed lenses.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
125mm
ISO 200
f 5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #633 – Unstad Winter

Photo: Dusting of snow covers rocks at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 5, 2024. 12:23

Sometimes one doesn’t need to contribute much more to a photograph than being there. This is one of those times: park the van, walk 50 meters, setup camera and tripod, take a photo.

Lofoten has done all the real work…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
35mm
ISO 64
f 10
30 Seconds
WB Daylight
10 Stop Nisi ND Filter

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