Gentle snow had been falling all morning, brining winter back to what had previously been a dry looking Lofoten. Walking out of my cabin mid-morning, I noticed the snow had created a nice abstract patter on the roof of the cabin opposite mine.
I first shot a wider angle version, but switched to a telephoto lens for a more detailed shot, which I like better – as there is too much visible in the wider shot. Its a bit more abstract than what I usually post here.
As the snow continued to fall, the gaps between the tiles became filled in and the roof was eventually entirely white, and uninteresting.
Camera Info: Nikon z8 Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 290mm ISO 100 f 6.3 1/250 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/03/friday-photo-588-roof-snow.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-04-12 03:00:002024-03-29 08:31:40Friday Photo #588 – Snow On The Roof
Photo: Snow blows across Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 24, 2024. 08:59
There is somewhat of a joke about Lofoten actually having 12 seasons during the year, instead of 4. And you can probably guess already, that most of the additional seasons are due to the long winters, and our optimistic hope that a nice and calm sunny day might mean winter is finally over. But nope, it isn’t over…
The 12 seasons of Lofoten are: Winter Fool’s Spring Second Winter Spring of Deception Third Winter Allergy Season Real Spring Summer-ish Actual Summer False Autumn Second Summer Actual Autumn
Today’s photo of a snowy Haukland beach at the end of March is when Second winter made a return. Just a few days earlier the landscape of Lofoten looked hopeless and dry, and largely barren of snow. On the calmer, sunny days it was even enough to walk around in a sweatshirt most of the time. Fool’s spring.
Now the temperatures have dropped and the coldest day of the last month was -9.5˚c on March 28. Good news for all the ski tourists here for the long Easter holiday week. Bad news for everyone else that is waiting for the first signs of green and the long days of summer.
Now with the long days of April, Winter is long from over here on Lofoten, and the snow will likely continue to fall for the next weeks and into May. Eventually the snow will stop falling and we’ll have Spring here in the north, yet never quite sure if another Winter is waiting around the corner.
Camera Info: Nikon z8 Nikon 14-30mm f/4 16mm ISO 200 f 8 1/200 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Last workshop aurora of 2024 winter season, Gimsøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March, 24, 2024. 22:44
After 7 back to back workshops starting on January 31st, my winter guiding season has finally come to an end as I dropped off my last guests at Evenes airport of Tuesday, narrowly missing a multi-hour road closure on my drive home due to a truck stuck on the road in heavy snow around the Lødingen area. Now I can sleep!
As usual, this winter gave us all the varieties of weather. The most significant of which was the storm ‘Ingunn’ on the 1st of February, the most powerful storm to hit Lofoten in decades. My group was supposed to drive from Tromsø to Senja on this day, but we delayed the drive day, as it would simply not be safe to be on the roads in a full blizzard.
The rest of the winter was also filled with the occasional delayed or canceled flights from the ‘normal’ winter conditions, some closed roads here and there, snow, rain, more snow, and more rain and a seemingly endless amount of clouds. There is no predicting the winter weather and some groups got lucky with a full week of ideal winter weather, while other groups were stuck with wind, sideways rain, and a flat grey sky.
The northern lights were also somewhat shy this year – though this is largely related to cloudiness of this winter. While I managed to get every group a glimpse of the aurora, with one group it was down to the final hours before departure. Other weeks were more lucky, particularly my Senja group in early March, which had some amazing dancing auroras on several nights. Again, no predicting, just luck…
Despite a not-great weather forecast, my last group was on the lucky side, with aurora on 4 nights out of 8. Though only one of these nights was fully clear. On this last night, we headed out to GImsøy to hopefully find some clear sky as it had clouded over in Kabelvåg where we had started the night. Luckily a nice hole in the clouds opened up just as the aurora began to rain a curtain of light down on us. Shortly after the aurora faded and the clouds closed in.
Camera Info: Nikon z8 Sigma 14mm f/1.8 14mm ISO 1600 f 2 2 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Snow patterns form on the sea outside Reine Rorbuer, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 14, 2024. 15:05
In contrast to the deep cold of March 2023, March 2024 has been a largely mild and dry month. As of my writing, only two days this march will have had an average temperature below 0˚c, with most days a few degrees above. Compared to 2023 when March had an average temperate of -3.3˚c, these feel like two different seasons all together. And why it is so difficult to make any predictions about the weather in Lofoten.
During my second to last workshop of the winter, a spring-like looking Lofoten changed to a winter wonderland over the course of a single day of heavy snowfall and low winds. Here, later in the afternoon, the snow can been seen freezing on the top of the sea in Reine harbour, just outside our cabins at Reine Rorbuer. While earlier in the winter there were some days of the sea surface freezing itself in the low temperatures, that was not the case here, as the temperature was only around 0˚c and not enough for the sea to freeze. The patterns on the water here are from a combination of the heavy snow and still wind. More wind or less snow and this scene would not have existed.
And so while this was a bit of an indoor day for this group, the result on the following day was well worth it, as we headed out the door at 05:00 for sunrise on a summit to sea snow covered landscape, which had not existed on Lofoten for several weeks at this point. But that is how winter on Lofoten is these days, less predicable than ever, while one hopes for the best…
Camera Info: Nikon z8 Nikon 14-30mm f/4 20mm ISO 200 f 8 100 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/03/friday-photo-585-snow-on-water.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-03-22 02:00:002024-03-17 02:11:02Friday Photo #585 – Snow On The Water
Photo: Twilight aurora over Myland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 10, 2024. 20:29
It has been a sometimes difficult northern lights season so far this year. When I have more time, I will write a longer article about all the fake news of 2024/2025 being the ‘best aurora season in years,’ and the solar maximum, etc. At the moment, I only have the time to say: Don’t believe all the hype.
I was guiding every day in February without a single day off. And I must say it has been a tough winter this year. Hurricanes, wind, more wind, blizzards, rain, more rain, and even more rain. Though for the previous week we had an early glimpse of spring, with lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. Mild temperatures which means Lofoten has been low on snow for the last weeks, looking more like April or May than March. Which leads me to this weeks photo.
A German TV documentary crew was shooting a bit of footage about me and life on Lofoten, northern lights, ect. And this is supposed to be during winter – which at sea level, Lofoten is not looking very wintry at the moment. So, I decided to take them up to the mountains over my house, as at least that would provide a better winter landscape. Still a little tired from a long winter guiding season, I would have probably just spent the evening sitting around the house. So thankfully, I had the motivation to head up into the mountains, to a location that I’ve always thought to visit for aurora, but never actually done so.
And luckily for us, Miss Aurora cooperated as well, already showing up in the evening twilight of mid March. The aurora got much brighter as time passed, but I actually like this image of earlier in the night, with a little glow still on the northwestern horizon. Overall, it was a fantastic winter night in the mountains, and even more special to be looking down at my little village in the valley below.
Camera Info: Nikon z8 Nikon 20mm f/1.8 20mm ISO 1600 f 2 10 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Olstind winter reflection in Reinefjord, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 29, 2023. 12:35
I often write about how the winter landscape of Lofoten can often be almost black and white. This image of Olstind is a perfect example of that that. Even the water, which can potentially be quite colorful only has a hint of color, as it’s otherwise overly dominated by the reflection of the flat, grey sky. And I always think Olstind looks best with a fresh dusting over snow, so as the main rock face in the center of the mountain doesn’t become too dominant.
I probably should have taken more time when shooting and used a ND filter for a longer exposure of 30-60 seconds to soften up the low cloud on the left side of the image. In this photo, it feels slightly distracting to the otherwise almost perfect symmetry of the scene.
Camera Info: Nikon z7 II Nikon 24-120mm f/4 24mm ISO 100 f 8 1/30 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Winter reflections in Svolvær harbor, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 29, 2023. 19:31
Svolvær is the closest town that Lofoten has to being a modern-ish looking city, with waterfront restaurants, hotels, pubs, boat trips, etc. While Lofoten may not seem to big from an outside perspective, Svolvær is a 150km round trip for me, and so I don’t go too often unless I have a number of requirements which can only be done there. But when I’m in town, I’m always sure to have my camera with me and maybe wait around for a little photography as well.
I forget why I was in town on this particular winter day in late March. But it was a nice calm day and as blue hour approached I wandered around the sleepy harbor area to take a few images.
Camera Info: Nikon z7 II Nikon 14-30mm f/4 22mm ISO 400 f 5 0.3 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Red cabins of Eliassen Rorbu on snow covered rocky shoreline of Hamnøy with Olstind in the background, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 25, 2023. 17:07
Cold grey clouds fill the sky over Reinefjord and the mountains of Moskenesøy. A very typical winter day on Lofoten. No color, no dramatic light, just the blue and grey tones of the flat winter light and an almost black and white snow covered landscape.
These colourful red rorbu cabins on Hamnøy are perhaps the most photographed in all of Lofoten – usually from the bridge which is just off to my left. With a layer of fresh snow covering the rocky shoreline, I like this composition as well as I feel it better simplifies the balance of the cabins and mountains – particularly in this flat light.
Many initially think the cabins were painted red to brighten up the look of the villages in winter. This is not the case. The real reason is much simpler: red paint was the cheapest. And so the rorbu cabins for the fishermen and the barns for the farmers are painted red. In contrast, in the traditional fishing harbors of west Lofoten, you will often see a large white house on the top of any hill above the harbor – this was for the family which owned the village/harbor in the old days. The rorbu cabins would be rented by fishermen during the winter fishing season.
There aren’t as many fishermen anymore, and many live full time on Lofoten anyhow. So now these cabins are for tourists. Several of my groups each winter stay in these exact cabins – so it’s not bad to walk out the front door and have some nice pictures available within a minute of walking.
Camera Info: Nikon z7 II Nikon 24-120mm f/4 37mm ISO 31 f 9 60 Seconds WB Daylight 6 stop ND filter
Photo: Widerøe flight coming in for landing at Leknes in winter, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 25, 2023. 13:21
Flying into Lofoten during winter can sometimes be an adventure! On days with strong winds, the little Widerøe planes can almost feel more like helicopters than airplanes, as there approach and landing can be so steep to the short runway of Leknes.
There has been ongoing debate for years and years about building a larger airport for Lofoten, capable of accepting landings from international flights, but so far it seems like no one in Lofoten can decide on where or should go, or even if they want it at all. Personally, I like the adventure of the short hop across the Vestfjord from Bodø. Though admittedly, cheaper travel options without driving 3.5 hours east to Evenes would be nice as well on occasion.
It had been my intention for a while to get an image of a flight approaching Leknes just for an article or ebook updates. Yet somehow I never manage to do so. Usually I’m driving into town and see the plane coming in to land and think to myself I need to take a picture the next day. And then I instantly forget about it until I’m driving a day or two later and see another plane.
This image I only managed because there was a slight delay in arrival as I was waiting to pick up my next group of clients for a photo workshop. While not the most interesting light, I like the scale of the plane against Skottind mountain. It almost makes things look more dramatic than what is just a 690 meter mountain.
You can find more Lofoten travel info in the article: Getting to Lofoten
Camera Info: Nikon z7 II Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 400mm ISO 200 f 5.6 1/1600 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Morning light on the summit of Stornappstind from Nappstraumen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 22, 2023. 07:54
The highest mountain on the eastern edge of Flakstadøy, Stornappstind (literally: Big Napp mountain) catches the first morning light during mid to late winter sunrises, when the sun is rising over the flatter areas of western Vestvågøy. Though this location is only 10 minutes from my front door, I tend to only visit when guiding workshops when staying down the road at Ballstad; ironically, further away than my house. Though I guess I don’t go out for sunrise too much on my own when I’m not guiding and have to wake up so early. Personally, I much prefer the late nights of summer’s midnight sun!
The location is not always accessible, particularly after a heavy snow, as the parking area is down as small hill that is unmaintained during winter. So access is also weather dependent and often when I think the shoreline would be the best looking with a fresh layer of snow one can’t actually get there. But other times, such as this image at low tine, there can be some scenic foregrounds to find.
I do also find the mountain itself almost too symmetrical, and a little difficult to frame. I this image I wanted to include the full cloud which was above the mountain. Had the cloud not been there, I think I would have moved the mountain a little higher in the composition, or perhaps zoomed in a little more. While I like this image, I think everything feels a little too centred and the mountain too distant.
Camera Info: Nikon z7 II Nikon 20mm f/1.8 20mm ISO 2000 f 1.8 1/25 Second WB Daylight
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