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Friday Photo #203 – Persatind Gimsøy

Friday Photo #203 - Persatind Gimsøy

Photo: Summit of Persatind, Gimsøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 18, 2016. 13:47

There is barely four hours of daylight on Lofoten as the middle of November arrives and passes. Each day feels darker and darker, even with clear skies. Under heavy clouds, in feels as if the world will soon turn to night – which it will.

After a week of heavy winds and rain from multiple passing storms out of the south, the weather finally settled a bit on this day. Though the forecast called for rain my mid afternoon, I took the risk to head east to Gimsøy to hike up a new mountain for me, Persatind.

Starting the hike at noon, I already felt as if we should turn around; that night will soon arrive. But the heavy clouds were responsible for this as we still have a few hours of decent light.  Fresh snow had fallen overnight and as we ascended higher up the mountain a cold wind began to blow.  Following a maze of sheep trails up a steep and snowy ridge, the route finally arrives at the broad plateau of Høgheia – Maybe a good spot for some winter camping later in the season.

Clouds of the approaching snow and rain were slowly drifting in from the south, layers of distant mountains fading into a blueish grey. To the north, a twilight glow warmed the horizon over the distant islands of Vesterålen and the open sea.

After a few minutes on top it was time to descend while we still had some light. In a couple short weeks, once the polar night arrives, I will be thinking of the brightness of this day – light which wont return until the middle of January…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/8 seconds
WB Daylight
5 image pano

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Friday Photo #200 – Winter Campfire

Friday Photo #200 - Winter Camfire

Photo: Evening campfire below Reka, Rekadalen, Langøya, Vesterålen, Norway. Nov, 2, 2016. 16:19

The past couple days I was up on Vesterålen to make an attempt to climb Reka, an iconic peak a bit north of Sortland. In the short and cold November days, we didn’t quite have enough time to get to the summit, and even with a base camp the previous night, didn’t get back to my van until well after dark. But it was a good adventure.

Leaving Lofoten in the early morning, it was a couple hours drive to the trail head, and the a couple more hours hiking – and trying to find the route – through the frozen, icy forests of Vesterålen. With the November sun low on the horizon, our route no longer sees any direct sunlight throughout the day, plunging the forests into a winter chill.

Although we had planned to have a base camp as high as possible, the early darkness gave the need to setup camp earlier than expected. Luckily there was a nice clearing for the tent, now completely frozen, but would otherwise be a total bog in summer. With numerous dead birch around, we thought a campfire might help keep the cold away a for a while. But as good as our attempts were, the cold and the frost eventually got the better of our meagre fire, and we reluctantly gave up and returned to the warmth of our sleeping bags. Soon however, northern lights filled the sky and I was back out in the cold again…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1250
f 5.6
.3 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #183 – Volandstind

Friday Photo 183 - Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Volandstind winter sunrise, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 16, 2016. 08:05

Last week’s Friday Photo was a view of this same peak, Volandstind, but from summer and taken just out of frame on the left of this image. But it’s an example of how perspective on Lofoten can change so quickly – the mountain becoming a steep pyramid in this photo, whereas, if viewed from the side, it is actually a flat mountain ridge.

This image was taken during my photo workshop in February. We had stopped on the nearby bridge to photograph the distant peaks of Moskenesøy, but I could see the light quickly changing and knew this would be a good image. So I ran back to the van to quickly get to this vantage point. The light lasted about 5 minutes before it moved away from the scene.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/13 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #174 – Uttakleiv Winter Twilight

Uttakleiv Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Uttakleiv winter twilight, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 22, 2016. 17:48

A late start after a day full of errands saw me racing up Mannen with the sun quickly nearing the horizon behind me. Luckily I managed to arrive at a decent view point before the sun disappeared from Haukland beach, before continuing on towards the summit.

I packed light, but the full moon and perfect weather brought me to the summit in hopes of some northern lights later in the evening. However, in the changing twilight, I had 360˚ views over some of Lofoten’s most popular landscapes – yet from a perspective that is rarely visited in winter.

As the sky darkened the orange street lamps of Uttakleiv provided a nice contrast to the cool blues of the winter snow.  I could see the cars driving back and forth of visiting photographers, yet I sat alone at the top, surrounded by silence.

Eventually the moon rose and lit up the landscape. Despite being warmly dressed, I did begin to get cold after spending 6+ hours out in the open. The auroras up to this point in February had been relatively weak and uninspiring (compared to their potential), and by 10pm, it was evident that this night would be quiet as well.

The moon illuminated my quiet descent down to Haukland.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
15mm
ISO 80
f 14
25 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #173 – Ryten Winter Hike

Ryten winter hike, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Descending from Ryten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 26, 2016. 08:52

A few days after the full moon came the weather window I was looking for, and so I made plans to camp on the summit of Ryten for the night, with hopes of a sky full of northern lights above the moonlit landscape. I had attempted this same plan in January 2015, however the weather had other plans and we were chased off the mountain, so I was excited for a 2nd chance with promising conditions.

It was eerily calm on the summit and even with the tent haphazardly staked out, it didn’t budge an inch. But even on a calm, clear night, no sign of northern lights appeared. So it looks like I will have to make another attempt next year.

However, it is always important to make the best of any situation, and while I was really hoping for auroras, there was plenty of other nice light to be found during sunset and sunrise at one of Lofoten’s most scenic destinations.

If you are interested in joining me for winter or summer adventures across Lofoten, checkout my TOURS page to see what I have on offer…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
17mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/500 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #172 – Ytresand Winter Sunrise

Ytresand Beach Winter Sunrise, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter dawn over Ytresand beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 5, 2016. 07:53

My first morning waking up on Lofoten during my 2016 winter travels. Not a bad way to start a trip! And this was even after northern lights over my tent at 3:00 in the morning.

The forecast was promising, but as we were making the way up to Ytresandheia in the last hours of daylight on the previous afternoon, the weather was still moody and wind driven flurries of passing snow even made us briefly take shelter and contemplate heading back down. It’s a good think we didn’t!

The night brought continual passing waves of snow, but the wind had calmed substantially, and by dawn, the first light of day brought an almost complete silence to the landscape.  This scene is still a couple hours before the sun would rise above the distant mountains of Flakstadøy. And a productive couple of hours it was…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
16mm
ISO 100
f 10
4 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #171 – Vågakallen Winter Reflection

Reflection of Vågakallen mountain peak over coastline, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Vågakallen winter reflection, Nedredal, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 9, 2014. 08:22

I set out in the morning from Stamsund headed east along the south coast of Vesvågøy. Sunrises in winter occur in a very southernly direction, making the Vestfjord side of Lofoten the best area to be. Though on this particular morning, the day was slow to arrive and the sky was nearly colorless.

With February of 2014 having little to no snow across Lofoten, I was often left searching along the coast for something to use in the foreground.  A few days previous to this image I had found some really cool ice frozen into the coastal tide pools around Nedredal. Returning again on this I was hoping for a bit of better light. But as you can see, that didn’t happen.

I still spent most of my time photographing the ice, but in the calmness of the morning, there were also some nice reflections be be found.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f 11
1 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #170 – Reinefjord Reflection

Hammarskaftet mountain peak reflecting in Reine harbor, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Hammarskaftet rises above Reinefjord, Reine, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 24, 2015. 14:30

The weather forecast was promising enough to make me think 2 nights camping at Bunes beach would be a good idea. Standing around the pier in Reine, while waiting on the ferry departure to Vindstad, the weather looked like it might have other plans in mind.

Standing on the Pier, the harbor and fjord were almost perfectly still. As the Fjordkyss warmed up her engine, I took a couple last images.  I liked how just the peak of Hammarskafted was clear of the clouds, the rest of the ridge hidden in mist. It makes the peak look like a lone tower, rising above the village.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 125
f 10
1/25 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #169 – Helvetestind Winter Moonlight

Night winter mountain reflection on Bunes beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Helvetestind moonlight reflection, Bunes beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 25, 2015. 19:45

False aurora alarm during my second night camping at Bunes beach.  There had been a faint green glow which stirred us from the warmth of out sleeping bags to head out to the headlands beyond the beach, with better views across the sea. But alas, it would not be our night, and after an hour of waiting in the cold and wind, we decided to give up.

The moon, however, was shining bright across the snow covered land landscape.  I had taken nearly this exact same image only a few hours before at twilight, and now I decided to make a night version.

After Olstind, Helvetestind must be one of the most iconic mountains on Lofoten. A 600 meter, nearly vertical chunk of solid granite rising from the sands of Bunes beach. It is an impressive peak to stand below, with a scale that is hard to capture in an image. It’s only due to its location at Bunes beach – and hour walk from where the ferry drops you off, that it doesn’t get photographed more. Were this scene near a road, it would, no doubt, be one of Lofoten’s most photographed. Though it’s good that some places in the world at least require a minimal amount of effort to be reached.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 1600
f 4.5
20 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #168 – Winter Sunset

Winter sunser over snow covered coast at Å, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Last light over the end of Lofoten, Å, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 12, 2015. 15:29

I think I have written many times by now about the cliffs past the village of Å being a good sunset location for a few weeks in winter. If you’ve missed the other times, I’m writing it again. From late January to mid February, the sun sets right around the mountains at the ‘end’ of Lofoten. And with this also being a scenic section of coastline, it is one of my favorite winter sunset locations.

Though I have been here plenty of times before, I did find myself having some compositional challenges on this particular day. The sea was just average, not particularly stormy and not particularly calm. There was also a fresh dusting of snow that I wanted to include in the scene.

After trying several other compositions from higher up on the rocks, which, I would have been happy with were this my first visit, I felt they were missing something. Finally getting closer to the sea, I came upon this view. It was the most dramatic part of the scene, but I think the image has a better balance of the elements, still showing all I wanted to show, but in a much simpler form.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 31
f 16
13 seconds
WB Daylight
3 images: top,, middle bottom

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