Photo: Winter camping at Horseid beach, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  March 3, 2014. 18:47

I often get asked if its possible to reach so-and-so location in winter. And I can only really answer, ‘I don’t know.’ Winter on Lofoten can mean anything from hurricane force winds and -20˚C windchill in a hopeless whiteout, Waste deep powered snow, 7˚C and rain, or anything in between.

The start of 2014 saw Lofoten nearly devoid of snow. The calendar said winter, but the islands looked more like May. While the temperatures still remained relatively cold, and one had to be cautious of ice, most lower level hiking locations on the islands were easier than normal to reach.

Taking advantage of these condition, I visited all 3 of Moskenesøy’s best beaches.  I actually would have like a bit more snow and winter look, but it still nice to be out camping in places that I normally only visit in summer or autumn.

On this night, at Horseid beach, I was hoping for some northern lights, but they would not arrive unfortunately.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
17mm
ISO 500
f 5
4 seconds
WB Daylight

Photo: Stormy winter mountain sunrise, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 31, 2015; 10:46

Following on last weeks image, here is a wide angle view of the same scene a little while later.  Quite a difference and hard to even tell I was at the same location. And even though 30 minutes or so had passed, the slowly rising sun of the arctic allows for a lot of time to work with the light – assuming no clouds get in the way.

Though I was only part-way to my goal of Ryten for the day, the wind was already beginning to pick up as I gained elevation.  I thought the shadows formed from the wind sculpted snow created an interesting foreground element to the scene, while the sun just rising over the distant hill adds a bit of balance to an area that would otherwise feel to dark to me.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 250
f 16
1/80 second
WB Daylight

Photo: Winter sunset at Å, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 4, 2015. 14:59

The coastal cliffs at the end of the road, past the village of Å have been one of my most visited winter locations over the last years.

Particularly from late January to mid February, the sun meets the sea over the mountains at the ‘end’ of Lofoten, making it a perfect sunset location.  Later in the year, the sun moves too far to the west/north and this location doesn’t work as well, as a majority of the light gets blocked by the mountains.

Additionally, there is often sheltered sections of the cliffs to be found on especially windy, camera blowing over days. And even without a fresh layer of snow, on all but the calmest days, the crashing waves add a nice element to the scene – but don’t get too close!

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
f 11
ISO 31
10 seconds
WB Daylight