Friday Photo #208 – Kvalvika Beach Winter

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Friday Photo #208 - Kvalvika Winter

Photo: Winter view over Kvalvika beach from Ryten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 28, 2016. 16:22

I attempted a night camping on Ryten last year (2015), however conditions deteriorated and it was so windy that standing was difficult, much less setting up my tripod! This February I had a little more luck.

Heading up Ryten (hiking guide here) in late afternoon, the plan was to camp. Though In winter, one can never be too sure of these things. However, arriving at the top, it was perhaps the calmest weather I have ever experienced on Ryten; hardly a breeze. Which was good, since the ground was frozen solid and the snow of poor consistency, so I couldn’t really stake out my tent properly.

The light wasn’t the best, with the often, seemingly ever-present layer of clouds on the horizon, blocking out the last of the days light. But it is a nice scene none-the-less. This will probably also be my view for the first day of 2017, though, with winds forecast to 20+ m/s in Ramberg, I doubt I’ll get many photos from up top!

Have a good new year everyone! There will be plenty more photos to come in 2017…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
15mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/20 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #207 – Uttakleiv Moonlight

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Friday Photo #207 - Uttakleiv Moonlight

Photo: Full moon illuminates winter landscape at Uttakleiv, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 22, 2016. 19:38

This isn’t the image I wanted to take on this night.

With a perfect weather forecast coinciding with a nearly full moon, I decided to head up Mannen in hopes of shooting northern lights over Haukland or Uttakleiv or anywhere else they might show up. Getting a late start I raced the falling sun to try and catch some light over Haukland beach, just barely making it to a decent viewpoint before the sun fell behind the mountains.

As twilight arrived in continued to the summit of Mannen to begin my wait until darkness, and fingers crossed, northern lights! Not wanting to let any decent light go to waste, I continued shooting from twilight and into the evening. As the moon began to rise these clouds stared to form over Skolmen in the distance, traveling straight for me. Having already shot numerous images with clear sky this night, I though the movement of the clouds would add a nice element to the scene.

Keeping the same exposure, I shot two images at 14mm, one for the foreground and one to capture the clouds and the sky. I had originally tried with my 24mm tilt-shift lens, but it wasn’t wide enough for what the scene required.

I shot a couple more images after this, but was pretty much done by 20:00 as the clouds were no longer as interesting looking. And so I sat down and waiting for some aurora. By midnight the sky was still silent and I was finally beginning to get cold from all the hours of sitting in the open. And so under the bright moonlight I headed down the mountain.

I will try again for an aurora photo this winter, but I’m sure several more attempts will be needed until luck works out on my side…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 100
f 5.6
92 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #206 – Skjelfjord Polar Night

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Friday Photo #206 - Lofoten Mørketid

Photo: Skjelfjord polar night, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 11, 2012. 12:23

Last weeks photo showed the normal weather Lofoten’s has been having for most of December so far. However, on Sunday, everything changed and the islands were silent and still. I was supposed to have gone to the mountains, and probably should have, but the views from my home were also good enough to keep me satisfied.

Skjelfjord runs almost perfectly north to south. In the height of summer, the midnight sun will pop into view for a few minutes around 01:00 am, shining through the low point in the mountains near the center of the image. Now in December, with the sun just below the southern horizon, the mountains receive a bit of glow around midday – assuming the horizon is clear.

I walked to this location, several times throughout the mid morning to mid afternoon as the light was constantly changing. I’m not sure if this is my favorite image of the day, but it illustrates what I want to show this week. That there is still light here, even with the winter solstice little more than a week away. After that, the days get longer again and we can greet the sun once again in early January…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
19mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/6 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #205 – Lofoten Mørketid

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Friday Photo #20 - Lofoten Mørketid

Photo: Nesland coast, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 9, 2016. 12:01

This week was the begging of the winter mørketid, literally dark time, but otherwise known as the polar night. On Lofoten it occurs during the weeks around the winter solstice when the sun no longer rises above the horizon. And while there is no proper daylight, there are some hours of twilight around noon. And even now at the time of my writing, there is still some glow in the southern sky at 15:00.

The Islands have had pretty bad weather for the start of December, which is actually quite normal. Think 1-4˚C with lots of wind and rain. The heavy cloud cover of the last days makes it feel much dark than it really is, and even getting up at 10:00 feels like an early start to the day! I feel myself slowly going into a hibernation mode, quite of opposite of the insomnia during the midnight sun period of summer.

It was a strong north wind blowing down the fjord today, but I figured I would have a little shelter down the road in Nesland, so I headed there. I was trying to shoot an image that showed what the sky looked like, but the only expanses of clear sky were over the open water to the south, and thus not very interesting compositionally. Luckily there were some holes in the clouds as they swept in from the north, so I did my best to show a bit of sky in the best composition I could find.

Hopefully I’ll come up with something better for next week…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 50
f 14
25 seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop B+W ND filter
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #203 – Persatind Gimsøy

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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