Friday Photo #568 – November Shadows

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: November light over Himmeltindan, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 19, 2023. 12:35

The weather has changed since last weeks post (Friday Photo #567) and a nice layer of snow fell over Lofoten, like in this photo, followed by a rainy storm a few days later. So now everything is frozen in a solid layer of ice or hard compact snow, such as my driveway, so I now have to park at my neighbours barn.

I was a little too lazy on Sunday and the light caught me by surprise. I first headed down towards my beach, but a photo workshop was just leaving, so all the fresh snow was trampled with footprints. But the better light was on the distant mountains anyhow, so I walked back home and hopped in my van to head down the road, hoping the light would keep shining for a little while longer.

Luckily, I only have to go a few km down the road before I have this view across to the mountain peaks of Himmeltindan. It would have probably been a nice view from up there, and I can see some tracks if I zoom in on the hi-res version of the image. But for standing on the side of the road, this image isn’t too bad either. And having photographed this scene multiple times before, this might be some of the nicer light I have captured here.

Even though I drive this road daily, I always carry my camera with me, even if I’m just going to the supermarket, as I never quite know what might happen. And usually the rare time when I forget my camera is when I see a moose standing in the middle of the road at Tussan or Storeidet. The nice thing about this time of year, and Lofoten in general, is that the light can change so quickly. And its more of an issue during winter from my location on the northern side of the islands, where I can’t really see what the sun and light is doing on the southern side of the islands until I’ve driven down the road. And a scenic road it is to drive down!

The tricky thing with this image is that the first hill in the foreground, Verberget (233M), is much closer than the background mountains of Mannen and Himmeltindan. With fresh snowfall like here, they all look quite uniform and if a single set of mountains. But was is more common is nice light on the higher Himmeltan, while Verberget looks out of place and sort of blocks the background, especially when Himmeltind is covered in snow while Verberget is just brown. But in this image, everything is pretty well balanced as much as it can be.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
140mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #567 – November Twilight

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: November twilight over Himmeltindan, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 12, 2023. 15:03

Like last year, it has been a clear cold November so far – though a big storm is coming next week. I was actually thinking of posting several of the same photos this week, as I took this nearly exact same image 3 days in a row of the afternoon twilight after a cold and crisp November day.

The sun is already low on the horizon and many areas of Lofoten no longer receive direct sunlight. In this calm weather, Leknes actually sinks into a deep freeze as the cold air settles in the valley around the town, making it colder than Svolvær. Returning home from my Isle of Skye photo workshop last Friday, I had the fun task of installing the winter tires on my new tour van in quite cold temperatures for this time of year. Though that also meant my driveway was frozen solid and not the usually muddy mess when I change tires earlier in the autumn.

Despite these clear nights, and despite the forecast of an incoming solar storm, they northern lights played tricky and generally did not arrive until well after midnight, when I myself was sleeping after long days of work catchup on the computer. With both the weather and aurora forecast, I had thought about hiking out to Kvalvika beach on this night, but I’m glad I didn’t, as I would have either frozen to death or returned home, or fallen asleep had I decided to camp, well before any northern lights occurred. Even with everything looking favourable, the northern lights can still require a bit of effort and luck! More so than I was willing to contribute this past week.

Luckily for me, I’ve yet to grow tired of this view out my window. It’s actually a bit distracting at times when I need to concentrate on work – I’m currently busy working on the next update of my Seasons on Lofoten – Winter ebook, which I hope to get out in the next couple weeks, ready for next years winter season. So in these short days, it is nice to be able just to walk into my backyard, take a couple photos, and then get back to the computer work and at least feel like I’ve also done a bit of photography without having had to climb a mountain.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/4 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #566 – November Freeze

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: Deep freeze – clear, dry, and cold November weather leaving Storeidvatnet with a layer of hoarfrost, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 21, 2022. 13:52

On average, November is a cloudy, rainy, and windy month. Some years I only see a few short hours of sunlight the whole month it what can seem like an endless cloud of rain. In general, I consider November the worst month of the year on Lofoten. However, every few years the weather seems to shift dramatically and it can turn into one of the colder and drier months of winter. 2022 was one of those years, in which there was only 60mm of precipitation compared to a normal yearly average of 187mm. Actually, looking back over the last 12 month, November 2022 was the second driest month overall, after July 2023, and just squeezing ahead of April 2023 by 0.1mm.

I first noticed the November cold when I arrived at Hardstad-Evenes airport after a few weeks in Scotland. It had been a rainy October morning when I departed and now I returned to my van completely frozen in ice and -10˚c or so. It took me several minutes just to get the doors open – having to climb in from the back and then push open the doors from the inside. In my hasty departure a few weeks earlier I had also forgotten one important item – my snow/ice scraper. Even with the van running, it took me the better part of an hour before I was able to scrape the hard layer of ice off my windshield using various cards I had in my wallet, breaking several of them in the process. And so I began my drive home on the dark and icy roads.

The weather remained the same once home, cold and clear. The Leknes area, which sits in somewhat of a low valley, was particularly cold in the still air. While there was no snow on the mountain peaks, everything in the lower elevations was frozen in a thick layer of frost. I had driven past Storeidvatnet a few times to and from Leknes and thought it would make a nice foreground. Usually I like this location with a longer focal length, as it is a nice view of Himmeltindan and Ristind mountains. I think in this image, even at 25mm, the mountains get slightly lost. But I guess the image is more about the foreground any, and the mountains are just the setting. Still, I think I could have spent a little more time and probably found a stronger composition.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
25mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/5 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #565 – November Sun

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: A November sun low on the southern horizon shine through the clouds over Nappstraumen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 9, 2020. 12:37

With the last sunset of the year and the polar night is still just over a month away, the midday sun is already perilously low over the southern horizon. And while the sun of early November is equivalent to late January and early February, the months almost feel like complete opposites. In November, I never know when I might have seen my last sun of the year before a month of twilight and darkness. While in January, there is only more light to come as the days quickly grow longer. The same but different.

As November arrives, my house, and many locations on the northern side of Lofoten will have already been in the shadows of the ‘Lofoten Wall’ for several weeks or more, where they will remain until mid February or later. The light along the southern horizon comes and goes, while the north remains in the cold shadows of mountains. Even on warmer days, the ice remains in the shadows, cold and bitter in northern winds. Only a warm spell of southern rain might thaw things out, until the next snows arrive. The weather is more chaotic now than in the old days, so who knows what will happen in the future, but the sun will remain the same – low on the southern sky.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
25mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #536 – Hamnøy Aurora

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: Northern lights – aurora borealis shine in sky over red cabins of Eliassen Rorbuer, Hamnøy, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 19, 2023. 23:30

The arrival of mid April means the end of aurora season on Lofoten. By next weekend the sky will no longer be dark enough for the northern lights to be visible as the sun continues its journey towards the northern horizon.

Overall, this year has been a pretty good year for northern lights. My season started on August 27th while just outside of Kvikkjokk in Sweden before heading out to hike sections of the Padjelantaleden and Kungsleden trails (eBooks available here). Once back in Norway, the aurora continued on a fairly regular basis throughout the autumn and into early winter. Some heavy weather arrived with the beginning of photo workshop season in mid January, but every group managed to get at least one night of northern lights during their workshops, and many groups got lucky with multiple nights.

I was over on the mainland with perfectly clear skies March 23 when a G4 solar storm hit, in one of the best and most colourful northern lights displays I’ve ever seen. This was the biggest solar storm in 6 years, and was visible throughout Europe and down to the southern US. Crazy! Not sure if I’ll ever post any of the pictures here, but maybe they’ll eventually show up over on distantnorth.com.

By now, only the brightest displays are visible in the hours around midnight. Have I seen my last aurora for the season yet? I’m not sure, but probably. The chances grow lower with each passing day. And by the 20th, I’ll be pretty confident the aurora will be over.

This image was the last stop of what had been 4 hours of dancing aurora this night with a workshop group. Usually I don’t like to put too many signs of civilisation or light pollution in my images, but as it had already been a good night for the group with multiple other locations visited, we decided on one last stop just around the corner from our cabins at Eliassen rorbuer – so we were actually shooting out cabins from this location.

On a lower activity night, this would normally be a somewhat risky location, if the aurora only remained in the north. But luckily, the activity pickup up after 23:00 and the aurora moved to the southern part of the sky. The exposure was quite tricky, and I was bracketing with 0, -1 stop exposures just to be on the safe side with the bright lights of the cabins. Though this photo is from a single image. A bit of moonlight would have definitely helped with this scene to balance out the light. Overall, still a nice shot I think, and one that I’ve not previously taken, despite the amount of time I spend in the area each winter.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 20mm f/1.8
20mm
ISO 1600
f 2
3 Seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #535 – March Freeze

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: Snow from sea to summit across over western Lofoten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 18, 2023. 13:29

This week, more weather news! Perhaps I’m getting a little too repetitive and basically just turning into a weatherman these days. But after 10 years of these Friday photo posts, I often find myself struggling with what to write about. I’ve even thought of reducing the frequency to every other week, but I fear that would allow me to become too lazy. So once a week it will remain, but likely with a fair amount of ‘here’s what happened this week on Lofoten…’ type of posts. I’ve also contemplated on maybe switching over to a YouTube type vlog post for each week, but I also don’t really think I have the personality to be a YouTuber. I’m better with just written words.

Anyhow, last week (Friday Photo #534), I wrote that I expected March to come in around 3-4˚c degrees below average for the month, which is 0.1˚c. And I was pretty accurate! The average temperature for March 2023 was -3.3˚c, so just in the middle of my guesstimate. I’m actually surprised the average didn’t come in a little colder as there were 14 days which fell below -10˚c. My hands can still feel the cold of many days and nights out guiding!

But now with April, ‘mild’ weather has arrived. Though this was not before a moderately intense storm last Friday brought a lot of chaos to northern Norway, mostly in Troms and Finnmark. Tragically, 4 people died in 3 separate avalanches on Friday, two skiers, and two people sitting at home when their house and farm was hit by an avalanche and pushed into the sea. Such an occurrence also occurred in Skjelfjord, here in Lofoten, I believe in 1998 or so. By modern safety standards, many houses here in Norway would not be allowed to be built in the locations in which they are. The same for many roads.

This week’s photo is a drone view showing the beautiful white snow covering off west Lofoten in mid March. Often these last years, Moskenesøy on has periodic snow cover as longer spells of rain and warm southern wind seem to be more common. But this image is how Lofoten should look! Snow from sea to summit.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
DJI Air 2s

Friday Photo #534 – Clear And Cold

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: Clear blue sky and crisp winter air over partially frozen shoreline of Flakstadpollen at low tide, Kilan, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 28, 2023. 11:20

It is the last day of what as been a wonderfully cold and (mostly) calm March. The best extended period of winter weather that I can remember for several years. If you have been traveling Lofoten during the last weeks, you’ve been lucky – especially compared to the terrible weather during January and February this year.

Last year, March saw an extended warm period for most of the month, ending up with an average temperature 2.5˚c above normal, of 0.1˚c. I won’t see the weather average for this March until tomorrow, but I would not be surprised if the average comes in at 3-4 degrees below average. The average temperature on the day of this photo was -5.2˚c, whereas 0.8˚c should be Normal. And while it’s easy for one day to be an anomaly, so far 13 days this march have had temperatures fall below -10˚c, with the coldest temperature recorded at -15.3˚c. So far, only 3 days this March have had an average temperature above 0˚c. Though it has now warmed substantially since yesterday as the cold weather finally seems to have broken with the arrival of April.

Looking over the weather across the years often brings me back to questions about or suggestions for the ‘best time to visit’ Lofoten. The reality is: it is an unanswerable question. Or at least not answerable if you need to make your travel plans more than a few weeks ahead. March 2022 and March 2023 have almost been completely different seasons; with 2022 feeling like early spring and 2023 being a winter wonderland with deep snow from sea to summit. What will next year bring? Nobody knows. And don’t trust anyone who tries to suggest otherwise. With Lofoten’s weather, you won’t know what you get until you arrive here and see…

With that said. I am looking forward to spring and warm sunny days!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
15mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #533 – Skrei Season

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: Arctic Gold – Skrei hang to dry in the cold winter air to become dried stockfish – tørrfisk by early summer, Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 18, 2023. 09:46

The winter fishing season is well under way in Lofoten. After a windy and stormy January and February, the March seas have calmed and the drying racks are beginning to fill up with skrei. Here the fish will hang to dry in the cold and windy Lofoten air until they are collected in sometime in June to be sent overseas as one of Norway’s oldest commercial exports, dating back hundreds of years.

Having spent a lot of time eating in local restaurants during a busy winter of photo workshops, the various types of cod, skrei, and stockfish – tørrfisk are often on the menus, which often then requires further explanation on my behalf as to what the differences are – as essentially, it is all cod.

Cod – This is ‘normal’ Atlantic cod, genus Gadus. Cod live year round along the Lofoten and Norwegian coastline.

Skrei – Skrei is also Atlantic cod, genus Gadus. But more specifically, it refers to mature cod migrating from the Barents sea to spawn in the Vestfjord and waters around Lofoten from January to April. The life in cold water and long migration make skrei a more delicate and fine tasting fish as compared to the normal year round cod. If you see skrei written anywhere, then it is specifically in reference to the winter migratory cod.

Stockfish – Tørrfisk – Dried stockfish is the end result of the skrei that is caught and hung to dry in the cold and windy winter climate of Lofoten. While much of the skrei caught each winter is exported as fresh/frozen fish, the tradition of drying stockfish still continues to this day, and is also a popular menu item around Lofoten.

All stockfish is hung by hand, after two fish have been tied together in the factory. The winter climate of Lofoten, with temperates averaging around 0˚c and a near constant wind, provide perfect conditions for air drying the skrei. Too cold and with outside of the fish freezes before it can dry and too warm and it become rotten and mouldy. Though like any crop, so years are better than others for stockfish production and quality.

Traditionally, the stockfish was often hung on wooden racks on small rocky outcroppings such as in the above photo. As things have become more mechanised, newer drying racks are built in flatter areas where tractors can drive directly underneath, hoisting buckets of fresh fish for the workers to hang. Such as in the photo below. Even with the help of modern tools, the hanging (and removal) process is still done by hand.

I personally enjoy photographing the more traditional stockfish racks which still remain. They can often have interesting abstract shapes and are a unique part of Lofoten’s history. If you’re out photographing, be careful and observe the freshness of the fish before walking below! Or you might have every cat in the neighborhood trying to break into your cabin in the evening.

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
20mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/200 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #532 – March Cold

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: March sunset over Hornet, Myrland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 12, 2023. 17:01

After what had been a mostly stormy and rainy January and February, March has brought a long winter cold spell to Lofoten – in other words, perfect winter weather! Since March 5, the temperatures have remained below freezing, with generous amounts of snow over the islands. And the forecast for the coming week looks to see this trend continue.

March traditionally should be the most ‘winter’ month on Lofoten. Though the last years have brought a somewhat mild March, especially last year when it felt like spring had already arrived by now. So it is nice to finally have a proper March again, and once I finish up with my last workshop of the winter season this week, hopefully there is still plenty of snow for my ski season to begin!

Beyond the overall nice weather of the last weeks, the days are also becoming quite long as the sun rises higher and higher in the sky. This is the period I generally refer to as ‘light winter – as opposed to ‘dark winter,’ which would be from December until mid February. By now, the days feel more ‘normal’ for those from lower latitudes and the feeling of the short days is over. Ignoring the snow covered mountains rising from the sea, the days now don’t feel any different than at some ski resort in the Alps, for example.

As the light winter progresses and Lofoten gains around one hour of daylight per week, we’ve now also entered the final countdown for aurora season – with about 4 weeks left until the night sky has brightened into the twilight nights of mid April. And then, another 4 weeks from then, the midnight sun!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
24mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/20 Second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #531 – Winter Shadows

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Photo: Shadows on the wall at dawn, Hamnøy, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 20, 2023. 08:17

With a clear horizon but low clouds, the sunrise light does not always last long. On this morning with one of my workshop groups it did allow for a somewhat interesting photo: the shadows of our group of the wall of one of the cabins of Reinefjord Sjøhus Rorbuer cabins.

It was a windy morning after a few days of calm. But I could see the horizon tho the southeast was clear, so there would be a brief moment of sunlight at dawn. As the light first lit the summit of Olstind and then traveled down, I didn’t quite expect the moment that happened. There we were – our shadows at least, in the way of our sunrise image. It can often be a problem, our shadow somewhere in the foreground of our photos at sunrise/sunset. Though on Lofoten with a group, I don’t think I’ve ever captured an image quite like this. And I must say, it looks kinda cool!

Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
43mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/15 second
WB Daylight