Friday Photo #520 – Moonlight Aurora

Photo: Moonlight and aurora over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 11, 2022. 16:31

While the sun remains below the horizon during the polar night of December, the opposite effect can happen with the moon, which may remain completely above the horizon through its orbit. Often times I can forget about the moon during winter due to the cloudy weather, but this year the weather has been abnormally nice thus far, so in early December a bright moon was shining in the sky over Lofoten.

In very simplified terms, a full moon occurs when the moon is 180˚ opposite the sun. In sub arctic locations, a full moon typically rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. North of the arctic circle, the orbit of the sun and moon is flattened out. And with the sun below the horizon in for most of December, the moon’s orbit may allow it to remain slightly above the horizon at its lowest point. On the day of this image, the lowest position of the moon was 3.15˚ above the northern horizon at 11:45. At the time this image was taken at 16:31, the moon had risen to 4.8˚ degrees.

I generally quite like moonlight in my aurora images. Though this year, the full moon seemed somewhat intent on disturbing me during several northern lights shoots as it was high in the southern sky, which resulted in my shadow being cast northwards onto the foreground of a couple locations I tried to shoot from. Not a big deal, but it sometimes happens and I can’t move the aurora to another part of the sky!

On this day though, the aurora already started quite early in the afternoon. And instead of the moon being behind me, it was directly in the aurora itself. With the bright reflection shining across the dark water of Nappstraumen, I thought this was actually a somewhat interesting image that I’ve never taken before.

The exposure was slightly tricky, to balance out the reflection of the moon, northern lights, and the almost black sea. Luckily the moon was still fairly low on the horizon and dimmed a bit from some distant haze so the image was still possible with a single exposure. A little later I went to one of my nearby beaches, but by then the moon had moved to a somewhat awkward position compositionally, and was now far too bright, blowing out the reflections on the waves and wet beach.

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 1000
f 2.2
2 seconds
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #519 – Last Sun

Photo: My last visible sun of 2022 from Reinebringen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 11, 2022. 12:04

On Sunday I made a second trip up Reinebringen again. I figured since I had already put in the effort of breaking trail all the way to the summit on the previous Friday, I might as well take advantage of my own path!

Another reason for a second trip is that Reinebringen is generally a dangerous and risky hike in winter, so it is rare that I am there for a winter view. It is only since I live in Lofoten and monitor the conditions every day that I felt it was safe enough to head up in winter conditions. And this is mainly because there wasn’t that much snow – What looks like full winter is actually only about 20cm of snow in most places, and less so higher up as the storm which brought the snow was quite windy. Luckily after the storm last week, the temperatures remained well below freezing, which, combined with the lack of sunlight of the polar night, means the little snow hasn’t melted away like normal.

Currently another storm is passing over Lofoten and there is considerable avalanche risk. I will not go anywhere near the mountain in such conditions as most of the route is below slabby rock cliffs rising high overhead which are prone to frequent avalanches. It is likely now that Reinebringen won’t be safe-ish to hike again until later in the spring.

Today’s post in not about Reinebringen though, but the sun instead. And more specifically, the December sun around the first days of the polar night on Lofoten. When I was on the mountain I posted an Instagram story showing the few and a few people commented that they were surprised I could see the sun, as shouldn’t it be the polar night already? The answer is yes and yes.

The polar night is really just a sunrise that never quite arrives. So instead of continuing to rise above the horizon higher and higher until solar noon, when the sun begins to loose elevation again. During the polar night, sun sun simply begins so set, at solar noon, before it has even risen above the horizon.

The sun’s ‘high point’ will be lower and lower below the horizon each day until it reaches its lowest point on the winter solstice, December 21st this year. Below the arctic circle, this movement of the sun is visible. For Lofoten, northern of the arctic circle, all of this takes place below the horizon, until the sun returns again in the first week of January.

If I had been standing in Reine on Sunday, I would not have seen the sun. But, like mountains peaks get the sunrise before lower elevations anywhere in the world, being on Reinebringen allowed me to see the sunrise. The only difference is this was the sun’s highest altitude of the day, so it never rose high enough to be visible at sea level.

This was also my record for latest visible sun of the year. The previous one being December 8th. It’s been a fantastic winter so far, so hopefully I get an early sun as well after the new year!

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
14mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/50 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #518 – Winter Moon

Photo: Winter full moon over Kirkefjord from Reinebringen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 9, 2022. 11:26

Winter has finally arrived on Lofoten! After what was a calm and ‘dry’ November, the first proper storm of winter finally swept across the islands on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving about 30-ish cm of snow from sea to summit. Luckily, the storm was a quick one and the calm and clear weather has returned. Combined with the full moon of the last days, the fresh snow now makes it possible to walk around at night without much need for a headlamp – which is good, because Lofoten is now in the period of the Polar night.

Seeing the full moon the last few days, I had ideas of a photo in mind. I missed it a couple years ago because I was too late to begin hiking, but this time I (kinda) planned a little better, or at least one part of the image I wanted! The full moon over Kirkefjord.

I only 1/2 succeeded. I got the left/right placement of the moon correct. Thanks to PhotoPills I knew the moon would be over Kirkefjord at about 11:30, and so I planned to be at the summit of Reinebringen before that. Only thing I didn’t get right is that the moon was way too high in the sky – But that part of the images is out of my control anyhow – I can’t move the moon down! Though some might use photoshop for an assist in that regard, I don’t. I saw what I saw. Better planning next time…

The weather had also been clear yesterday, so I had hoped a few people would have gone up Reinebringen before me. But as I arrived at the bottom of the 1978 steps which lead to the summit ridge, there were no footprints. So I cleared a nice trail to the top, at times though thigh deep snow drifts. Luckily I planned to arrive early, so I reached the summit in time, despite the slow progress.

Even though it wasn’t quite a success, for the image I had planned, it was still absolutely perfect winter conditions in the twilight light of December.

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
61mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
1/40 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #517 – Last Light

Photo: Last December light over the summit of Skottind, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 2, 2022. 11:48

November has been fantastic this year! It turned out to be the 2nd driest month after September – and that’s only by 0.5mm of rain. But it looks like the weather if finally beginning to shift in the next days and Lofoten might finally receive its first proper snowfall of the year. So even with the polar night still a week-ish away, today’s clear sky will likely be my last time to see the sun for the year.

With the sun low on the horizon, if you actually want to hike in sunlight at this time of year you are mostly limited to mountains on the southern side of Lofoten. While higher peaks on the north side still also receive a bit of light, most of the way up/down will be in shade. I wanted as much sun as I could find today, so I headed to Nonstind – Ballstadheia which I knew would have all the sun Lofoten was to get.

Leaving home, I was initially worried about a quite a few low clouds hanging over many of the peaks of Vestvågøy and Flakstadøy. Yesterday and last night had also been forecast for clear sky, but in the cold and stillness, a low cloud formed over all the islands. It seems it took the arrival of a bit of wind to blow the clouds away and I was happy to see Skottind rising into the late morning twilight as I rounded the corner near Napp.

I was already partially up the mountain when the sun first peaked over the distant mountains of the mainland, at 10:46. A could wind was blowing from the south as the sun and I ascended in tandem, but the low low does little to warm you at this time of year.

Reaching the summit, clouds were blowing across the summit of Skottind. It’s already tripod light at noon these days, but I decided to add a 10 stop ND filter to capture the moving clouds, which looked slightly boring otherwise. I only brought my light hiking tripod, but finding a bit of a sheltered rock and keeping it fairly low, it seemed to hand 60 second exposures on the cold and windy summit of Nonstind better than expected.

I don’t know when/where I will see the sun again, but perhaps it will be here on Nonstind again in the first weeks of January when the sun returns to Lofoten again…

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
14mm
ISO 100
f 8
60 seconds
WB Daylight
10 Stop ND filter

Friday Photo #516 – November Twilight

Photo: Gentle waves flow over Myrland beach in soft pastel twilight light of afternoon in November, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 16, 2022. 14:41

Now with over 500 Friday photo posts going back nearly 10 years, I’m sure I’m repeating myself again when I say the current year often seems to have opposite weather from the previous. Often this involves worse weather (this July/August), but sometimes we do get lucky, and so far for November this year, that is holding out. It seems it rained so much up north this summer that the sky finally ran out.

I’ve actually only been back on Lofoten about a week now after a trip over to Scotland for the last few weeks. But in these few, and short, days, I’ve already seen more sun than the previous two Novembers combined! Lofoten has been lucky with clear and calm days this week, which if the forecast is correct, will (mostly) carry on for at least a little while longer.

With the sun low on the southern horizon, much of the day is filled with pastel twilight colors, especially so on the northern side of Lofoten where the sun doesn’t quite reach anymore. In a couple more weeks, as Lofoten enters the Polar Night, twilight is all we will have – similar to this image, taken about a half hour after sunset.

I unfortunately haven’t had much time for hiking as I’m busy catching up with work after what has been a busy autumn with me mostly out of the house since the middle of August. Normally I spend most of this time of year working on writing projects and hiking guide updates on the website. And normally the sideways November rain and wind is an aid to that process. But at the moment looking out the window is quite distracting! At least I can manage to wander down to the beach for a couple images between emails and Excel spreadsheets and image keywording…

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
14mm
ISO 31
f 10
1 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #515 – November Sun

Photo: Rays of light shine from behind Skottind mountain peak, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 23, 2020. 12:03

In mid November I usually begin my ‘last sun of the year’ countdown. While the polar night, beginning December 6, is still a few weeks away, the November weather and cloud conditions can mean that Lofoten will see its last sun of the year at any time. From my house on the northern side of the islands, which already loses the sun in mid October, I have to drive around to the southern side of the islands if I think there might be any chance of light.

Or, perhaps I just get lucky on my way to the supermarket in Leknes, where part of my drive takes my be Nappstraumen, opening directly towards the south and the noon sun, should it be there. That is the case for this image, with rays of midday sunlight shining over Skottinden. Even at noon, the light is more like sunrise/sunset at this time of year, Which it more or less is.

The sun’s location in mid November is the same as in late January, when Lofoten is known for its continuous sunrise-to-sunset lighting conditions. The same exact thing happens in November, but there just isn’t typically many photographers or other tourists around, so no one really notices. Though the snows of winter do help with conditions as well, as the often snow-less November landscape often just feels cold and dark – as opposed to the glowing snowy mountains in January.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
20mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
1/250 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #482 – Slippery Roads

Photo: Snowy traffic jam as rental car is pulled from ditch after sliding off the road near Vareid, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 29, 2022. 15:47

After an unusually warm and mild first half of March which saw Lofoten looking more like spring than winter, the snow finally returned in a series of passing storms. Along with the snow, an unusually high amount of road chaos also occurred, mainly in the form of cars in ditches and semi-trucks stuck on inclines. It must be the combination of sun shining on the snowy roads, as even to me, they seemed to be slipperier than normal winter roads.

Tuesday afternoon, on my way to Reine for a conference I didn’t get far from Leknes before I encountered the first car off the road. The weather was pretty terrible, and I even though of turning around myself, but there was a large amount of traffic on the roads, about 1/2 of which being rental cars. It wasn’t fun driving conditions, even for a local, so I don’t understand why so many people were out…

A short while later, I passed another car in the ditch just after the Fredvang bridges. Just before departing the conference in the evening, I saw that the E10 at Nappskaret was closed, as 3 semi-trucks had gotten stuck. And finally just before getting home there was a van sitting deep in the ditch at Kilan – where 2 semi-trucks found themselves partially off the road on Thursday, closing the E10 for several hours. Busy days for the tow truck drivers…

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

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6
460mm
ISO 640
f 5.6
1/1250 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #480 – A Rock On The Road

Photo: A (very large) rock on the road near Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 16, 2022. 09:39

The unusually warm temperatures since the beginning of March have begun to thaw out the frozen mountains of winter. But as the sun comes out and the temperatures go up, ice and rocks come down. This particularly large one fell on my road on Wednesday morning – also cutting the internet cable to my village in the process. It’s big enough that they’re going to have to get out the heavy machinery to move it, or perhaps even blast it apart.

As of Thursday, the 815 was also closed near Valberg, on the southern side of Vestvågøy, due to another rock fall. And with heavy rain and wind due all weekend, more rocks will likely be falling from the mountains of Lofoten. To paraphrase one of the guys from the Norwegian road agency about the rockfall on Lofoten: the roads (of Lofoten) won’t be safe until Lofoten is as flat as Denmark…

With that in mind, the road signage on Lofoten, and Norway in general, is quite understated. You can see in this picture that quite appropriately placed rockfall sign just beyond the boulder. While this rock is on the bigger side, rocks large enough to smash through the roof of a car fall along this road on a monthly basis, more or less all year long.

Yet, it is just a few of these tiny signs to warn you of the quite substantial rockfall danger of Myrlandsviein. And these tiny road signs do little to stop the dozen or so tourists in vans and motorhomes camping on the the road each night throughout the summer. Perhaps if they knew the reality of what waits in the mountains above them, they would choose a safer spot to sleep for the night?

Considering how much emphasis Norway puts on road safety, it seems strange that consistent rockfall in a highly touristed area only receives a small notice.

Which brings me to my next point. From a Norwegian perspective, small signs like these do mean something! And yet, I think this translation is lost among the continental European visitors whose countries are often covered in an endless amount of signs that they become subconsciously ignored. If the road was dangerous, it should surely have more than a small sign, right? Not in Norway…

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 24-200 f4/6.3
24mm
ISO 100
f 10
1/1000 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #479 – Frozen Sand

Photo: Winter storm waves flow over frozen sand at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 23, 2022. 15:52

During winter cold spells or after heavy snow of the beaches the sand often freezes into a hard, sandy ice. During calm periods, this mostly just stays as a frozen layer on the beach, with the waves gently washing over the beach. But when the waves pick up during winter storms, they often ‘chip’ away at the frozen layer of sand, sometimes forming interesting shapes and lines along the tideline.

This was one of those days at Unstad beach. The waves were big, 4m+, and washing high up the beach. The incoming tide would slowly break away the frozen layer of sand, eventually creating a sharp line across the beach. The bigger waves would break off large chunks of the frozen ice-sand and wash them higher up the beach – and often crashing into my tripod legs, making that series of out of focus from the movement. But as the water flowed back out, there were moments when the tripod remained still and the images sharp.

Even with boot on, it was a wet foot afternoon, as it was better to stay as close to the action as possible. There were a few other compositions I made some attempts at, but those were even closer to the waves, and I spent most my time running back up the beach before I could make a decent composition.

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
14mm
ISO 100
f 11
0.6 second
WB Daylight

Friday Photo #478 – Storm Chaos

Photo: Traffic jam and car stuck in snowdrift on E10 near Eggum in snow blizzard conditions, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 26, 2022. 15:10

In last week’s post I wrote about the coming warm weather due on the weekend. The rain eventually did arrive Saturday night, but not before enveloping Lofoten in a heavy blizzard throughout the afternoon causing chaos along the roadways throughout the islands. By Sunday morning, Lofoten was split in two, with several avalanches closing the E10 on Flakstadøy, and avalanche in Reine, and several of the side roads closed as well. This left tourists and other locals stuck in various locations across the islands.

I myself, ended up stuck in Leknes for Saturday and Sunday nights, with my road closed already since Thursday due to avalanches. I thought about walking home of Friday, but decided against it due to weather and the high avalanche risk. When I finally made it home, I could see several areas where my road had been covered.

But the real chaos of Saturday was on the E10 between Leknes and Solvær, which, when the storm hit in early afternoon caused traffic to come to a halt. I heard stories of people taking 6+ hours to make the normally 1-ish hour drive between the two cities. I was heading towards Svolvær from Leknes when I got stuck in traffic near Eggum, with several cars in the opposite direction stuck in heavy snow drifts on the road, or off the road completely.

Shortly after, I turned around to head back to Leknes as I could the weather was obviously too severe for driving. And even on the way back towards Leknes, the car ahead of me got stuck in a drift, but I was able to help push them out, so we could continue on.

The storm was forecast to be warm and rain, so I think a lot of people were caught out, not expecting the blizzard that hit. It was the worst driving conditions I can remember for years, perhaps even back to the hurricane in winter 2015.

In one of the times I was at a standstill, I managed to get a couple Iphone shots out the window of the chaos around me. But it doesn’t come anywhere near close to showing how bad conditions were and how poor the visibility was…

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

Camera Info:
Iphone