Photo: Vikjordtinden mountain peak rises into the cold twilight of the arctic polar night, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 28, 2020. 13:19

Even starting by headlamp in the morning darkness is often not enough to reach some summits during the polar night. Even more slow with slow progress though deep snow and rocky hillsides. Add in a layer of heavy clouds, and this is what it looks like by early afternoon. Our goal of the day was the mountain in this picture, Vikfjordtind, but it was obvious we would not summit until well after dark. So we turned around.

An icy cold east wind also helped in the decision to turn around and the sky became more ominous looking with time. Even from this middle high point, it was still several cold hours back to the van, navigating the last sections of frozen bog by headlamp.

With a heavy backpack full of camera gear, I also find it a little hard to keep motivated in weather when I’m not likely to get many photos. And while it’s nice to reach the summit, my many goal is always just to take an interesting photo, wherever on the mountain that might be. I actually figured this photo of the mountain would likely be more interesting than a photo from the mountain. Though I haven’t been back since this only attempt on Vikjordtind, perhaps I’ll choose sometime in summer or autumn for another try.

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

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
36mm
ISO 100
f 10
1.3 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Full moon in twilight November sky over mountains of Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 26, 2023. 14:06

After a couple days of stormy weather last week, the sky has once again cleared and Lofoten has fallen into a silent deep freeze again. And thought the days are now preciously short with the beginning of the polar night just around the corner, and bright full moon has been illumining the snow covered landscape.

The moon is full when opposite the sun. In these short days with the sun low on the southern horizon, the full moon is actually remaining above the horizon for the entire day with an orbit similar to the midnight sun would be 6 months ago. Except with the full moon, it is lowest on the horizon at Noon in the northern sky, not midnight like the sun would be. So it it the complete opposite, or the midday moon.

The opposite effect can also happen with the moon, where there are cycles where it never rises above the horizon for extended periods of time.

Luckily, the moon fits perfectly in these twilight days at the moment. I have mostly been shooting with a longer telephoto lens towards distant mountains to have a larger moon in the frame. But as I was finishing up at this location on my way home from Leknes, I decided to shoot a panoramic as well. I still shoot a fair amount of panoramics, but don’t often post them here and they don’t fit the design of the website that well.

But for this scene, rather than a more dramatic larger moon and mountains, this image better represents the mood and feeling of these clear November days of the past week. Here, the moon sits low in the over the distant mountains of Vestvågøy as I was shooting across the Nappstraumen. Truly magical!

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 200
f 9
1/13 Second
WB Daylight
5 image panoramic

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

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