Friday Photo #99 – September Northern Lights

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Lofoten Islands Northern Lights

Photo: Northern lights fill sky over Gimsøystraumen, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Sept 24, 2014.  21:31

September 2014 had already been a spectacular month for auroras on Lofoten, probably my best month ever.  So as October, and my planned departure from the islands, approached, I was content, but still always hoping for maybe just one more…

With a forecast of some pretty heavy storms to hit the islands in the following days, we took advantage of what would likely be the last night of clear weather for the trip and camped out on the coast near Henningsvær.  And as luck would have it, just after dark, a faint glow began to appear in the western sky, before finally erupting in almost 180˚ of aurora which lasted for hours.  A good farewell to a month in the north.

Photographing the northern lights in the autumn is a different experience than winter.  There is no need to polar expedition style down jackets, as at least on Lofoten, the temperatures often remain quite mild – though it did dip down to freezing on a couple nights.  But what I don’t like as much is the lack of snow.  If there is no moonlight, then all you will have are black mountain silhouettes in the foreground unless you can find a nice piece of water for a reflection and some separation.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
17mm
ISO 1600
f 3.2
8 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #91 – Kroktinden View

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Rugged mountain landscape viewed from summit of Kroktind (707m), Austvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: The wild mountain peaks of Lofoten from the summit of Kroktinden, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Sept 27, 2013.  15:40

Day 4, mountain 4.  After having dropped my camera in a lake in Sweden a few weeks earlier, by the time I received a new one I only had a week left on Lofoten.  Luckily the autumn of 2013 was a calm and mild one for the most part and once I had a new camera, it was up to the mountains for four consecutive days before the weather finally deteriorated.

The 707 meter high Kroktind is a somewhat obscure peak in the Sydalen area of Austvågøy.  But with legs getting a bit sore, my Swiss hiking partner Monika and I both figured this would be an interesting hike for the day.

By the time we reached the summit a layer of white cloud was beginning to conceal the sun.  But being late September, it was t-shirt weather on the summit, as we sat and watched sea eagle circling around on nearby thermals.  I nearly every direction mountains rose into the distance.  And there were even some reflections of glaciers, somewhere far off on the Norwegian mainland.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm
ISO 100
f 14
1/250 second
WB Daylight

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Kroktinden – New Mountain Hiking Guide

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Kroktind (707m) mountain peak reflects in small lake, Austvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Kroktinden (707m) reflects in small pond, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.

I have just added a new hiking page for the mountain peak Kroktind, located on Austvågøy.

– CLICK HERE – to checkout the guide.

Rugged mountain landscape viewed from summit of Kroktind (707m), Austvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: View from the summit of Kroktind over rugged mountain peaks towards the distant Vågakellen, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.

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Friday Photo #40 – Vatterfjordpollen Winter

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Ice forms on Vatterfjordpollen, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Ice forms on Vatterfjordpollen, Austvågøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 15, 2013.  16:12

As the last light faded from the short February day I found myself passing Vatterfjordpollen on the way back towards Svolvær and in search for a car-bivy spot for the night.  I was actually thinking of maybe checking out the Lofoten meeting of the Norwegian Alpine Club, but the hotel looked a bit to posh for me, as so I passed on by.

When the temperature is sufficiently cold, some of the tidal fjords will begin to freeze.  Sometimes this creates something interesting and sometimes not.  The days thus far in the heavy overcast sky had mostly been a waste.  Another ‘weather’ day for Lofoten.  But in the darkening sky I wandered down to the fjord’s edge.

By far from my best image from the trip, in those first days on the islands I’m always anxious to take a picture of something, anything.  And as I drive in circles and see the needle on the gas tank fall, knowing next time I pull up to the gas station I’m going to blow through $100+, that desperation grows even further.  Sometimes I don’t have the patience to park in one place and read the day away, even though I know I should.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f 134
.5 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #10 – Vagakallen Summer Twilight

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Vågakallen mountain peak rises from sea above Henningsvaer, Norway

Photo: Vågakallen summer twilight, viewed from Stamsund, Vesgvågoya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  July 28, 2010.  23:23

A true night never comes to the Lofoten Islands in the weeks following the end of the midnight sun season.  Instead, the sun remains just below the northern horizon and the islands glow in a magical twilight around the midnight hours (actually, 01:00 am is when the sun is at its lowest – Daylight Savings Time).  Day after day, the twilight increases until late August when the sun finally loses its hold on the North.

The ‘Arctic Twilight’ of Lofoten is perhaps more famous and recognised in the Spring due to the popularity of Terje Sorgjerd’s amazing timelapse, ‘The Arctic Light.’  While Spring is merely a reverse of late Summer, increasing days as opposed to shortening, I find I prefer the Summer twilight for several reasons.  First, The islands are at their fullest in late Summer.  The hillsides are green and grasses grow tall while wild meadows are filled with wildflowers.  In Spring, the islands are yet to wake from their Winter’s sleep.  Trees will be leafless and the hillside remain mostly brown and ‘tired.’  The benefit of the Spring twilight is that the weather is more active as winter storms still sweep across the islands.  For me, it just a personal preference for late Summer due to the type of images I like to take and other activities such as hiking and camping where I’d rather have warmer temperatures and more settled weather.

The hostel at Stamsund has long been my favourite accommodation on the Lofoten Islands.  And it is from the hills and shoreline behind the hostel that I have taken countless images over the years.  From Northern Lights and Winter snows to moments like above, a nearly perfectly calm summer evening, I have never witnessed the same scene twice.  I often find myself wandering around the coastline late into the night, when the best light exists.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 200
f 13
121 sec
WB Daylight
3 Images – top, middle,  bottom. For square format
Filer – B+W 6 stop ND

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