Photo: Northern lights dance over Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 6, 2025. 20:46
Like every year, the ever shortening nights of April mean Lofoten’s northern lights season is quickly coming to an end. This season has been a good one. Especially so for my photo workshop clients, which, despite some challenging weather, each group had at least 2 nights of aurora, and some 3-4 nights. And not just nights of a bit of green between some clouds, but nights of dancing light across the sky.
This image was taken on the last night with my fourth group of the winter. It was raining and heavily clouded as we showed up to the beach after dinner. But as the forecast said, the clouds began clearing after 20:00 and soon enough the sky was dancing with light! This particular moment was so bright that I only needed a 1 second exposure.
Not a bad way to finish an otherwise stormy week on Lofoten.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 16mm ISO 2500 f 2.2 1 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Soft dawn sunlight shine over Flakstadtind, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 6, 2024. 09:24
Before this moment I had actually been shooting pretty wide in the 14-20mm range with some nice foreground wave action over the rocks along the coastline at Vareid. In that situation, these background mountains are quite far away and small – though there tends to be a lot of ‘creative interpretations’ among many photographers these days. Suddenly, the sky began to glow and a nice light lit the distant mountains.
I would have actually liked to continue shooting wide, but the sky was also beginning to clear from the right side of the scene. Had the clouds continued across the sky, I think it would have been better. But now I was left with a colorful sunset on the left side of the image, and a dull-ish blue sky on the right side of the image. For me, this didn’t feel very balanced. So I changed lenses.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 125mm ISO 200 f 5.6 1/160 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Lofoten Sjark – fishing boat heading to sea in stormy winter weather, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 28, 2022. 11:34
A thousand years before the oil was discovered, tørrfisk – air-dried cod from Lofoten was already one of Norway’s most important exports, and that importance continues to this day in keeping the livelihood of Lofoten. But now day, its not men in wool suits and row boats braving the cold winter waters, but modern boats, able to do the work of a hundred men. But the winter weather is still the same and on days like this photo, it is not an easy task to be at sea.
It is mostly coincidence that cod migrate from the far north to spawn in the waters around Lofoten during winter, which happens to be the best conditions for air-drying the fish in the cold and windy Lofoten climate. Too cold and the fish will freeze before drying. Too warm or not enough wind and the fish will spoil. Lofoten is the balance of all the elements.
January is still early in the fishing season most years, so many of the wooden drying racks – hjell – you will see around are probably still empty. And many of the racks, particularly around rorbuer cabins are no longer in use today: partly due to the smell annoying tourists staying in the cabins, but mostly do to moving to larger, more industrial sized areas where tractors can be driven underneath to hoist up the buckets of fish – which are then still hung by hand.
Weather can also have a big effect on each year’s catch. Many days like this photo and it will probably be a long and difficult winter for many fishermen. On clear and calm nights, you can see the lights of the boats filling the horizon as they pull in their catch below the dancing northern lights. I hope this winter brings good fishing for those at sea and good aurora to my guests over the next two months.
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 500mm ISO 1250 f 5.6 1/640 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Himmeltindan rising over Storsandnes beach during the polar night, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 20, 2019. 11:38
The brightest hour on the darkest day, or there about. With a clear sky it is only a soft twilight which shines over Lofoten during the winter solstice. Tomorrow, the sun will reach its lowest point in the sky before the circle north begins again in the never ending ebb and flow of days and nights north of the arctic circle.
I don’t do well during the Polar Night – I am much more a summer person! The endless darkness feels like a smothering blanket at times. And this year’s consistently bad weather hasn’t helped – there is nothing fun about doing mechanical work on your vehicle in gale force winds and sideways rain. Fingers frozen, plastic brittle, and working by headlamp even at noon. In summer, I could work at any time of day whenever the weather improved, in winter, the moments are short and fleeting, and can be weeks in between. I actually had to drive to a friend’s house in Leknes to do some mechanical work the other week because the weather at my house and been endlessly stormy.
But when the sky does finally clear and the wind stops blowing the world can feel quite silent, almost like it is asleep. These soft, muted blue tones are all the fill the world on the northern side of the islands, with snow covered mountains rising towards the sky. These mountains that will be the first ones to greet the sun on its return to Lofoten next month. The seaside elevations will have to wait a few days longer, but eventually shadows will fall across the beaches again as well.
Camera Info: Nikon D850 Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 32mm ISO 64 f 11 30 Seconds WB Daylight 6 stop ND filter
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/12/friday-photo-624-longest-night.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-12-20 03:00:002024-12-11 04:10:21Friday Photo #624 – The Longest Night
Photo: Clouds blow across the twilight sky from Vareid’s rocky coastline, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 14, 2021. 13:04
Lofoten is now a week into the Polar Night. But this year it might as well have started in mid November, such as the stormy weather has been. Again this week rain and wind have been shaking my house a majority of the time and many parking lots around Leknes would be better used as ice hockey rinks than something to try and walk across. And although the weather feels quite bad this year, it is still within normal – normally unpredictable and stormy.
Clouds and snow cover are the biggest determining factor for how bright the few hours of midday twilight will be. Heavy clouds and even noon will feel quite dark. Fresh snow and a clear sky and it might feel like you are in a candy coloured dream world as the land around you glows. So it is hard to describe in words what the polar night is, and perhaps it really isn’t anything beyond a time to slow down for a while. To not feel lazy that I’m not on top of a mountain at midnight waiting for sunset. A time to be content to sit in front of the computer and not constantly look what is happening in the world outside.
On this afternoon I ventured around the corner to the coastline at Vareid. In the full winter season this is a popular stretch of road and rental vans will fill every pullout each sunrise and sunset. But in December, the road is empty. I usually shoot closer to the sea, but it was a bit rough this day, so I stayed up along the road. The clouds were moving swiftly across the sky, so only a minute exposure was needed to give them a nice soft look, and to contrast with the distant mountains – and the soft sea with the rocks.
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 14-30mm f/4 20mm ISO 100 f 7.1 61 Seconds WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/12/friday-photo-623-almost-night.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-12-13 03:00:002024-12-11 04:07:58Friday Photo #623 – Almost Night
Photo: Early afternoon darkness as Mørketiden – The Polar Night begins, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 8, 2020. 14:20
This weekend Lofoten will see its last sunlight of the year as the Mørketid – Polar Night begins. For me, it has already been many days since I last saw the sun, as this years grey and dreary weather has maintained a strong presence over the islands: stably unstable is the current forecast for the weekend.
Stably unstable. It kind of has a nice sound to it, despite meaning that you’ll probably don’t want to spent too much time outside. This autumn and start of winter has perhaps been the longest period of consistently poor weather since I moved to Lofoten in 2016. I guess this is the payback for nice summer. I’ve been needing to do some housework which requires me to be outside in relatively calm conditions – so stuff doesn’t go flying all over my yard, and lately it is only one afternoon every couple weeks where this is possible. And despite all the hype over the coming solar maximum, I have read many reports of frustrated northern lights chasers, even up in Tromsø, which is largely suffering the same weather as Lofoten.
I’ve only photographed on 1 day in the last 3 weeks, so this photo is from a couple years back. Only 14:20 in the afternoon, you can already feel the last moments of twilight before the darkness of night arrives.
Despite the overwhelming presence of darkness in the polar night, there are some brighter moments as well. I’ve put together a new article and gallery with images from Mørketiden.
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/12/friday-photo-622-the-night-is-coming.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-12-06 09:41:032024-12-06 09:41:05Friday Photo #622 – The Night Is Coming
Photo: Long shadows over snowy November mountain landscape, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 19, 2023. 12:12
Having spent the last month in sunny Spain, returning to a November version of Lofoten is like hitting a wall of darkness. The change of scenery was made even more apparent after flight delays didn’t see me back in Leknes until 23:15, at which point I had a 2km walk to where my van was parked at a friend’s house. Nervously watching the weather radar as I arrived, I lucky made it to my van between the frequent passing sleet showers. As I neared home 20 minutes later I was greeted with a full arctic blizzard. Perhaps I should have stayed in Spain…
By all accounts, this year was a good November to have missed. Looking at the weather history, it has rained or snowed 28 of the last 30 days, with no shortage of severe wind and storms included. As I write now, my house is once again rumbling in gale force winds.
With the polar night still two weeks away, the sun is already quite low on the horizon, with all day golden hour – should the sun actually emerge from the clouds. By now, many locations across the northern side of Lofoten will have long since seen the last direct sunlight of the year, even before the start of the polar night.
From my house, I can look from the shadows across to the distant mountains of Himmeltindan, Veggen, Mannen, and Ristind as they rise into the mid November sun. Sun that won’t reach me again until late February. But soon enough, even these mountains won’t be high enough to reach the winter sun and the whole world will be twilight and darkness.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 83mm ISO 50 f 8 20 Seconds WB Daylight 10 Stop ND filter
Photo: Northern lights shine in sky over icy Myrlandsveien road, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. November 27, 2023. 22:13
Already in October, a Finnish tour bus full of passengers slid off Lofoten’s ice roads and multiple other cars have made it to the infamous ‘bil i grofta’ newspaper headline. Even a police car up in Finnmark while still driving with summer tires ended up sliding on ice: which according to Norwegian police themselves – no matter what the season, it is the driver’s responsibility to have appropriate tires for road conditions. In Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark the period for winter tires is October 16 – April 30. However, should icy/snowy conditions present themselves outside of this period, it is your responsibility to have correct tires. If it was you or I off the road with inappropriate tires for conditions, we would have a temporary loss of our driving license. The police have said they will investigate themselves about the incident… 😉
So, with November, and increasingly winter driving conditions just around the corner for Lofoten, this is my yearly reference to winter driving and safety on Lofoten. You can find the follow article below:
With all the hype around the solar maximum this year, the coming winter is probably going to be the busiest ever on Lofoten. And that means many inexperienced winter drivers on Lofoten’s narrow and winding roads. I would roughly guess that a majority of traffic in western Lofoten will be tourists in rental cars, and probably basically every car driving around at night as people hunt for northern lights – rain or clear weather, snow or storms. And it will probably be sometime in mid February when I wonder why I work terribly long hours as a photo guide, when I could earn just as much money in a few hours driving a tow truck picking up rental cars from the side of the road.
If you are reading this, please drive safely! There might be some days during your trip where it is simply not safe to be on the roads. There is no shame in sitting around your cabin or hotel and waiting for conditions to improve. And if the weather is that bad, you’re probably not missing out on much anyhow. Weather caused travel disruptions are frequent throughout winter on Lofoten, so be aware that you might need a plan B, C, or D if severe weather hits at an in opportune time in your travel.
I almost forgot to write about the photo! With a nice full moon light I had been photographing the aurora over Nappstaumen and Himmeltindan looking towards the northeast. As the activity slowly increased and the aurora rose overhead, Looking west down the road from my current location provided a nice shot without having to drive anywhere else. Without the moonlight, I don’t think this image would have worked, is I feel in needs the bright snow to balance out the foreground and mountain. Ideally I should have been in a better location with a cleaner view to the west, but at the moment, this was the best I could do.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Sigma 14mm f/1.8 14mm ISO 2000 f 2 1.6 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Colorful northern lights rise into the sky over Storsandnes beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 7, 2024. 21:06
Since one image was not enough, here is another photo from the fantastic October 7 aurora display on Lofoten. While globally overshadowed by the October 10/11 display that was visible across most of Europe and the US, this ‘smaller’ aurora was better photographically for Lofoten’s high northern latitude.
And we were quite lucky here on Lofoten, as it has basically been rainy and stormy every day for the last two weeks since then. While I generally like autumn auroras, the weather this year is proving to be a bit problematic in regard to clear night skies. When the weather statistics for October are published, I suspect this year will have been rainier than average, as by my rough calculations we have already almost met the average rainfall already by the middle of the month, with the forecast not looking to improve very much next week.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Sigma 14mm f/1.8 14mm ISO 1600 f 2 3 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Just look up! Colorful cascading aurora corona fills the sky, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 7, 2024. 20:38
It has been a crazy week for northern lights watchers! Last weekend brought strong auroras to Lofoten on Sunday and Monday nights. The Sunday aurora arrived quite late in the evening, while the Monday aurora was beginning already as it became dark.
Monday evening I rushed out of my house down to the Storsandnes beach once I could see a little green in the sky, which then completely exploded with color shortly after my arrival around 20:15. By 20:25 the whole sky was dancing in colorful aurora, with reds visible to the eye.
Storsandness was actually not the best location, as the aurora was quite far south in the sky, behind the 700m mountains which rise over the beach. But even looking straight up was incredible enough! The image is uncropped at 14mm and the cascading corona fills the entire frame. Crazy! It was one of those nights where you didn’t know where to look as it was dancing around the sky.
But Sunday and Monday were just a warmup for what was to come. Earlier in the year on May 10/11 was a ‘once a decade’ type solar storm, with aurora visible across much of Europe and even down to California and the southern US. Yesterday and today, October 10/11, was another such ‘once a decade’ aurora event. Perhaps even bigger than May. My brother at 33˚ latitude in southern California was able to see a red glow in the sky.
For Lofoten, it was actually too big! Combined with a partially cloudy sky, the northern lights were actually too far south for Lofoten to receive a spectacular show. So while they were visible across most of Europe and the US again, it wasn’t as spectacular in northern Norway as the weekend’s show had been. One of the rare times when bigger is not necessarily better in the far north.
With the sun’s increasing activity as it heads towards it’s solar maximum next year, hopefully this is a sign up things to come. And not just for aurora watchers in the far north, but middle European and North American latitudes as well.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Sigma 14mm f/1.8 14mm ISO 2000 f 2 1.6 Seconds WB Daylight
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