Photo: Curlew fledgling on fence under July midnight sun, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 11, 2024. 00:43
The islands have gone silent. After the 24 hour a day hustle and bustle of the summer birdlife in Lofoten, the land has now gone quiet. This year I have not gone far from home, so it was a slow, almost unnoticeable change until one day I stand in my backyard and notice the silence of the world. Now it is only the house shaking wind and window battering rain, hale, and snow which will wake me up at night.
In summer though, the islands are alive! This curlew fledgling from mid-July is just one of my many neighbours, which also include: oystercatchers, common gulls, arctic skua, sea eagles, ptarmigan, crows, and ravens. I think the sea eagles in particular are happy with the southern migration of most of the birdlife, as they can now circle overhead in the autumn sky in peace without a swarm of gulls chasing them away.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 180-600 f/5.6-6.3 470mm ISO 400 f 6 1/640 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/09/friday-photo-610-silence.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-09-13 02:00:002024-09-06 04:07:38Friday Photo #610 – Young Curlew on Fence
Photo: Northern lights – Aurora borealis shine fill sky in late summer twilight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2, 2024. 00:43
After a slow start – due to weather, not lack of solar activity – I finally photographed my first northern lights of the 2024/2025 aurora season. I’m not sure if this is the latest ‘first aurora’ for me, but it is much later than normal, which is usually sometime in the last week of August. This year, it was mainly several weeks of near constant rain-filled sky that kept the aurora away for me, though some friends in other parts of Lofoten did get lucky a bit earlier.
Both Sunday and Monday nights provided clear sky and northern lights. And last night, even with a forecast of clouds, was my 3rd aurora of the week/season. Sunday night occurred quite late and I did not go down to the beach until after midnight. While Monday was much earlier and I think I was back home before midnight; having to be in Leknes early the following morning did not leave much motivation for a late night either.
If you missed Sunday or Monday night, no worries – the northern lights will be in the sky over Lofoten until April – weather permitting of course…
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Sigma 14mm f/1.8 14mm ISO 200 f 2 6 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Afternoon rainbow in the sky over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 26, 2024. 17:49
The rainy weather has continued much of the last week in mostly two styles: Rainbow rain, and full storm rain. Both are wet, but very different visually. This week’s post is both those styles: a rainbow Monday and a full storm Tuesday.
It has been a wet August this year! It seems like a switch was flipped and the weather went from endless sunshine to endless rain. The good news is that it looks like this pattern might finally break after the weekend and the sun might be present a little more often now. I can see on the weather statistics though, that just two days this August will already have put the month at its average rainfall of 55mm. I suspect this August will come in at least double of the average – more like the rainier September or October.
Even though it is still officially summer, this past Saturday was a good reminder that it is always necessary to keep a close eye on the weather forecasts with the arrival of the first proper ‘Høststorm’ – Autumn storm of the season. It was a short one, but still brought wind gusts over 30 m/s and many ferry cancelations over the Vestfjord. Tuesday was also a stormy day with canceled ferries, high winds and near continuous rain.
Photo: Dark skies and wind-blown sea over Nappstraumen, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 27, 2024. 13:03
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 59mm ISO 100 f 8 1/400 Second WB Daylight
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 120mm ISO 100 f 6.3 1/250 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Rainy grey sky over Himmeltindan and Nappstraumen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August, 21, 2024. 18:04
The weather has shifted and the sun has been a rare sight over the last week – except for yesterday when summer decided to return for one last day. This week has had double the amount of rain than the entirety of July, and about the same as July and the first half of August combined. I made the poor decision this year to spend the summer on some long overdue house work; long days working away in the endless sunshine of July and August. But now that my first projects are finishing up and I can have a bit of time off, the weather forecast just looks grim. And not just for Lofoten, but all of northern Norway.
This is the unpredictable nature of Lofoten’s weather. Had I known this would be the best summer in a generation, I would have gone on a few road trips to get a few more photos for long term projects. Instead, the furthest I have gone from my house in the last two months in Leknes airport to the east, and Nusfjord to the west. Not very far! It feels like a bit of a waste, but it is what it is.
If you are also traveling to Lofoten this summer, you will also have the same experience – a couple weeks age vs. now. Perfect summer vs. endless grey and rainy days. Before I moved to Lofoten, mid to late August would be my more common time of travel for summer. If it was this year, I think I would be spending a lot of time sitting around the Stamsund youth hostel waiting for even a night of camping. At least now I can watch the rain from my own windows.
But! As always, who knows what next week brings. With the sun’s solar maximum upon us, maybe the clouds will clear and every night in September will be filled with dancing northern lights. Maybe…
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 54mm ISO 40 f 8 60 Seconds WB Daylight 10 stop ND filter
Photo: Northern lights shine in twilight August sky, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 27, 2023. 00:14
After a four month absence from the evening sky it is once again time to keep an eye out for the first northern lights of the season. I have already seen some friends sharing the first faint aurora dance over Lofoten, but I have yet to see anything so far.
Last year while over on Værøy, my first aurora of the season was on the night of August 18/19, which is the earliest I’ve seen them in the season from Lofoten. Unfortunately, Looking at the weather forecast at the moment, the coming week is not very promising looking – and perhaps even the first autumn storm might arrive before next weekend if the forecast hold out. Perhaps this year’s wonderful sunny summer already used up the yearly quota for clear skies. It is starting to feel light autumn is upon us.
But sometime soon, the night sky will be full of stars as the twilight glow fades from the northern horizon – the aurora dancing overhead. There is no rush…
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 20mm f/1.8 20mm ISO 400 f 2.2 3 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Colorful summer sunrise over Nappstraumen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 8, 2024. 03:54
Lofoten has had a fantastic start to August this year with a late summer heat wave bringing 20˚+ temperatures and blue skies since last Saturday. Added to an already above average summer, I think this year I have spent more time at the beach than all previous years combined! Although I am deep into some house renovation projects, so I’m not able to get away from the house for too long at the moment anyhow, and a nice float in the cold sea is calming after a day of painting, sanding, sawing, and hammering. I should have chosen a rainy summer for house work, as I am missing some nice mountain weather. But maybe its too hot to hike anyhow…
The weather will now be changing back to more ‘normal’ patterns as things look to cool down finally. Some clouds, some wind, some rain, some sun, that is what the next week is looking like, with that growing sense that autumn is not so far away anymore.
For the majority of the last week though, the sun has just gently sunk into the sea in a cloudless sky while the light just fades away. A bit boring, but in a good way. Especially when your stove is disconnected and your only dinner option is late night barbecue.
This photo from the early hours of Thursday morning was the first colorful cloud filled sky that I’ve seen in a couple weeks. With the electricians showing up at 08:00, shooting out my office window was as much effort as I could give.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 53mm ISO 100 f 8 1/40 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Bags of trash left in open at parking near popular beach area, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 20, 2024. 17:15
This is one of those articles which I don’t like to, and shouldn’t have to write. But I unfortunately do.
It is peak tourists season on Lofoten here in late July and the streets are full of traffic and in the evenings it seems every possible roadside pullout is filled with motorhomes and camper vans participating in Norway’s generous camping laws. This summer will likely be the busiest ever on Lofoten, and the pressure among the local community can be felt. While there are always the usual summer ‘tourist chaos’ articles in the local newspapers, the intensity, and frustration among a small, but vocal portion of the local population seems quite high this year.
Much of the frustration stems from the failures of the Norwegian government to adequately deal with the increase in tourism – increases that the government itself has promoted. There is no tourist tax of any sort in Norway. Lofoten was supposed to be a trail program of some sort, but so far nothing has been implemented. This leaves small municipalities of 1000 people to more or less fend for themselves and supply the infrastructure for 1 million visitors. Moskenes municipally is one of the poorest in Norway and has been on a special government oversight list for more than a decade. Norway might be rich, but Lofoten isn’t.
The same applies to the roads and tunnels of Lofoten. The E10 might be an European motorway, but much of it feels like some small country road in the middle of nowhere that receives little traffic. Already this summer there have been multiple car crashes (and fatalities), in which the poor standard of Lofoten’s roads are likely a contributing factor. In the Nappstraumen tunnel which I pass through almost daily, I regularly see glass and plastic in the roadway from vehicles hitting their mirrors together – and last summer I was even directly behind one such incident which sent glass flying all over my van.
I could go on and on with the reasons the local population feels frustrated. But now I will switch to when I get annoyed: laziness and self entitlement.
Road trips in my van or a rented van is my preferred way to travel. I regularly travel around northern Norway and have made several (rental) van trips to Scotland over the last years. I reference Scotland, because it too has similar ‘right to roam’ laws as Norway’s Allemannsretten.
One thing I would never think of doing is just leaving my trash on the side of the road in some isolated area. And as much as possible I attempt to dispose of any garbage in convent area for the local services, and not some hard to reach location where trash collection might be infrequent. If I had enough room to carry the trash to a location, I have enough room to take it back to where it was purchased.
The picture here is what ended up being left in at the parking for Myrland beach over the course of a week or so. Inside was packaging from Germany and Sweden (and Norway). If you can carry a water bottle and tin of beans 3000km from Germany, it can be taken a few more kilometres down the road to the nearest trash bin. This is pure laziness and selfishness. You have camped for free in a beautiful location, and then just leave a bag of trash for someone else to deal with. WTF!
The people who left the trash here will likely never read this or even care. Nothing can get in the way of their convenience and laziness. But many such situations happen daily on Lofoten. And the local population is becoming frustrated. I will not be surprised if there is a total ban on van/motorhome camping implemented within the next few years, ruining the ‘wild’ Lofoten experience for all future people, just because a few inconsiderate people have been too lazy to take away their own trash…
Please enjoy your free camping in beautiful Lofoten. But don’t expect me or my neighbours to clean up after you. Leaving no trace is a key part of the freedom of Allemannsretten. If you are leaving trash, then you are abusing Norway’s generosity.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 31mm ISO 100 f 6.3 1/640 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Looking across a sea of fog concealing the village of Napp, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 17, 2024. 00:52
It has been hot the last days here on Lofoten with full days of sunshine and blue skies. The other day on the way to hike Skottind I ended up in a conversation with one of the nearby residents who said this has been the best summer since 1955! I’m not sure how true that is, though it has definitely been above average in my opinion. But…
As I wrote a few weeks back in Friday Photo #599, there is one thing that the weather forecasting doesn’t account well for – the nightly fog monster which envelops the lower elevations on Lofoten’s northern coast. So while the weather forecasts is accurate of Leknes and other areas that avoid the fog – hot sunny days can always be a bit risky on the northern coast.
I was planning on posting a nice image of one of the last nights of midnight sun taken earlier on this evening, but I think this image is a good example to show how much difference just a little bit of elevation can make – the fog here is concealing everything below 150m or so.
This whole evening it had been t-shirt weather as I was photographing up in the mountains of Flakstadøy. Below me though, I could see the fog concealing the landscape and blocking out any views of the midnight sun for the many people camped at Storsandnes beach as I drove by earlier in the evening.
On my way back home, the route descended into the fog you see here. The temperature dropped immediately as I entered into the mist and visibility was limited to 20 meters or so. Quite a contrast from a sunny, perfect summer evening in the mountains.
If I was camping, I would have much rather been up in the mountain sunlight than in the cold fog down on the beach.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 44mm ISO 100 f 8 1/8 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/07/friday-photo-602-sea-of-fog.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-07-19 05:24:252024-07-19 06:52:04Friday Photo #602 – A Sea Of Fog
Photo: Summer wildflowers glow in the endless light of the midnight sun, Myrland, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 2, 2023. 02:13
Friday Photo #600. That is a lot of articles about a small set of islands on the edge of the world. I’m not even sure myself how I have managed so many words about Lofoten. At times I have thought about slowing down or even giving up, but I know once I do, then life will bring too many other distractions. And missing one week will become two, then a month, then six months… So forcing myself to post once a week still seems like the best option at the moment. So next week will be Friday Photo #601.
July means summer season is in high gear here on Lofoten and the rest of Norway. The nights are still endless as the midnight sun remains in the sky for another few weeks, with then leads into one of my favourite times of the year – the twilight nights.
Again this week is photo from last year, on a nice July evening. I’ve, fortunately or unfortunately, continued my absence from home during the last week as I was guiding a midnight sun photo workshop exploring the Helgeland coast and Islands south of Bodø. After that, I’ve mostly been stuck in front of the computer, despite some nice light and weather outside the windows.
Looking for which image to post this week, I was looking for something from the first week of July anytime in the last couple years. And for whatever reason, I seem to take more or less a similar image to this every year in early July. I guess it’s just the way the light and the flowers happen to be at this time of year as I wander around the neighbourhood in the early morning hours. Or maybe I’m always looking to show how nice summer is at this time of year. I don’t know, but I found it sort of interesting.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 46mm ISO 100 f 5.6 1/200 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Misty grey summer weather over flowery meadow on Yttersia – northern coast of Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 16, 2024. 18:24
This week it is another photo of less than ideal summer weather – a misty grey, light fog, cloaking the landscape and hiding the mountains and sun. However, more important to the story here is location. Just 2km down the road and further from there was a fantastically sunny summer day. Two completely different experiences just a couple km apart from each other.
This particular day was one of the more common types of weather conditions to be experienced on Lofoten during the summer – sea fog. Typically, the fog blows in from the north on otherwise completely clear sunny days. So the northern side of Lofoten can be rather grim and dark, while just heading over to the inner side of Lofoten will often be full of sunshine.
The weather forecasts don’t account well for the summer fog, especially a light version like this, and especially for the high amounts of local variation possible. But one sign of possible northern fog or mist risk is a fully sunny and cloudless forecast for a location like Leknes or Svolvær, in combination with a light northern wind of 4-7 m/s or so. Any other wind direction will typically keep the fog out to sea. So If I’m looking at the weather forecast and see full sun but a north wind, I’ll probably be cautious about making any plans for the yttersia – north side of Lofoten, which, unfortunately, is where most of the nicest beaches and many of my favourite hikes are.
Camera Info: Nikon Z8 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 24mm ISO 100 f 5.6 1/320 Second WB Daylight
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