Photo:  Winter dawn at Myrland beach, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 2, 2014.  09:14

I still hadn’t quite gotten my timings quite right, but I was expecting to see a glow beginning to appear on the horizon as I lifted my head from the sleeping bag.  Instead, my first morning on Lofoten arrived in the swirling darkness of snow.  Snow!  I knew the islands were having a lean year thus far, so it was an unexpected, and un-forcasted, surprise after arriving on the islands the previous afternoon.  I did not know it at the time, but in 6 weeks on Lofoten this year (2014), this would be one of the rare times I saw snow fall.

I left Utakleiv, where I had spent the night sleeping in my rental car and drove into the morning darkness.  I was not sure how big of a storm I was in, but by the direction of the wind, I figured Myrland or Storsandnes beaches would be the best locations to shoot away from the wind if the storm continued past sunrise.  Pulling up at Storsandnes I could see nothing but black beyond the glow of my headlights.  Time for breakfast I guess.

After an hour the snow began to lighten and I could begin to see something of a horizon, dark and grey, emerging from the distance.  I headed to Myrland and negotiated the icy trail down to the beach just as the last snowflakes were beginning to clear.

The beach was covered in a delicate layer of snow, barely cold enough to keep from melting.  An incoming tide of gentle waves was washing against the snow line as the world grew brighter while snow covered rocks formed white islands in the blue sea.

I feel there is alway a delicate balance for snow covered beaches:  you want an incoming tide at dawn after an overnight coating of snow.  If the tide had been high when the snow fell, then it leaves too much of a transition between the snow line and the water line.  This morning I was lucky, and found a near perfect balance of conditions.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 160
f 8
30 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

Photo: Tree silhouette, near Fredvang, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 4, 2014.  14:27

For the month of May I be focusing on panoramic images for each week’s Friday Photo.  I don’t shoot as many panos as I used to, I tend to go square more often than not these days, but they still make up a sizeable portion of my work.

Heavy rain had soaked the islands during the previous 24 hours.  But as the storm cleared and morning passed into afternoon the islands grew still and quiet.  A light layer of cloud filled the sky, giving a warm glow to the low winter sun.  The mood felt almost tropical, as low, misty clouds hugged mountains and filled valleys.  The silhouettes of the distant mountains looked more like something out of China – the place where you see all those images of the cormorant fishermen guys.

The shoreline wasn’t as scenic as I was hoping, but the light was interesting enough that I thought it would be a waste not to take any photos.  While I would have preferred snow, I found the silhouette of this tree to be somewhat interesting to create an image that isn’t stereotypically ‘Lofoten’ looking.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 85mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
85mm
ISO 100
f 11
1/250 second
WB Daylight
3 images – left, centre, right

Photo: Frozen Sea ice in Inner Flakstadpollen, Flakstadøya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 14, 2013.  09:01

As the second half of February arrived this year, the previous weeks of cold, but clear and calm weather came to an abrupt end.  Heavy clouds rolled across the islands and the beautiful light of the low winter sun was taken over by a flat, dull gray.  At least there was still a decent coat of snow that had yet to be too covered in footprints.

I often arrive to the islands in less than ideal conditions, often missing some brilliant light by a day or two.  But I always feel a need to get those first few photos.  I have been to the islands enough now to know that I need to be patient, but as days 1, 2, 3 pass by and I’ve hardly touched my camera, I sense a growing frustration within myself to get out and shoot something.  Oftentimes this can be a fruitless quest, but every once in a while, something interesting will appear despite all efforts of the light working against me.

This image only existed for a few day.  Thanks to a fresh coating of snow that had fallen overnight, ‘cleaning’ up the sea ice, which by itself, was not especially photogenic.  Luckily, despite the crowd of photographers on the islands this February, I was the first to come across this scene, finding it still untouched; though most groups only hang around Reine anyways, going for the ‘hero’ shots made popular by several photographers better known than myself.  But that is good, as I often find that I have the rest of the islands to myself.  Free of footprints in the snow, and to wander as I please.   Perhaps I shouldn’t give away too many secrets though…

Without the crack in the ice, this scene would not have worked at all as it would have been too flat and boring.  And I think in situations like this, one needs to resist the urge to punch up the contrast to some hyper-realism that didn’t exist.  The light was shit, as it often is on Lofoten in winter.  But using shape and form, there is still the possibility to find something interesting.

This is a scene where the 24mm tilt-shift lens is really is a valuable lens for Lofoten, often due the the sheer vertical relief of 800-1000m mountains rising directly from the sea.  Much winder than 24mm, and there are distracting elements on the edges of the frame.  But with a normal 2/3 crop, the tops of the mountains would be lost, unless getting low enough to the snow where the crack would then lose separation and definition.  I guess one could always crop from a wider lens, but I don’t really like to do that.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 13
1/30 sec
WB Daylight
2 Images – Top/Bottom