Friday Photo #623 – Almost Night

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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

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Friday Photo #622 – The Night Is Coming

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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.

POLAR NIGHT GALLERY

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 70-200 f/4
119mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1.6 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #620 – Long Shadows

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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

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Friday Photo #616 – Winter Roads

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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:

Winter Driving On Lofoten

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

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Friday Photo #615 – Red Aurora

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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

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Friday Photo #614 – Just Look Up!

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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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Friday Photo #610 – Common Redshank on Fence

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Photo: Common Redshank 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

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Friday Photo #609 – Aurora Season Begins

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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

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Friday Photo #608 – Rainbows and Storms

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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

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Friday Photo #607 – Grey Rain

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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

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