Gentle snow had been falling all morning, brining winter back to what had previously been a dry looking Lofoten. Walking out of my cabin mid-morning, I noticed the snow had created a nice abstract patter on the roof of the cabin opposite mine.
I first shot a wider angle version, but switched to a telephoto lens for a more detailed shot, which I like better – as there is too much visible in the wider shot. Its a bit more abstract than what I usually post here.
As the snow continued to fall, the gaps between the tiles became filled in and the roof was eventually entirely white, and uninteresting.
Camera Info: Nikon z8 Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 290mm ISO 100 f 6.3 1/250 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/03/friday-photo-588-roof-snow.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-04-12 03:00:002024-03-29 08:31:40Friday Photo #588 – Snow On The Roof
Photo: Snow patterns form on the sea outside Reine Rorbuer, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 14, 2024. 15:05
In contrast to the deep cold of March 2023, March 2024 has been a largely mild and dry month. As of my writing, only two days this march will have had an average temperature below 0˚c, with most days a few degrees above. Compared to 2023 when March had an average temperate of -3.3˚c, these feel like two different seasons all together. And why it is so difficult to make any predictions about the weather in Lofoten.
During my second to last workshop of the winter, a spring-like looking Lofoten changed to a winter wonderland over the course of a single day of heavy snowfall and low winds. Here, later in the afternoon, the snow can been seen freezing on the top of the sea in Reine harbour, just outside our cabins at Reine Rorbuer. While earlier in the winter there were some days of the sea surface freezing itself in the low temperatures, that was not the case here, as the temperature was only around 0˚c and not enough for the sea to freeze. The patterns on the water here are from a combination of the heavy snow and still wind. More wind or less snow and this scene would not have existed.
And so while this was a bit of an indoor day for this group, the result on the following day was well worth it, as we headed out the door at 05:00 for sunrise on a summit to sea snow covered landscape, which had not existed on Lofoten for several weeks at this point. But that is how winter on Lofoten is these days, less predicable than ever, while one hopes for the best…
Camera Info: Nikon z8 Nikon 14-30mm f/4 20mm ISO 200 f 8 100 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/03/friday-photo-585-snow-on-water.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-03-22 02:00:002024-03-17 02:11:02Friday Photo #585 – Snow On The Water
Photo: Olstind winter reflection in Reinefjord, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 29, 2023. 12:35
I often write about how the winter landscape of Lofoten can often be almost black and white. This image of Olstind is a perfect example of that that. Even the water, which can potentially be quite colorful only has a hint of color, as it’s otherwise overly dominated by the reflection of the flat, grey sky. And I always think Olstind looks best with a fresh dusting over snow, so as the main rock face in the center of the mountain doesn’t become too dominant.
I probably should have taken more time when shooting and used a ND filter for a longer exposure of 30-60 seconds to soften up the low cloud on the left side of the image. In this photo, it feels slightly distracting to the otherwise almost perfect symmetry of the scene.
Camera Info: Nikon z7 II Nikon 24-120mm f/4 24mm ISO 100 f 8 1/30 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Red cabins of Eliassen Rorbu on snow covered rocky shoreline of Hamnøy with Olstind in the background, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 25, 2023. 17:07
Cold grey clouds fill the sky over Reinefjord and the mountains of Moskenesøy. A very typical winter day on Lofoten. No color, no dramatic light, just the blue and grey tones of the flat winter light and an almost black and white snow covered landscape.
These colourful red rorbu cabins on Hamnøy are perhaps the most photographed in all of Lofoten – usually from the bridge which is just off to my left. With a layer of fresh snow covering the rocky shoreline, I like this composition as well as I feel it better simplifies the balance of the cabins and mountains – particularly in this flat light.
Many initially think the cabins were painted red to brighten up the look of the villages in winter. This is not the case. The real reason is much simpler: red paint was the cheapest. And so the rorbu cabins for the fishermen and the barns for the farmers are painted red. In contrast, in the traditional fishing harbors of west Lofoten, you will often see a large white house on the top of any hill above the harbor – this was for the family which owned the village/harbor in the old days. The rorbu cabins would be rented by fishermen during the winter fishing season.
There aren’t as many fishermen anymore, and many live full time on Lofoten anyhow. So now these cabins are for tourists. Several of my groups each winter stay in these exact cabins – so it’s not bad to walk out the front door and have some nice pictures available within a minute of walking.
Camera Info: Nikon z7 II Nikon 24-120mm f/4 37mm ISO 31 f 9 60 Seconds WB Daylight 6 stop ND filter
https://www.68north.com/content/2024/01/friday-photo-581-hamnoy.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2024-02-23 03:00:002024-01-27 07:20:57Friday Photo #581 – Rorbu in winter
Photo: Looking out from my old orange MSR hubba tent sheltering me from the rain during my first ever night camping at Kvalvika beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 23, 2006. 15:21
I had to dig deep into the my photo archives for this week’s photo: An image from my first ever night camping at Kvalvika beach way back in the summer of 2006 during my 2nd trip to Lofoten. This was in the old days when I was mostly just backpacking around and staying at the hostel in Stamsund. Every once in a while a group of us would pool together our money and rent one of the old used cars for 300 NOK for the day and tour around the islands. This was on the end of one of those days where instead of heading back to the hostel, and despite the weather forecast, I used the opportunity to get dropped off in Torsfjord for the beginning of the hike to Kvalvika beach.
I had never been there before and am not even sure if I had seen any photos at that point. I had just heard by word of mouth that it is a beautiful place. And so I found myself camping alone on the beach for two (mostly rainy) nights before hiking out and hitch hiking back to the hostel in Stamsund.
In the years since my first night at Kvalvika in 2006, the beach (and Ryten) have grown somewhat in popularity. In the summer of 2022 alone, Kvalvika and Ryten received 50,000 visitors. And with the people has come a concerning amount of human poop. Enough so that in a survey carried out by the national park, E. Coli bacteria (amongst other things) was found in numerous locations throughout the area. It used to be that I always believed the water on Lofoten safe for drinking, but in high use areas like Kvalvika, I always carry a water filter now after having gotten sick from likely bad water near Munkebu hut a few years ago. Drinking bad water will quickly put an end to your holiday hiking and camping plans!
Starting today, July 7, 2023, Kvalvika will become the first location on Lofoten (and I think all of Norway) to test out the use of Wag bags – poop bags for campers and hikers to help reduce the impact of human pollution on the landscape. [ NRK article here ]
Beginning my hiking career in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, wag bags are already a familiar item to me, as they have long been required for high use, sensitive alpine environments like around Mt. Whitney – California’s highest mountain. So whenever picking up your hiuking/camping permit for that region, the ranger would also give you a wag bag and a brief overview.
Will this work for Lofoten? I hope so!
But I am also somewhat skeptical, as there are already too many signs of poor hygienic behavior across Lofoten – i.e. open poop and toilet paper should never be left out anyhow, that some people might feel pooping in a bag and carrying it back out to the parking lot is too much effort. Perhaps its just the easy access to Norwegian nature, or that in my early years I would mostly spend time in high alpine environments which require thought and effort to reach, but it seems LNT (leave no trace) culture is not as prevalent among hikers and campers in Norway. And with little to no regulation, education, or instruction on LNT principles, the idea that you can’t just poop next to a rock and leave it seems not be understood by enough users on Norway’s nature that it is causing issues.
On the other hand, if it reduces waste even by 20-30%, that is probably still a step in the right direction. I guess only time will tell.
The new wag bags will be available for free during the summer of 2023 and can be picked up from national park visitor center in Reine, and also available at the trailhead to Kvalvika beach – along with the large contain to return your used bag to after your night of camping.
Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north
Camera Info: Nikon D200 Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye 10.5mm ISO 100 f 6.3 1/125 Second WB Daylight
Photo: Sea fog over Bunes beach swirls around mountain peaks from Helvetestind, Lofotodden national park, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 13, 2017. 22:59
A northern wind on a hot summer day is always something that I’m weary of in weather forecasts, as this is the bringer of the fog monster to the yttersia – outer coast of Lofoten. Several times each summer I have to alter my planned hiking or camping locations due to the fog as it is better to stay on the sunny southern side of the islands than sitting in the cold, dark for cloaking the northern side.
However, if you can get above the fog, which usually rises no higher than 400-500m, then you will be standing above a sea of clouds and with mountain peaks rising like islands in the sky. On this particular night during a photo workshop several years ago we had simply planned for an evening at Bunes beach and to return sometime after midnight. However, before even leaving Reine, I could see fog flowing over the pass and down into Vindstad, so i knew a change of plans would be likely.
Though the fog was still initially somewhat light and the sun appeared from time to time, it was evident that it would mostly be a waste of time hanging around Bunes beach all evening, so I decided for plan b, and took the group up Helvetestind – hiking guide here, which I was confident would remain above the fog.
In my opinion, the view from Helvetestind over Bunes beach is one of the best to be found in Lofoten. Arriving at the summit this evening, there was no beach to be seen, only an ocean of fog. I’ve already posted a couple other images from this evening serval years ago: Friday Photo #233, and Friday Photo #245, but never this version of the scene.
The below image is just a normal shutter speed photo. I’n my opinion it’s just a bit ‘ehhh…’ and I would have rather had a view of the beach below in this case. In the above image though, using a 10 stop neutral density filter for a 60 second exposure, you can see how the movement of the fog completely transforms the image into something much more dynamic and interesting. Here, With the peaks rising over the flowing fog, I’m okay without being able to see the beach below. Which also reminds me that I haven’t been to Helvetestind in a couple years, so probably time to head out there soon!
Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north
Camera Info: Nikon D800 Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 24mm ISO 50 f 13 60 Seconds WB Daylight 10 Stop ND filter
Hiker on summit of Helvetestind mountain peak takes in view over coastal fog, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway
https://www.68north.com/content/2023/05/friday-photo-547-fog.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2023-06-30 03:00:002023-05-12 02:53:18Friday Photo #547 – The Flow Of Fog
Photo: Spring mountain reflections in Selfjord, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. April 17, 2023. 10:17
Some years the weather seems to switch as quickly as if one is turning a light off and on. What was an unseasonably cold March has now (mostly) turned into a sunny and warm April, and now finally a bit of rain. The snow which I thought would last well into May seems to be melting away quite quickly, especially in western Lofoten, and many of the coastal mountains below 500 meters are already snow free. Though as I write this, the weekend’s weather is supposed to be cold with the chance for some fresh snow – so don’t change to those summer tires just yet!
I’ve probably written a dozen times before that I always find this an odd time of year for my photography. The clean beauty of winter is over and I know the lush greens and flower fields of summer are only a few weeks away. April and early May on Lofoten is often just a waiting period for me – which is needed, as I have a ton of computer work needed to finish up ongoing projects and prepare for new ones during summer. But I also find it frustrating, as I enjoy the light of this time of year and the nights get brighter and the midnight sun approaches. So I find myself inspired by the light, but bored by the brown and tired landscape itself.
Today’s image is a rare calm moment in Selfjord, taken from the side of the road. I was on the way to Reine to attend a conference, but out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something in the water. The back story to this is that there have been some humpback whales in the area of the last few weeks. They were first spotted in Svolvær harbor at the end of March. I saw them briefly in stormy water near Reinehalsen as I was headed to Moskenes to catch the ferry before easter, and then over easter they spent several days swimming around Hamnøy and Sakrisøy. So a few days after they had last been spotted, I thought maybe I was lucky and there they were!
So I quickly pulled over and scanned the fjord. Nothing. It was, however, a quite nice reflection, so I took a few quick snapshots before continuing on my way to Reine for the day. Had it not been for the possible attempt at whale watching, I most likely would have just driven by without stopping.
Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 24-120mm f/4 50mm ISO 100 f 8 1/320 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2023/04/friday-photo-537-spring-thaw.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2023-04-21 04:47:192023-04-21 04:47:20Friday Photo #537 – Spring Thaw
Photo: Northern lights – aurora borealis shine in sky over red cabins of Eliassen Rorbuer, Hamnøy, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 19, 2023. 23:30
The arrival of mid April means the end of aurora season on Lofoten. By next weekend the sky will no longer be dark enough for the northern lights to be visible as the sun continues its journey towards the northern horizon.
Overall, this year has been a pretty good year for northern lights. My season started on August 27th while just outside of Kvikkjokk in Sweden before heading out to hike sections of the Padjelantaleden and Kungsleden trails (eBooks available here). Once back in Norway, the aurora continued on a fairly regular basis throughout the autumn and into early winter. Some heavy weather arrived with the beginning of photo workshop season in mid January, but every group managed to get at least one night of northern lights during their workshops, and many groups got lucky with multiple nights.
I was over on the mainland with perfectly clear skies March 23 when a G4 solar storm hit, in one of the best and most colourful northern lights displays I’ve ever seen. This was the biggest solar storm in 6 years, and was visible throughout Europe and down to the southern US. Crazy! Not sure if I’ll ever post any of the pictures here, but maybe they’ll eventually show up over on distantnorth.com.
By now, only the brightest displays are visible in the hours around midnight. Have I seen my last aurora for the season yet? I’m not sure, but probably. The chances grow lower with each passing day. And by the 20th, I’ll be pretty confident the aurora will be over.
This image was the last stop of what had been 4 hours of dancing aurora this night with a workshop group. Usually I don’t like to put too many signs of civilisation or light pollution in my images, but as it had already been a good night for the group with multiple other locations visited, we decided on one last stop just around the corner from our cabins at Eliassen rorbuer – so we were actually shooting out cabins from this location.
On a lower activity night, this would normally be a somewhat risky location, if the aurora only remained in the north. But luckily, the activity pickup up after 23:00 and the aurora moved to the southern part of the sky. The exposure was quite tricky, and I was bracketing with 0, -1 stop exposures just to be on the safe side with the bright lights of the cabins. Though this photo is from a single image. A bit of moonlight would have definitely helped with this scene to balance out the light. Overall, still a nice shot I think, and one that I’ve not previously taken, despite the amount of time I spend in the area each winter.
Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 20mm f/1.8 20mm ISO 1600 f 2 3 Seconds WB Daylight
Photo: Snow from sea to summit across over western Lofoten, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 18, 2023. 13:29
This week, more weather news! Perhaps I’m getting a little too repetitive and basically just turning into a weatherman these days. But after 10 years of these Friday photo posts, I often find myself struggling with what to write about. I’ve even thought of reducing the frequency to every other week, but I fear that would allow me to become too lazy. So once a week it will remain, but likely with a fair amount of ‘here’s what happened this week on Lofoten…’ type of posts. I’ve also contemplated on maybe switching over to a YouTube type vlog post for each week, but I also don’t really think I have the personality to be a YouTuber. I’m better with just written words.
Anyhow, last week (Friday Photo #534), I wrote that I expected March to come in around 3-4˚c degrees below average for the month, which is 0.1˚c. And I was pretty accurate! The average temperature for March 2023 was -3.3˚c, so just in the middle of my guesstimate. I’m actually surprised the average didn’t come in a little colder as there were 14 days which fell below -10˚c. My hands can still feel the cold of many days and nights out guiding!
But now with April, ‘mild’ weather has arrived. Though this was not before a moderately intense storm last Friday brought a lot of chaos to northern Norway, mostly in Troms and Finnmark. Tragically, 4 people died in 3 separate avalanches on Friday, two skiers, and two people sitting at home when their house and farm was hit by an avalanche and pushed into the sea. Such an occurrence also occurred in Skjelfjord, here in Lofoten, I believe in 1998 or so. By modern safety standards, many houses here in Norway would not be allowed to be built in the locations in which they are. The same for many roads.
This week’s photo is a drone view showing the beautiful white snow covering off west Lofoten in mid March. Often these last years, Moskenesøy on has periodic snow cover as longer spells of rain and warm southern wind seem to be more common. But this image is how Lofoten should look! Snow from sea to summit.
Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north
Camera Info: DJI Air 2s
https://www.68north.com/content/2023/04/friday-photo-535-march-freeze.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2023-04-07 03:00:002023-04-03 06:59:11Friday Photo #535 – March Freeze
Photo: Arctic Gold – Skrei hang to dry in the cold winter air to become dried stockfish – tørrfisk by early summer, Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 18, 2023. 09:46
The winter fishing season is well under way in Lofoten. After a windy and stormy January and February, the March seas have calmed and the drying racks are beginning to fill up with skrei. Here the fish will hang to dry in the cold and windy Lofoten air until they are collected in sometime in June to be sent overseas as one of Norway’s oldest commercial exports, dating back hundreds of years.
Having spent a lot of time eating in local restaurants during a busy winter of photo workshops, the various types of cod, skrei, and stockfish – tørrfisk are often on the menus, which often then requires further explanation on my behalf as to what the differences are – as essentially, it is all cod.
Cod – This is ‘normal’ Atlantic cod, genus Gadus. Cod live year round along the Lofoten and Norwegian coastline.
Skrei – Skrei is also Atlantic cod, genus Gadus. But more specifically, it refers to mature cod migrating from the Barents sea to spawn in the Vestfjord and waters around Lofoten from January to April. The life in cold water and long migration make skrei a more delicate and fine tasting fish as compared to the normal year round cod. If you see skrei written anywhere, then it is specifically in reference to the winter migratory cod.
Stockfish – Tørrfisk – Dried stockfish is the end result of the skrei that is caught and hung to dry in the cold and windy winter climate of Lofoten. While much of the skrei caught each winter is exported as fresh/frozen fish, the tradition of drying stockfish still continues to this day, and is also a popular menu item around Lofoten.
All stockfish is hung by hand, after two fish have been tied together in the factory. The winter climate of Lofoten, with temperates averaging around 0˚c and a near constant wind, provide perfect conditions for air drying the skrei. Too cold and with outside of the fish freezes before it can dry and too warm and it become rotten and mouldy. Though like any crop, so years are better than others for stockfish production and quality.
Traditionally, the stockfish was often hung on wooden racks on small rocky outcroppings such as in the above photo. As things have become more mechanised, newer drying racks are built in flatter areas where tractors can drive directly underneath, hoisting buckets of fresh fish for the workers to hang. Such as in the photo below. Even with the help of modern tools, the hanging (and removal) process is still done by hand.
I personally enjoy photographing the more traditional stockfish racks which still remain. They can often have interesting abstract shapes and are a unique part of Lofoten’s history. If you’re out photographing, be careful and observe the freshness of the fish before walking below! Or you might have every cat in the neighborhood trying to break into your cabin in the evening.
Head over to my Instagram account for (almost) daily postings of the local conditions here on Lofoten: @distant.north
Camera Info: Nikon Z7 II Nikon 14-30mm f/4 20mm ISO 100 f 8 1/200 Second WB Daylight
https://www.68north.com/content/2023/03/friday-photo-533-skrei-season.jpg10001500Codyhttps://www.68north.com/content/2016/12/68north-logo-V4.pngCody2023-03-24 03:00:002023-03-23 03:16:09Friday Photo #533 – Skrei Season
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