Photo: Mountains of the ‘Lofoten Wall’ rise from the sea while traveling on the Bodø – Moskenes ferry, April 24, 2025. 19:52

20 hours after I should have originally been home from a short trip to Scotland, Lofoten’s mountain wall was finally growing larger as the ferry approached Moskenes harbor. The pervious day I had not planned to be on the ferry as I flew into Evenes airport where my van was parked. Unfortunately though, I large rockfall across the E10 just west of the intersection to Henningsvær meant I could not make the 4 hour drive from the airport and would instead need to make a long detour via Bodø.

I generally don’t like to fly from Evenes during winter and the weather is too unreliable and the driving conditions often difficult. Last year after dropping off clients I made it past a stuck semi-truck only minutes before what resulted in an 6 hour road closure in blizzard like conditions. Long winter journeys in northern Norway always bring a bit of uncertainty if they will go as planned. And this week, despite the weather almost being spring-like, things did not go to plan.

Rock slides of such, while rare, do happen every couple years here on Lofoten. As I was sitting in Oslo I still wasn’t sure what my plan would be. Normally I would have had some camping gear in my van and could just wait things out for a day or two by making a short road trip to Vesterålen or somewhere else. But unfortunately for me, I had been lazy after a long winter guiding season, and had not converted my van back to road-trip mode. Stupid mistake.

As they were uncertain with the actual opening dates for the road, but said it would likely be today at the earliest, I decided the best plan of action would be to stay at the airport hotel in Evenes and then make the 6 hour journey to Bodø in the morning. Snow showers were in the weather forecast, though the roads remained mostly snow free for the long and winding drive and so I made pretty good time to Bodø – with enough spare time for a quick stop at Bilthema. Once on the ferry I could tell I was not the only one making the long detour around the road closure – and the waiting line in Moskenes at arrival also looked overly full for a random day in late April.

Once on the ferry it was announced that the road would open at 21:30 that evening, so I could have driven back directly and just sat some hours in Svolvær had I know this. But I didn’t. And for people leaving Lofoten, there is only one ferry per day while on the winter schedule, so you had to commit to the ferry already before the info got out about the opening of the road.

And my 4 hour drive turned into a 21 hour detour through northern Nordland and a calm sailing across the Vestfjorden – which I seem to be doing a lot in recent years as I spend more time down along the Helgeland coast and Islands.

Snow showers were passing intermittently and I was hoping that the ferry’s arrival on Lofoten would be timed with some backlit snow from the evening sun. But the snow showers were too far to the east or had already passed before arrival, so I was presented with the south faces of the mountains in shadows and the sun shining from overhead. I should have switched to longer telephoto lens and focused in a bit more on the backlit blowing snow on the ridges. And even this image is somewhat cropped to remove the sun out of the top of the frame, but I still feel there is too much water in the foreground which doesn’t add much to the scene.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/3200 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: View across the sea from the cliffs at Å to Værøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 18, 2024. 13:49

I make frequent visits to the end of the road at Å each winter and despite being quite familiar with the location, still find it a bit of difficult place to photograph. I think mainly that the mountains of Lofoten – mostly out of frame on the right of the image – can be so dominant, that it’s often hard to find balance in the scene.

The best conditions are when there’s a moderately stormy sea – which can be safely approached – to use the flowing waves as a foreground while looking a bit more towards that mountains than in this photo.

The 2nd best conditions are probably in this image, when there is a nice fresh layer of snow all the way to the edge of the cliffs. Without the snow the rocks and grass are a bit too messy for my general preference. But I nice layer of snow cleans up the foreground allowing for a little more balance to the location, and in this photo, almost mirroring the sky.

Overall, I’m usually quite happy if I can come away with a decent image from here.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
46mm
ISO 64
f 9
30 Second
WB Daylight
10 Stop Nisi ND Filter

Photo: Olstind mountain peak rises over a frozen Reinefjord, Toppøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 7, 2024. 10:16

It is not so often that Lofoten is still enough or cold enough for a large portion of Reinefjord to begin to freeze over. From a higher view point, I could see that the surface was frozen well across towards Olstind peak, which rises in the distance.

Luckily my group arrived at the location before anyone else this day, so we had a clean, footprint free, foreground to work with, should it be wanted in the composition. Which in this case I’m not 100% sure about, and also shot a number of images looking for interesting patterns in the frozen fjord as a foreground.

Either way, it is always better to be cautious with a nice fresh layer of snow and not rush too quickly towards the most immediately obvious composition, ruining potentially better compositions you might not have immediately seen. The same applies to beaches, where too many times have I seen people immediately walk into the scene without first doing a bit of study, and walking through better compositions. It is good to slow down and look around a bit. Footprints don’t disappear once there…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
22mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: The classic view from Hamnøy bridge, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 20, 2024. 07:30

A moody morning at one of Lofoten’s classic views: the red rorbu cabins from Hamnøy bridge.

While the desire for many photography is for a bright and colorful sunrise, I generally tend to prefer a bit more of a moody shot these days – not like I don’t already have folders full of bright sunny sunrises as well. And while I’ll spend dozens of hours standing here this winter, only a few times will I pull out my camera for photo.

On this morning I liked the misty clouds around the summit of Festhæltinden and the stormy sea in the foreground. This is actually one location in the area that I think works better in a bit of stormy weather. You’re not going to be looking for reflections here anyhow, so a bit of wave action around the rocks is better than a calm sea in my opinion. It is also better around high tide, as otherwise the rocks become too much of a dominant part of the foreground.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
18mm
ISO 64
f 11
6 Seconds
WB Daylight
6 stop Nisi ND filter

Photo: Photographers stand shoulder to shoulder on Hamnøy bridge during sunrise, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 12, 2024. 08:43

With February arriving tomorrow Lofoten’s winter photography workshop season will be kicking into high gear. Over the next two months thousands of photographers will stand shoulder to shoulder on this bridge, rain or shine, sunrise or sunset, dancing aurora or full blizzard. Sometimes I think to myself that there is probably at least 1 photographer on the bridge 24/7. And no doubt with my first tour of the year having just started, I’ll spend many hours on this bridge myself over the months.

The Lofoten locals themselves will record many videos of the crowds as they pass over the bridge and a few of the more crowded days will get posted to the local facebook groups, gaining a slew of comments about all the crazy things tourists do on Lofoten’s roads. And so far this winter the roads have been a wrecking house for rental cars – worse than I have ever seen with multiple daily crashes becoming a regular occurrence, unfortunately.

And this bridge can be a dangerous location as too many people are disrespectful and ignorant of the fact that they are standing on the side of a road, the E10, Lofoten’s main highway and the route many of the winter fish take from the islands towards the ferry at Moskenes. Many times myself, I find I’m having to play traffic cop for oblivious tourists standing in the middle of the road, hood scrunched over their face as a snow plow, bus, or truck heavy with fish is heading down the icy bridge towards them. And then the honking and yelling from the drivers begin…

So, as with every year, please be respectful when visiting Lofoten this winter. It is in fact, not Disneyland. It is a place where thousands of people live and work, and would like to be able to safely drive the roads to do so.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
23mm
ISO 320
f 2.6
1/80 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Dark morning on Hamnøy bridge, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 31, 2020. 09:21

The darkest day of the year has now passed and the sun once gain begins its journey north and in only 5 months the midnight sun will shine all day long over Lofoten. But before that happens there is still 4 more months of northern lights filling the evening sky and hopefully many days of good skiing in March and April – once my photo workshop season finishes.

For a short while longer though, night will remain a strong presence over Lofoten. Here at 09:21 in the morning in late December it is darker than it will ever be in May. But once that first sun arrives a week into the new year, it feels like the days accelerate at an amazing speed. It is a swift transition from lazy mornings to having to set the alarm quite early to head out for sunrise – and sunsets changing from late afternoon to dinner time. Each week I wake up 30 minutes earlier to match the pace of the northward moving sun. Which by late March the decision then becomes: Get up incredibly early, or just simply stay up until sunrise and then sleep. Needless to say, though of us working as photo guides here in the far north have terrible sleep patterns!

On this New Year’s eve morning I was actually hoping to photography the full moon between the mountains in the background. But what was forecast for clear sky over Reine – looking directly up, ended up with a cloudy horizon, and thus no moon to see on this morning. I spend dozens of hours each winter standing on this bridge, but not often when it’s empty. And even though the iconic shot is too my right, I liked the contrast of the yellow lights and street against the deep blue morning sky of the Polar Night.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 100
f 9
8 Seconds
WB Daylight

Photo: Summer traffic waiting for the Moskenes – Bodø ferry, Moskenes, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 8, 2023. 13:53

Anyone who has been near Lofoten this summer will have seen how busy it was with the islands seeing substantial growth in tourism numbers over the previous year and far exceeding pre-Corona numbers. And with this growth, tension is building both among the locals but also increased dissatisfaction among tourists themselves; finding Lofoten less pristine than the advertising and social media influencers lead one to believe.

The other week I attended a tourism conference in Lekenes, with speakers from the local municipalities and some running tourism management abroad. My impression in that Lofoten is still not ready to join the big leagues of tourism, even if those numbers are here already. There simply does not seem to be enough inter-island cooperation and communication and definitely no regional planning. Moskenes is too poor to do much of anything. Flakstad wants what is best for Flakstad – Which means paid parking and many parking tickets written. Vestvågøy thinks they are using their own money to gift the rest of Lofoten popular locations, with little income in return. And Vågan wants a tourist tax as they will earn all the income, having the most hotels and accommodation. So basically, the chaos will remain on Lofoten for years to come.

During the conference, several presenters gave usage figures about Lofoten. In July, Ramberg had a daily average of 4707 vehicles passing through. I didn’t think that sounded like much, but if you break it down a little and figure most of that will be from 09:00 – 21:00 – that is roughly 390 vehicles per hour, or roughly every 10 seconds. All traveling along the outdated E10 of west Lofoten. For comparison, the E6 over Salfjellet – Norway’s main north to south highway, only averaged 3359 daily vehicle crossings in July. Lofoten is basically 25% busier than the main highway of northern Norway.

There were also some troubling ideas to hear coming from the local authorities. Their main solutions to all the chaos seems to be further regulations and restrictions. With some even questioning if Norway’s tradition of Allemannsretten – the right to roam – can survive in the era of mass tourism. This would be a tragic loss. But every time I see a motorhome camped in the entrance to the farm field outside my neighbour’s house, or along narrow roads where it is clearly not allow to park, both which were many times this summer, the voices against Allemannsretten grow stronger. Which is strange, as Allemannsretten does not apply to motor vehicles, so traffic laws already existing should be enough, but they aren’t enforced for some reason, so the business unfairly gets blamed on Allemannretten.

And so I fear we will all lose the freedom that once was here on Lofoten. And what a sad day that will be.

Camera Info:
DJI Mini 3 pro

Photo: Rain heavy clouds fill the midnight sky over mountains of west Lofoten. June 7, 2021. 0042

Last week (Friday Photo #596) I wrote about the endless light of summer’s midnight sun. But that was only part of the story. The endless light is the dream, but not always the reality. And while yes, the sun will be above the horizon the entire month on June, it is not always present in the landscape.

This evening I was looking at a mixed forecast with an eventually passing couple hours of rain. I took a gamble with the forecast and headed up to an isolated mountain ridge to camp for the night. While I got some decent photos, the weather ended up a bit heavier than expected, so I never got much light. If I would have sat the evening in my garden, it probably would have been one of those sky on fire sunsets. The weather forecast for either event basically looks the same, but you never know what will actually happen until it does. In which case, hopefully you have chosen the mountains over a bbq.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
18mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/10 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Evening sun shines over Kvalvika beach, Lofotodden national park, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 15, 2021. 22:55

Lofoten’s midnight sun season officially begins next week on May 24th. But for the whole of May, there isn’t really darkness, and in the last days before the midnight sun, it is practically daylight all night long already. Photographically, I actually prefer the weeks pre/post midnight sun, as this is when the chances for colourful twilight nights are best, while there is actually less color during the midnight sun itself, as the sun is never below the horizon.

I often use mid May to visit some of Lofoten’s more popular locations before they become too busy for my liking once summer fully arrives. One of these may trips is usually to Kvalvika beach for one of the last sunsets before summer. Maybe I camp, and maybe I just hike back out, but usually I’ll spend about 4-5 hours out there, hopefully alone in the last calm before the chaos. Although in the coming years, even in May I will probably need significant luck on my side to ever have a night alone at Kvalkiva again.

As a side night, having just returned from a long overdue trip back to California, I found an old hand drawn map for Kvalvika/Ryten in my travel journal from the summer of 2006 – when I camped alone at Kvalvika for 2 nights. The old days of limited internet info, no smart phones with GPS guided hiking apps, no social media hotspots. Guided instead by word of mouth, shared knowledge, and hand written maps. How the times have changed. And I’m not sure if I would say for the better…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 31
f 16
1/4 Second
WB Daylight

Photo: Cold weather and fresh snow leaves mid May looking like winter, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. May 8, 2022. 18:08

By early May the nights are no longer dark and the midnight sun is only a few weeks away. The light says summer! The weather however might not always agree, and winter fights to maintain its old on the islands. Summer will eventually arrive, but it can take until June or even July for that to happen.

This day was particularly dreary looking. Had I been shown the image and asked when I thought it was taken, I would have guessed anytime from November to April. I probably would not have guessed mid May. Aside from the snowy mountains, the landscape itself is still quite brown and wintry looking. I’m sure if I looked closer at the scene I would have seen the first signs of new grass growing, but from this distance, it just looks like winter brown.

This is one of the reasons why I find May a slightly frustrating month photographically. I know summer is coming soon and the landscape will be green and full of flowers. But the brown, dead grass and leafless trees of late April and early to mid May I find uninspiring. Even in the nicest light – which May often has as the days to the midnight sun approach, I wish the landscape was more vibrant and alive. But the winters are long here in the north, and so summer must wait a little while longer.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3
85mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/100 Second
WB Daylight