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Friday Photo #658 – The Wind Trees

Photo: Mountain birch tree on Haugheia overlooking Nappstraumen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 14, 2025. 14:38

The weather has shifted and it feels like autumn is in the air. Last week I was down along the Helgeland coastline for a bit of a road trip and while the weather started off nice – too hot even – for a hike up Rødøyløva, it quickly deteriorated to wind and rain for much of the remained of the trip. I had planned to go to some mountain areas closer to the Swedish border as well, but it was evident that I would just get wet without much reward for photography. And so I headed back to Lofoten, where it is still rainy and windy, and looks to be so for the foreseeable future. I hope this year is not a repeat of last year.

With autumn around the corner and after a fairly lazy summer without much hiking, long overdue house projects had priority on any sunny days, it is time to get my legs moving again in preparation for planned autumn hiking season over in Sweden. Though this year I must say I don’t have too much motivation as I don’t currently have any ebook hiking projects underway. So I probably just go somewhere easy and hike for a week or so, and hopefully not the entire time in the rain.

Haugheia (hiking guide here), which I pass on the way to Leknes is my usual stop when I need to go for an hour walk just to get some movement in for the day. While most of the views are nothing too interesting, especially if I’m up there in grey-ish weather, the small grove of wind-twisted mountain birch trees on the western side is always an area I like to photograph. So even if just for a bit of exercise, I still always carry my camera just in case.

This tree here used to be part of one of my favourite compositions in the area – see Friday Photo #408. Unfortunately, the tree you see lying in the foreground also used to be part of the composition, but has since fallen in one of Lofoten’s many winter storms. It is a windy place up there along the ridgeline, which is what makes the trees what they are.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120 f/4
48mm
ISO 100
f5.6
1/320 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #654 – New Parking Regulations

Photo: New 4-hour parking limit signs installed at Skreda rest area, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 15, 2025. 14:06

A couple weeks ago in Lofotposten it was announced that Statens Vegvesen (Norwegian road authority) was planning to install a dozen or so parking time limit signs along the E-10 in Lofoten, Driving to and from Leknes this week, I noticed one of the new signs had just been installed at the Skreda rest area, which is the marking parking location for the popular Offersøykammen hike. Parking is now limited to 4-hours.

In other locations, 2-hour limitations have already been installed – like the parking area at Skagsanden beach, a popular surf location for locals and tourists a like in winter. So I guess surf session will be quite limited.

With 20˚c weather finally arriving this week, the weather isn’t the only thing which has heated up as the usual parking chaos at Haukland beach even lead to a farmer abandoning is tractor in the middle of the road, as illegally parked cars blocked the roadway and he couldn’t drive further. I was at Haukland at 10:30 yesterday morning with my first group of cruise ship guests and the parking lot was already completely full.

The main intent of these new time limit signs is an attempt to stop every parking location across Lofoten from turning into de-facto free campgrounds, which has been the case. Part of this has also come from truck drivers who are required to take breaks by law, but find their parking areas already filled with motorhomes and camper vans staying for the night. But driving by Skreda a couple nights ago, it seemed the signs had only a little affect as a dozen or so people were still camped there at 03:00 – and its not like anyone is going out to write tickets at this hour. So, I imagine for Skreda at least, camping will continue as usual.

As always, the Lofoten communities have poor inter-island cooperation. So limiting the parking in a larger parking area like Skreda will now just push the 15-20 free-campers somewhere else and make it someone else’s problem. And then more new signs and fences will be put and and everyone will get moved somewhere else again. Until finally there is no place for anyone to park and enjoy Lofoten’s nature.

The Lofoten that existed 10 years ago is gone. The freedom to pull off alone in some quiet spot and camp for the night has been replaced with no-camping signs, fences, time limits, paid parking, full campgrounds, and, for the last few remaining free parking areas, motorhomes and camper vans packed in like sardines – defiantly not how I would enjoy things. And this then makes finding parking for hiking more difficult for everyone, locals and tourists alike. But no politician is creative enough here to come up with shuttle bus systems to relieve traffic to popular areas like Haukland beach or Fredvang/Kvalvika beach or other solutions to the growing traffic along Lofoten’s outdated narrow roads. And so Lofoten becomes a neglected victim of its own popularity to the benefit of few.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 25-120mm
57mm
ISO 100
f8
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #641 – Stornappstind Reflection

Photo: Bluehour reflection of Stornappstind with dusting of snow, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 28, 2025. 06:37

For many weeks this winter even just a dusting of snow mid-way down the mountains like this morning was a welcoming sight. The temperatures for the entire week prior to this morning had been averaging over 6˚C and this was the first time in 8 days to fall below 0˚C again.

It takes close inspection of the image to know it was taken in winter, as it looks more like a typical autumn dusting of snow or maybe something from late spring. If you look closely, you can see some small patches of snow here and there on the mountain as well as some remaining snow in the gullies on the right of the image. These are small signs that more snow had previously been present but that almost everything else had melted away at some point. It has not been a good year for us skiers who live in the western half of Lofoten.

And while the image doesn’t look very wintry to me, I actually do like the look of the image overall and think the snow line helps add a little depth to the scene. Luckily, this was also a rare morning of still wind, so the reflections in these small tidal pools near Gravdal worked out quite nice in my opinion. Perhaps some areas are a bit dark and heavy – it was low tide – but I think it works as a nice framing of the mountain as it rises into the deep blue of the early morning sky.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
48mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
6 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #640 – Unstad Waves

Photo: Setting winter sun behind misty waves at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 25, 2025. 16:47

One benefit to this year’s windy and stormy winter is that the sea is anything but boring! Unstad in particular is always better photographically when large swells are rolling into the bay and I always try to take my groups there in such conditions.

This day was quite a stormy one, with the strong offshore wind blowing mist off the tops of the waves as they broke across the bay. At first I was just shooting the waves themselves with a telephoto lens from up near the parking lot. But as the setting sun emerged from behind the mountain Helligberget (the Holy Mountain), I headed down the the shoreline to see if I could come up with something different.

And while I love this conditions, it is also quite hard to capture the sense of being there amongst all the chaos into a single, still image. The wind, the mist and spay, the rumble of the waves, the smell of the ocean, the approaching storm, the surrounding mountains – there is a lot so see! For me, I was manly looking at the atmosphere of the mist blowing into the air and the atmosphere this created with the sun setting in the background.

Unfortunately though, the angle needed to get the mist blowing into the sky meant getting down by the beach where visibility of the larger waves breaking further out in the bay was lost. Overall I like the feeling of this image, but it does fail to capture much of the drama and the size of the waves on this day.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
97mm
ISO 100
f 8
1/50 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #638 – Snow and No Snow

Photo: Snow and no snow at Haukland, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. March 17, 2025. 09:55. And March 6, 2025. 12:40

In the last days of March it finally feels like spring is in the air and that winter is coming to an end. However, much of the winter so far has already felt this way already. For many visitors to Lofoten this winter season, snow has been a rare element on the islands, and many weeks looked more like May or October than January, February, or March.

That is not to say there hasn’t been a lot of snow this winter as well, as there has been. But more often than not, a nice snowfall has been followed by warm rain and then an extended period of mild weather. Particularly so in February, which ended up being 2.8˚c warmer than normal. For Lofoten’s already fine balance between snow and rain, this tipped the scales heavily in the rain direction this year.

Lofoten was not alone in the mild weather this year. Much of northern Norway experienced the same and rain was no stranger in Tromsø or Senja either. So the difference of winter wonderland or brown dead grass was just a bit of luck this year – more so than most years. Hopefully a little more snow falls in the following weeks, as after two months of back to back photo workshops, now that I have some free time, I’d at least like to be able to pull out my skis for a mountain or two!

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
40mm
ISO 100
f 6.3
1/400 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
41mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #635 – Winter Cormorants

Photo: Cormorants at dawn, Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 15, 2024. 09:11

As the blue hour light over Haukland beach faded into early dawn I was ready to head off to the next location. But walking back to the van, I thought this row of skarven – cormorants had a nice profile against the distant mountains. And as a beginning wildlife photographer, I thought I might try and get a photo.

I would have liked to shoot a little wider, capturing the whole rock, but unfortunately with the tide level, there was a small rock to the right of the frame which I found too distracting. But in this image I also find the sloping of the rock on the right side a little distracting as well. I think this image has potential, but needs another attempt or two for something better.

The main difficulty though, was waiting for all the birds to have their heads up and in a sideways profile. Had they been sitting in this position the whole time, I probably could have gotten a better composition immediately. But as they were constantly cleaning themselves and moving around, it was really a bit of luck to get them all with their heads up, and not much time to do much else. Next time…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
360mm
ISO 800
f 6.3
1/800 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #633 – Unstad Winter

Photo: Dusting of snow covers rocks at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 5, 2024. 12:23

Sometimes one doesn’t need to contribute much more to a photograph than being there. This is one of those times: park the van, walk 50 meters, setup camera and tripod, take a photo.

Lofoten has done all the real work…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
35mm
ISO 64
f 10
30 Seconds
WB Daylight
10 Stop Nisi ND Filter

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Friday Photo #629 – Midday Shadows

Photo: Noon winter sun casts long shadows over icy shoreline at Nappstraumen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 24, 2025. 12:23

Lofoten hasn’t had much sun this year. Well, Lofoten hasn’t have much sun since last August. But today finally arrived to a fully clear sky and bright sun for everyone to enjoy – at least those on the south facing side of Lofoten. For those of us on the north side, it will still be some weeks or months until the sun is high enough in the sky to shine over our houses.

I had originally written a different article for today, mostly about the frequent changing weather so far this year – from deep snow to heavy rain and flooding to freezing and Icy – which is Lofoten’s current state until next week when it warms up and rains again. But with such a wonderful day, I thought a sunny photo would be nicer.

My original plan had been to shoot a photo at 12:00 noon, mostly to illustrate now low in the sky the sun still is right now, 3 weeks after it first rose again after the Polar Night. But heading out my door in what I though was plenty of time for a short drive down the road, I didn’t realize my van was frozen solid like a rock – even the doors had trouble opening. I guess it must have rained after I returned home yesterday and frozen overnight. So what I thought would be a short drive down the road first turned into 10+ minutes of me scraping ice off my windshield so I could drive. (Remember, in Norway you always need to have clean windows, being in a rush is no excuse)

As I arrived at my planned location just 5 km down the road, I could see my delay caused me to miss my originally planned shooting location as the sun was already emerging too far from behind the mountain. This led me to have to climb up a small icy hill to get the sun back in a better position in relation to the mountain. But again, it wasn’t quite perfect – at least for me planning to have a photo taken directly at 12:00. I probably missed the shot my 1-2 minutes.

Not being satisfied, this led me to drive over to the other side of Nappstraumen, where I’d then have a 2nd chance for the sun emerging from the mountain – although by this time, I’d obviously lost my planning for a shot at 12:00 noon.

Luckily the shoreline was well frozen and a number of small icy ponds were around to attempt to use as a foreground. I always find this a slightly difficult location as it’s full of potential but difficult to find a composition that works well.

Once the sun was a little higher into the sky I noticed the nice shadows being cast from the small rocks in the ponds. So instead of using the end of the pond as a foreground, I put my camera almost all the way down on the ice and looked for what I could come up with. I shot a few different variations and think this one probably came out the best – my 3rd attempt for this weeks photo…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
17mm
ISO 100
f 14
1/100 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #627 – Northern Lights

Photo: Northern lights and moonlit mountains over Vik beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 24, 2019. 00:13

The media hype around this year’s solar maximum and, ‘OMG!!! Best time in 10 years to see northern lights!’ No doubt means Lofoten will be busier than ever this coming winter season. But I’ll tell you a little secret – there are always northern lights on Lofoten, and most anywhere in the aurora oval. Some periods may be more quiet that other, such as January 2024, which otherwise should have been very active, but that has as much to do with the earth’s magnetic field, as it does with the activity from the sun. And of course the biggest factor for Lofoten, the weather!

If you had been to Lofoten during the previous months, then you’ll mostly have been disappointed with your northern lights chasing, as there has been a near continuous cloudy sky and stormy weather over most of northern Norway. No matter how active the sun is, if you can’t see the sky, then you cant see the northern lights. On my own, I usually only go out under ideal conditions the days, as so far that has only been a handful of nights this season.

But the good news is! There is no on-off switch for the northern lights. They will be here next year, the year after, and many years to come.

Here is an old photo from January 2019, during the solar minimum when the sun was supposed to relatively inactive. And yet here is an aurora filled sky over moonlit mountain peaks. And I have dozens of similar nights each year for the last decade. So don’t worry, the northern lights aren’t going to be ‘over’ if you don’t visit the north this year. Next year will be fine as well, and all the years into the future…

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 2000
f 1.8
1.3 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #626 – Twilight Moon

Photo: Moon in twilight sky over Skolmen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 3, 2023. 11:19

Welcome to 2025! When I first registered 68north.com in 2010 as a small portfolio for my growing collection of travel images from Lofoten, I never imagined what the journey over the next 15 years would have been. Nor did I image when I first started writing these Friday Photo posts over 10 years ago that I would still be here writing one every week. The world is a lot different today than it was then, especially the world of travel, photography, and information.

In some ways I still have one foot in that old world. I still don’t use a gps when hiking, I’m not that into video and social media, I’ve never put any advertising or sponsored content (other than my own products) on this website, and I’m still writing blog posts. With the growing presence of AI in both imagery and words, perhaps a hand written site like this is more important than ever. Even if no one reads blogs anymore amongst the increasing supply of fantasy depicted as reality. At least the information is here should anyone come searching for it.

And a new year means the days are getting brighter as the Polar Night is quickly coming to an end. Weather permitting, it might be possible to see the first half of the sun tomorrow as it floats across the southern horizon. That said, these first days are the year as still quite short. Here, a waxing gibbous moon is just about to pass over Skolmen mountain in the distance.

Opposite of the midnight sun, there is the midday moon during winter here in Lofoten. Whereas in ’normal’ latitudes, a full moon will rise opposite of sunset. When sunset doesn’t occur, and the sun is below the horizon in the south, the moon can be above the horizon at noon towards the north – 180˚ opposite the sun.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z7 II
Nikon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
330mm
ISO 200
f 5.3
1/40 Second
WB Daylight

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