Friday Photo #718 – First Snow

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Photo: Autumn snow on the upper half of Himmeltindan, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 9, 2026. 09:29

The first autumn snow has dusted the mountains of Lofoten over the last several days, with this morning’s snow line falling to around 400m and a morning temperature of -0.5˚c in Leknes – the first minus temperatures of the season.

Yesterday was a typical autumn day with passing rain and occasional sleet showers out of the north. I even had a brief moment of graupel as I passed over Nappstraumen on the way to Reine. Overall, the snow line was holding at about 600m on most of the mountains in western Lofoten with ground temperates between 4-5˚c during the day. But overnight, the skies cleared and the thermometer dropped into the minus, remaining so in the morning hours of Friday.

There are many reports of slippery roads today and probably the same the next days until the temperatures rise again after the weekend. I still see lots of European camervans and motorhomes around, most of which with summer tires. Probably best for them to avoid driving in the mornings until the sun comes out. But as I wrote last week (Friday Photo #717), the sun is already low in the sky, and some areas of roadway may no longer receive direct sunlight the melt away the ice. This is particularly true in part of Flakstad, where the E10 is often in the shadow of high mountains on its southern side.

This photo is just a snapshot from my window this morning. I was planning to post something from the Reine area yesterday, but the snow wasn’t as visible, as it was mostly just a light dusting on the higher summit. At least here, one can see that its been cold overnight.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
130mm
ISO 100
f7.1
1/640 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #715 – First Storm

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Photo: Wind and waves at Unstad beach during the year’s first autumn storm, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 13, 2026. 15:07

Sunday saw the arrival of the year’s first Autumn storm – høststorm on Lofoten as a low pressure system swept across the islands bringing wind gusts near 30 m/s – 100+ kph and no shortage of sideways rain. I saw a comment from one hiker that their tent was broken during the night, and with still a lot of backers around, I’m sure a few more tents ended up in the trash bin as well.

While a little on the early side, the storm itself was not unusual for Lofoten. And there will be plenty more to follow in the coming months until the weather begins to calm again in the spring of next year.

Luckily, the wind didn’t seem to do too much damage to the autumn foliage, which is beginning to turn quite yellow by now; a little earlier than average I would say. Most likely the result of the cold and grey summer – or as my neighbour mentioned the other day, ‘What summer? It’s been autumn since June…’

Though the swell forecast wasn’t particularly high, at about 4-4.5 meters, I decided to head out to Unstad beach to take a loot around. Unstad is usually one of the better locations for storm watching in Lofoten as the west-southwest swells arrive right into the bay. The wind was blowing strong and I had to hide behind my van to take a few photos while hopelessly attempting to keep my lens dry in the blowing rain.

The light was pretty flat and boring as often is the case. Storms in Lofoten typically don’t look ’stormy.’ Just sideways rain and a flat grey sky. I didn’t stay long.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
71mm
ISO 200
f6.3
1/200 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #709 – Summer Fireweed

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Photo: Late summer fireweed, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 1, 2026. 15:14

Already a week into August and it is starting to feel like the year that summer forgot. The last time the temperature broke 20˚c in Leknes was June 11 – though there were a couple close days in July.

I’m now starting to get that subtle sense that Autumn is soon on its way to Lofoten. Despite the cool temperatures, the fireweed feels ahead of schedule this year and mostly has already reached it peak by now and is beginning to fade away in some places. This is usually a sign to me that the last days of summer are here.

And despite being cool, wet, and grey most of the summer, it feels like there has been a shift in the weather. The light, and the clouds, and the wind move differently. It doesn’t feel like the islands are warming up for summer any longer, but preparing for winter. And indeed, the first northern lights of the season are only a couple weeks away now.

Here was some roadside fireweed from last during a quick stop on the way back from Henningsvær. I’ve actually been moderately busy with guiding this summer, but have hardly touched my camera. Since getting back from Scotland in the end of June, I’ve only taken a handful of photos on 3 separate days. Not exactly a summer spent hiking and camping in the mountains as I expected.

Between house work and weather, it has been my least photographically productive summer since moving to Lofoten 10 years ago. Though this is not to say that my photography has slowed down, I’m taking more photos than ever, but most of this is now outside of Lofoten. Perhaps it’s time to find the time to start up my old travel blog again at codyduncan.com.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
34mm
ISO 100
f5.6
1/640 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #708 – Medskolmen sunset

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Photo: Setting sun behind Medskolmen mountain peak, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 29, 2020. 22:36

I can see Skolmen/Medskolmen looking out the window from my office right now as it rises like a steep wall out of the sea. It is more usually recognised as the background mountains from the famous ‘Eye of Uttakleiv’ location at Uttakleiv beach. As such an iconic part of Lofoten’s landscape, it receives relatively few hikers per year. I myself have only been up twice, as it is no easy journey most of the time.

With August around the corner, it is starting to feel like summer is winding itself down – especially with this year’s weather. But there is still plenty more long days ahead over the coming month until the September nights finally bring an end to summer for good.

This image is from a camping trip to Medskolmen a few years ago. Well, I actually didn’t camp myself, but just hung out in the soft heather of the summit ridge until some early hour of the morning when I hiked back down to my van. No need for a tent on such a summer night anyhow. I mainly waited until I could determine there wasn’t going to be an interesting sunrise as a wall of clouds had moved in from the east after midnight. From where I was standing here, I could look across the sea to my house, where my soft bed awaited me in a few hours.

Camera Info:
Nikon D850
Sigma 14mm f/1.8
14mm
ISO 100
f10
1/60 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #689 – Unstad Flow

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Photo: Waves flow over rocks at Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 28, 2026. 11:25

After all these years, Unstad still remains one of my favourite beaches on Lofoten and is one of the few beaches that I’ll still go to on my own as well, not just with photo workshops. On this day though, it was my first workshop of the year which got lucky with some nice and moody conditions before warming back up with a nice cinnamon bun at the surf shop. Not a bad way to start the morning.

In general for Unstad, the stormier the better, to the extent that you can still walk normally and not risk getting blow over, as there’s not much fun shooting in that. But some nice waves flowing over the rocks with passing snow flurries in the distance give Unstad a pretty nice mood when it happens. And with the constant passing of winter storms and high or low tides, the rocks are always in a different pattern and the waves flowing differently.

Unstad also works well as a beach for teaching seascape photography. While Uttakleiv is more popular among photographers, I find it easier to get better compositions out of Unstad. And, more importantly, it is generally a bit safer for many clients than the slippery and icy rock slaps at Uttakleiv, which has been particularly icy so far this winter due to the many weeks of cold. And in a couple more weeks, when the sun begins to set to the right over Helligberget, the last mountain, all kinds of interesting light becomes possible. I’ll be back for sure…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
25mm
ISO 64
f10
1/2 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #684 – Pastel Dawn

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Photo: Misty clouds conceal Ristinden peak at dawn, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 5, 2026. 09:30

I will dare to say that the last month has been the best winter in recent memory. Day after day of cold and still weather, barely a hint of wind, and nights of dancing northern lights over the snow covered mountains. Having completed my first 2 photo workshops of the year, both groups have walked away with amazing images that would often take multiple visits to Lofoten to achieve. It has been a good start to my winter guiding season compared to the struggles with warm, stormy weather of the previous couple years. Let’s hope this continues!

This image is from one of those mornings where I wish I could freeze time. Central Vestvågøy was largely covered in a low, wispy fog flowing in and out of the valleys and hills. Rarely have I ever seen such conditions in winter. Unfortunately, it was also a day in which I had to move the group from Leknes to Svolvær, which always makes things a little difficult with a van stuffed with luggage (and this group had a lot of luggage!).

As we drove east across Vestvågøy I could see the misty clouds swirling around the mountain peaks and as I reached the low pass at Torvdalshalsen, which, most importantly, has a parking area, I knew it would be a near-perfect location for the time being as the dawn light lit the steep slopes or Ristind among the swirling mist.

Despite the stillness, moments like this are often brief, and this was one of those times to remind the group with one of my common sayings, ‘Less talk, more walk!’ In other words, get moving people, this light isn’t going to last forever! And eventually the mist rose and concealed the mountain.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
340mm
ISO 200
f5.6
1/160 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #683 – Windswept

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Photo: Winter winds blow over Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 2, 2025. 11:48

But where are the mountains? Yes, there should be mountain in the background of this image, except at this moment in the middle of a passing snow shower, there aren’t. Or well, the mountains are there, you just can’t see them. Only a bit a patience, and understanding of Lofoten’s weather will determine if you leave the windswept beach or wait things out a little bit. For Lofoten in general, patience is often the key. Or perhaps experience is the key, as in the moment of this photo, all views seem lost. Should one stay, or walk away?

It is probably because of the false illusions of social media that many now expect almost every moment to be perfect. We want perfect scenes of a perfect snow covered beach and mountains, yet don’t expect to be there when the snow is actually falling and the mountains aren’t visible – that just occurs in some other magical time when we are not present. We only want the results, the scenes of perfection we now see a thousand times a day on social media.

But for a snow covered landscape to exist, it must snow at some point. And that moment might be when you are walking across a windswept beach.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
25mm
ISO 100
f9
1/15 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #679 – Pillows of Snow

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Photo: A young birch sapling in pillows of snow, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 14, 2025. 11:52

One thing I sometime miss about the Lofoten landscape is the ability to find a nice lonely tree in the middle of a field or a small isolated grove without too many other distractions. There are a few places around here and there, but most require more effort to reach than I’m able to do on most winter photo workshops. This area is one of the more accessible places, though even the bigger trees are more like bushes, and this ‘tree,’ more like a couple of sticks.

I was actually just shooting a bit of really abstract stuff of just the snow when I decided this little group of twigs might help a little with the scene. It is nothing much, but still a nice abstract moment of winter and snow – which there seems to be less and less of in Lofoten these last years…

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
360mm
ISO 200
f6.3
1/500 Second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #674 – Fullmoon Aurora

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Photo: Northern lights – Aurora Borealis illuminate the sky before a full moon, Skreda, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 14, 2025. 21:04

By now Lofoten’s northern lights season is almost half way over for the year: roughly August 20 – April 20. The bulk of my images will be be shot during my winter photo workshop season from late January to late March. On this evening, my group and already had a few hours of somewhat faint, but colourful aurora at Vik beach, just over the hill from our accommodation at Skreda. It was a cold night afternoon an already long day, so it was an early evening to be back to the cabins by 21:00.

Walking out onto the balcony of my cabin, there was still a nice green arch of aurora shining across the southern sky. The sea was calm and I actually liked the addition of the lights shining on the distant shore. And the nearly full moon added a little depth to the scene. Not the usual snowy mountains or beaches of my typical northern lights photos from Lofoten, but I like this image in a bit more of an abstract way – even more so as I was only 10 meter from my bed.

I still read online quite often the misinformation about not being able to see the northern lights with a full moon. This is absolutely false, as you can see here in this image. Yes, a full moon will reduce the visibility of a very faint aurora that you can already barely see with your eyes. But for any aurora worth photographing at least, the moon doesn’t make too much of a difference, and in fact, often aids in the overall image quality by illuminating the landscape and allowing for lower ISO and shutter speeds.

My main dislike of a full moon comes not from its direct interference with the visibility of the northern lights themselves, but more of what to do with it as a compositional element. In this image, I think the mood adds to the overall scene. But sometimes, the moon just doesn’t fit with where the aurora are in the sky and it’s in some awkward part of your preferred composition. Or, with the moon high overhead, it can cast your own shadow onto the foreground of the scene, leaving you struggling to find a foreground to the image. These are mostly critiques about composition, and not the full moon interfering with the visibility of the northern lights themselves.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 14-30mm f/4
16mm
ISO 2000
f4
3 Seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #673 – Rorbu Sunset

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Photo: December Rorbu sunset, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 1, 2023. 13:08

As Lofoten waits for the arrival of winter’s polar night, the little remaining sunlight may often glow bright on the southern horizon. But what looks like a nice colourful sunset in the above image, was only a small portion of the overall scene.

The following image is the overall scene I was presented with the moment I took the above image. It was a nice and calm December afternoon, but already by 13:00 the light of the day was beginning to fade. Standing in the same position and simply zooming in to 120mm provided an entirely different appearance and atmosphere to the moment.

So is one image more realistic than the other, both taken from the same location only 30 seconds apart. Was it a bright colourful sunset over snow covered cabins? Or was it just a glowing horizon surrounded by a world of blues and greys? Or perhaps both at the same time?

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
120mm
ISO 100
f10
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 24-120mm f/4
24mm
ISO 100
f10
1/30 Second
WB Daylight

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