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Friday Photo #134 – Unstad Beach

Mountain view over Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Summer light over Unstad, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 7, 2015. 21:27

Clouds and frequent rain showers had been passing the Islands all day. But finally by evening, the sky seemed to be clearing enough for me to venture out to the hills.

My objective was a small mountain above Unstad, but not knowing where/if there was an actual route to the summit, I picked what looked like the most obvious way, a steep grassy hillside full of grazing sheep with a small creek running down the middle. Progress was slow as the wet grass was slippery and inconsistent, often with rocks buried beneath.

About halfway to the ridge I was trying to reach, I realized the light would be gone before I arrived. So I traversed over a steep slope and out onto some cliffs where I could get a nice view of Unstad, with the low evening sun shining across the village. The shadows of the clouds were racing across the land. giving depth to the scene. I would have liked to have been on top of the mountain, but I’m happy with the results here.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 70-200mm f/4
98mm
ISO 250
f 8
1/320 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #133 – Offersoykammen Midnight Sun

MIdnight sun view over coastal landscape from summit of Offersøykammen mountain peak, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Midnight sun from Offersøykammen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 7, 2015. 00:45

The good thing about summer on Lofoten is that even if you get a late start, the sun will still be around. I started the evening unsuccessfully trying to make my way to a trail-less summit near Unstad. As it became apparent that the light I was after wasn’t going to wait until I reached the top, I headed down and proceeded to make other plans as my soaked shoes where drying in the car’s heater.

With a couple options available, I chose Offersøykammen, pulling into the parking lot just after 23:00. Loaded down with camera gear, I sprinted my way towards the summit, ascending the 400 meters in just over 30 minutes – completely soaked in sweat, despite the cold temperatures.

The direct light had faded as the sun moved behind the clouds, so I set up a time-lapse with my Fuji xt-1, then set about wandering around the summit looking for other compositions. This photo was taken a bit before 01:00, as the sun was reaching its lowest point in the sky, after this, sunrise would begin…

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 200
f 8
1/60 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #132 – Unstad Midnight Sun

Midnight sun over Unstad beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Waiting for midnight over Unstad, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. June 5, 2015. 23:28

I addition to a few last photos from my Seasons on Lofoten – Summer eBook, I was also already planing one of the next books, about the beaches of Lofoten. But beyond merely capturing the beaches from sea level, I was also looking to photograph them from above. Unstad beach was the 2nd hike I made, up to the summit of Nonstind.

I started the evening much earlier, with some nice evening light shining in over the bay. But as time passed, I was quite ready to leave the mountain yet, so I headed up a bit further. Somewhere along the ridge there was this nice overlook, which I reached just as the sun emerged for a few minutes from the otherwise mostly cloudy sky.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
32mm
ISO 100
f 9
1/100 second
WB Dayligh

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Friday Photo #127 – Himmeltindan Winter Sunrise

Vikvatnet winter, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter sunrise over Vikvatnet and Himmeltindan, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  January 27, 2015.  10:06

A somewhat mild winter, temperature wise, left many of Lofoten’s lakes still unfrozen or only partially frozen at the end of January.  Lakes that I had stood in the middle of at the same time in previous years were now no-go zones, unless I was looking for a cold swim.

But in this gentle balance of freezing and thawing, unique patters and shapes can form which give a bit of detail to a scene.  In this case, there was a rock just beneath the thin layer of lake ice which kept the nights snow from melting.

The snow circle was a few meters into the lake.  I tried to get as close as possible, and still being close to the shore, the water wasn’t that deep, but I didn’t want to risk breaking through.  So I pushed my camera and tripod out as far as my arms could reach, the ice making creaking sounds with every movement, so I could get something of a decent composition.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 125
f 11
1/13 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

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Friday Photo #125 – Offerøykammen Winter View

Offersoykammen in winter, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Winter view from summit of Offersøykammen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  January 20, 2015. 12:01

The fine weather of mid January 2015 held on for a few more days after my time guiding for Muench Photography Workshops.  After Picking up my rental car in Stamsund, I didn’t really know what else to do than go for a short hike.

There was lots of fresh snow around and my snowshoes wouldn’t arrive for a few more days, so I had to pick something easy and familiar – Offersøykammen seemed like a good fit. Luckily a couple people had gone up the route before me – it’s a popular peak with the locals – so I didn’t have to do any route finding and thus made pretty good time as I climbed towards the summit.

The winds picked up a bit as I reached the top a little before noon.  The low winter sun, barely rising over Skottind to the south cast a nice orange/pink glow across the wind carved snow of summit.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
14mm
ISO 200
f 11
1/100 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #120 – Lofoten Northern Lights

Northern Lights, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Northern Lights over Haukland beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 31, 2015.  22:16

What had started out as a windy morning had calmed to little more than a light breeze by evening.  In the previous 2 weeks I had photographed some decent aurora displays, but finally on the end at January the moon was bright enough to light up the landscape. Now all I had to do was wait.

I didn’t want to get too comfortable while waiting in the car, but with the cold and the dark, sleep become difficult to avoid.  So I set my alarm to go off every 30 minutes to wake me up for a quick peak outside.  At 21:30, I saw the first hint of green in the sky.

I had parked near Haukland beach, knowing that I can reach a number of good locations within a few minutes to adjust for where the northern lights might appear in the sky.  As luck would have it, they where almost perfectly aligned over Haukland, and so that is where I started a night of shooting.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
15mm
ISO 2000
f 4
8 seconds
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #117 – Old Farm House

Old Farm House, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Old farm house in winter, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  February 18, 2015.  09:12

This is one of those scenes which I’ve driven by dozens of times and always thought I need to stop and take a photo sometime, yet up to this point, never have.  Though there was always something more to this image than exists here.  And so finally on this trip, the image I wanted became available.

In early February 2015, hurricane Ole passed over Lofoten, bringing winds over 100mph and bringing widespread destruction, including collapsed buildings and missing roofs.  Until Ole visited Lofoten, there was an ugly power line running through the field behind the house.  Well, Ole took care of that.

The first time I drove by after Ole I immediately noticed the power line was down, and wondered how long I might have until it was put back up.  But it took more than a week for the right conditions to present themselves for me to do justice to this old house.  I would have liked a bit more snow, but overall, I think the image came out quite nice.

Camera Info:
Nikon D810
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 31
f 16
30seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top/bottom
6 stop B+W ND filter

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Friday Photo #109 – Aerial Lofoten

Aerial view over Steine, Vestvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Aerial view over Steine, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 24, 2014.  11:44

This autumn I finally had the opportunity to fly in a small cesna and capture some aerial photos of Lofoten.

While it looks like a nice and calm day in this photo, it was actually quite windy and turbulent.  I had originally planned to fly over the western tip of the islands, but as I reached the airport and met with the pilot, Moskenesøy was still completely covered in cloud.  The east, however, was mostly blue sky.

This was my first, and only, experience shooting from a small plane, so I did my best just to keep my camera level and hopefully get something interesting in the frame as we bounced up and down in the turbulence created from Lofoten’s mountains.  Even the pilot commented that it was a rough day to be in the air!

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
35mm
ISO 500
f 7.1
1/1600 second
WB Daylight

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Friday Photo #98 – Grytdalstind And River

View towards Grytdalstind mountain peak, Vestvagoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Grytdalsdind rises over river at dusk, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Sept 24, 2013.  18:38

The river Nordalselva flows through Nordal valley before rising into the triangular peak of Grytdalstind.  Only a short walk from Unstad, it feels completely wild here, with few signs that anyone has passed this way before you.

It had been an afternoon hiking and exploring, ending on the 534 meter, and quite exposed, summit of Grytdalstind.  Getting lost on the numerous sheep trails during the descent, we lost a fair amount of time going cross country through the landscape.  Normally this is fairly simple on Lofoten, but this area seemed to be especially rocky and with a few forests of dwarf birch to precariously navigate.

We were exiting the valley just as the last light was shining over the summit of Grytdalstind.  I tried to find a good composition, but was too late in the quickly fading light.  So I continued to hike on until I reached one of the crossings of the Nordalselva and thought it would make an interesting enough photo.  I crossed the river and headed back up the other side until I reached a wider section, and I place I could get to without sinking in bog.

Had I been here about 20 minutes earlier, it would have no doubt been a much more dramatic photo.  But I think the scene here is interesting enough to represent the end of a nice autumn day in the mountains of Lofoten.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 200
f 13
15 seconds
WB Daylight
B+W 6 stop neutral density filter

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Friday Photo #97 – Autumn Hiking

Hiker walking through autumn mountain landscape near lake Vikjordvatnet, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: A hiker travels through the autumn mountain landscape, Vikjorden, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Sept 29, 2012.  12:21

I’m not sure its possible for me to choose a favorite season on Lofoten, but it could possibly be autumn.  The crowds of summer have left, the days begin to grow cool and short, the northern lights once again fill the night sky, and the land fills with color while storms return with increasing frequency.

The last couple years the islands have been fortunate to enjoy rather mild autumn weather, often better than summer! I’m somewhat less adventurous, as I never quite trust the weather, but I find it a nice time to head out and explore some new areas for some short hikes; just to see what I can find, and maybe return to in the summer’s better weather for camping.

On this particular day I had been photographing around some small roadside lakes when I saw a local pull up and head into the mountains along a faint trail.  Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to follow him into the golden landscape; not like I had anywhere else to go, and it wasn’t likely to rain anytime soon.

Soon the trail passed a small lake and I veered off the trail and climbed a small hill to get a bit of an overview just as the man was hiking through the scene.  I continued up the trail to another small lake and made note of a few mountain routes to return to in the future.  Places which are rarely photographed yet no less spectacular than the iconic locations on Lofoten.  It is these little discoveries that assure me that I will never get bored with Lofoten, I just have to go a little farther from the road…

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
34mm
ISO 100
f 7.1
1/400 second
WB Daylight

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