Vestvågøya | 68 North

Friday Photo #93 – Stamsund Aurora

Photo: Northern lights rise into the sky over Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Oct 8, 2011. 23:14

Good things (sometimes) come to those who wait. In my case, this was my last night of a 2 week trip on Lofoten. A trip which thus far the northern lights had failed to appear. For the most part it had been a fairly stormy and turbulent autumn on the islands, with only rare moments of clear skies. But on this final night in Stamsund, the weather calmed and the sky cleared. I could sense something would happen.

It was a small group of us left at the hostel and as usual were spent our evenings sitting around the table, warmed by the fire and hopefully some good food in our stomach (on this evening, young Nicola, the wandering French chef, had prepared quite a feast for the group as an end of season party).

Well after dark we heard a knock at the window, followed by ‘come outside quickly!’ Everyone rushed to put on their jackets, grab their gloves and head out into the night. Me, I had to run to grab my camera and tripod.

Entering the darkness of the night, the sky was filled with green. I immediately climbed the hill behind the hostel, and then headed out to the coast, joined by Nicola. Roar took the others out on the boat to watch from the calm waters of the Vestfjord as the aurora danced and filled the sky in every direction. Another one of those moments where I wish I could have had 10 cameras!

This was my best night of northern lights to date. My next best night occurred again on October 8th, the following year, where I was unfortunate enough the be aboard the Hurtigruten while sailing across the Vestfjord and northern lights filled the sky from horizon to horizon.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
24mm
ISO 1250
f 3,2
15 seconds
WB Daylight

October 17, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #92 – Holandsmelen Autumn

Autumn, Friday Photo, Vestvågøya

Photo: Autumn light shines across the rocky summit of Holandsmelen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 26, 2013. 17:35

Day 3, mountain 3. After having spent a rather sleepless (because I was trying to keep an eye out for northern lights) night on Reinebringen and descending in the morning, I was feeling somewhat lazy and more or less content to sit around the Stamsund hostel eating popcorn. But as the hours of the day passed, it became evident that I couldn’t just sit around. So it my best ‘I’m lazy but need to do something’ mode, I headed towards the small peak of Holandsmelen.

I was a bit worried about the views, due to the close proximity to Leknes and the urbanized areas of Vestvågøy, but I figured there would at least be some decent views of Vik beach, and perhaps something else. I arrived on the summit with the sun hanging low on the horizon, quickly approaching a thickening layer of clouds out over the sea.

The best images were towards the beaches, where I managed to get a few exposures off before they fell into shadow. Luckily the sun remained shining a bit longer on the summit, giving me some time to explore the unique rocky texture of the otherwise ‘soft’ mountain. Holandsmelen is an easy hike and probably a place I’ll be back to to explore again with some different light, maybe I can even find a flat enough spot to sleep for the night, hopefully without too many rocks poking into my back.

The pointy mountain in the center of the image is Skottind.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
28mm
ISO 200
f 14
1/40 second
WB Daylight

October 10, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #87 – Stamsund Sunset

Friday Photo, Summer, Vestvågøya

Photo: Pink sunset over Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 22, 2010. 00:51

The year 2010 was my first summer back on Lofoten for four years, having spent my last few trips getting to know the islands in the other seasons. As usual, my first stop on the islands was the Stamsund hostel, where I had arranged a meeting with a German friend whom I had spent some weeks with during the previous autumn: a fellow Lofoten addict.

Despite the village of Stamsund not being the most interesting place on Lofoten, there is still something of a wild and unspoiled coast just a short distance from the harbor beyond the hostel. I have stood upon these rocks dozens of times in all sorts of weather. They are one of those places where I can be sitting inside and eating dinner and then Roar will come knocking at the window, ‘ Come outside, the sky is pink!’

And so I gather my camera and run out across the rocks, sometimes a little slippery if it has been raining, and head towards the sea.

This evening a bitter wind was blowing, but the light was brilliant. I found a somewhat sheltered spot on the rocks to take this photo, the waves crashing at my feet.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 16-35mm f/4
23mm
ISO 200
f 16
0.3 second
WB Daylight

September 5, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #85 – Uttakleiv Light

Friday Photo, Summer, Vestvågøya

Photo: Afternoon light at Utakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 28, 2013. 18:14

For the last few years I’ve tried to tell myself that I have enough photos of Utakliev beach. Yet, like clockwork, each time I’m on the islands I head out there, ‘ just the check things out…’ Often I find the place windswept and barren. Yet on certain days, where the rest of the islands are under gale force winds, Utakleiv can be the place where a tripod wont blow over.

This was a particularly blustery summer day. I had stopped at a few different locations, but most were more windy than I would have liked. The clouds were moving fast through the sky and the fleeting moments of sun were separated by spells of heavy, sideways falling, rain.

I headed out to Utakleiv in the rain and waited in the car until I could see the rain beginning to pass. Soon enough a bit of sun began to shine in the distance. Looking to the left, I could see the next front quickly approaching. I had time for a few photos and then drops of rain began to fall again while the distant mountains disappeared behind the clouds.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3,5 tilt+shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 16
8 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom
6 stop B+W neutral density filter

August 29, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #84 – Stamsund Twilight

Friday Photo, Summer, Vestvågøya

Photo: Summer twilight, Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July 31, 2010. 01:19

Summers on Lofoten mean sleepless nights. With the sun finally setting in mid July, the following weeks provide magical twilight nights as the end of summer begins to approach. It is in these weeks that I like to head out at midnight and see what I can find.

Stamsund was my base for all of my first visits to Lofoten. I was poor in those days and more or less happy just to be on the islands. I couldn’t afford a rental car, so I would spend many of my days wandering around the coast and nearby mountains of the hostel.

Even to this day, the coastline just a short walk from the hostel remains one of my favorite places to photograph. Over the years I have seen everything, from the seasons first snow, northern lights from horizon to horizon, gale force storms, and calm silence. It is someplace I will return to again and again, always finding some new light to photograph.

Camera Info:
Nikon D700
Nikon 85mm f/2,8 tilt+shift
85mm
ISO 200
f 8
121 seconds
WB Daylight

August 15, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #78 – Ice Puzzle

Friday Photo, Vestvågøya, Winter

Photo: Ice puzzle, Nedredal, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 7, 2014. 15:23

Despite the cold temperatures and traces of snow on the higher mountain peaks, Winter in the low grounds was particularly difficult to find this year (2014). With barely any snow to speak of, I was left looking for other ways to show that it was February and not May on Lofoten.

The southern road, 815, on the Vestfjord side of Vestvågøy is a seldom photographed area of the islands, but a location that often provides a variety of compositions in changeable light. Or in the case of Winter, the low, boggy sections of coastline where fresh and salt water meet tend to freeze and break apart after a sufficient period of cold.

The result can be a scenic coastal landscape covered in puzzle-like sheets of ice. Exposed to the southwardly setting sun, what looked like a promising sunset unfortunately faded away into Winter’s usual combination of a deep blue-gray color as the last light faded from the sky. But I still like the abstract and complex, yet simple, composition of the image.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 100
f 13
.3 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

July 4, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #76 – Utakleiv Beach Winter

Friday Photo, Vestvågøya, Winter

Photo: Dusting of snow covers Utakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 9, 2014. 11:41

Walking out of the hostel in the early morning hours it was an unexpected surprise to find a light dusting of snow had fallen overnight; an otherwise rare event during my previous 9 days on Lofoten thus far. We chased the promise of a nice sunrise to another location, which failed to appear, before making our way towards Haukland and Utakleiv. Being a Sunday, I was eager to get to the beaches before the snow was filled with footprints from other photographers and locals on their afternoon walks – do you know how much damage a single dog can do to an otherwise pristine beach? Some might say, ‘just photoshop out the footprints.’ But I don’t agree with that. Better to come back another day and try again.

With luck, and it being nearly noon, no one had thus far decided to walk along Utakleiv beach, or at least not the majority of it. So I was pleasantly surprised to come across some untouched sections of beach to photograph.

Had there been no snow on the beach, I probably would not have taken this image. The light is quite flat and I already have a decent collection of images from Utakleiv that I’ve taken over the years. But with a little snow, I had the opportunity to produce something somewhat new in the otherwise familiar setting.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 13
13 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

June 20, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #75 – Unstad Beach

Friday Photo, Vestvågøya, Winter

Photo: Dark sky over Unstad beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 10, 2014. 10:30

Heavy clouds greeted the arrival of dawn and it was obvious that there would be no colour to chase. Back to bed for a little more sleep, as if more sleep is needed in the long nights of winter. Later, we slowly made our way to Unstad beach to see what we could find.

A lone surfer was out, the head-high turquoise waves all to himself; if only I had had a lens longer than 85mm with me. The beach was otherwise empty as I made my way down among the rocks and to the tide line. What a change of scene from my pervious visit a week prior, where I was hardly able to stand in the gale force winds. This day was how I like it, calm and gentle.

While clouds still filled the sky from horizon to horizon, the light had an eerie clarity to it, something more than the drab grey which can be all to present. There was sharpness and contrast with a softness and depth as the clouds traveled across the sky.

Though I have spent hours on this beach, I contented myself with a few more before moving on the see how the frozen Utdalsvatnet would appear – not that interesting as it turned out.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 tilt-shift
24mm
ISO 50
f 11
15 seconds
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom
6 stop B+W ND filter

June 13, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Lofoten Islands Winter 2014 Part 1 – Northern Lights Greetings

Stories, Travel, Vestvågøya

Photo: Northern Lights fill the sky over Utakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 1, 2014

[This is the first post of a six part series about my travels to Lofoten during February and March 2014. More will come each week.]

The journeys from California to Lofoten are always long, and I always arrive thinking of the soonest possibility I can lie down flat on a bed, or in this case, the back of my rental car. I also made the mistake of arriving on the islands on a Saturday, which is never a good idea, as it meant a long wait in Leknes for my bus to Stamsund, where I would pick up my car. Normally I would hitchhike, but this time I was burdened with ski gear which would no doubt ruin any chance I had of catching a lift.

It was finally the early afternoon when I pulled up to the parking area at Utakleiv beach, folded down the backs seats to the car and crawled into my sleeping bag. Early afternoon on February 1st while north of the arctic circle means it’s just about dark. I was soon asleep.

Some hours later the slamming of a car door followed by some somewhat loud voices woke me from my slumber. It was dark. I wiped a clear spot from the fogged up windows to see if the stars were out, in which case I would try and stay up a bit longer and wait for Northern Lights. But upon peaking out the window was a gift even better, Auroras! A faint green arch hanging over the beach and mountains. I quickly dressed, prepared myself for the cold, then hopped out of the car and went down to the beach, the lights now getting brighter.

I shot for a while at the beach, but I noticed the stronger parts seemed to be coming from behind the mountains to the left, so I quickly headed back to the car and drove a few km to the beach at Vik, more of less just around the corner from Utakleiv, and giving a much more open view to the western part of the sky.

Barely having reached the beach and put my camera back on the tripod the sky lit up, from the horizon, fully overhead, and then behind me. Not a bad welcome to Lofoten!

Photo: Northern Lights fill the sky over Utakleiv beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 1, 2014

Photo: Northern Lights rise into the sky over Vik beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 1, 2014

Photo: Northern Lights fill the sky over Vik beach, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. February 1, 2014

April 30, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

Friday Photo #62 – Vestvagoy Winter

Friday Photo, Vestvågøya, Winter

Photo: Winter landscape, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Feb 16, 2013. 14:22

The light on Lofoten is not always magical and quite often you’ll have to make due with much less than ideal conditions. This day in particular had been dull and flat, low clouds casting near contrast-less gray light over the land. One of those days where I tend to drive in circles looking for something, yet often find nothing.

But Lofoten, particularly in winter, is more than glowing pink mountains and amazing sunsets. The islands are often bleak, weary, and forlorn. Skipping these moments means missing out on what the islands really are, while not always visually spectacular, the islands have more depth than the idealized illusion of them which we see posted all across the internet.

Camera Info:
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
34mm
ISO 200
f 11
1/100 sec
WB Daylight
2 images – top, bottom

March 14, 2014/0 Comments/by Cody

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