January sun over Skjelfjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Return Of The Sun

January sun over Skjelfjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Hello old friend, it has been a while. Welcome back to the north. I hope you had some nice adventures down south and I wish you had time to stay to tell me your stories, but I know you can’t right now. Soon though, you’ll keep me up all night for our midnight conversations during my journeys among the empty mountains. And that I look forward to!

I saw the sun today! For the first time in more than a month. While the polar night has technically been over for about a week or so, heavy clouds have draped Lofoten during most of that time, concealing any views of the southern horizon. But today, for a few brief moments, there was light again!

Over the coming weeks the days with lengthen at an incredible pace and soon I will forget what these dark days were like. This was my first polar night in the north, and while I was cold, lonely, and bored at times, I am glad I stayed for the experience and look forward to the next one – kinda…

January sun over Nesland, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Stormy sea crashes against the coast at Nesland, Lofoten Islands, Norway. January 12, 2017

Polar Night - Lofoten Islands, Norway

Lofoten Mørketid

Polar Night - Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Morning twilight over Blekktind and Flakstadpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 2016

Lofoten has entered the time of year known as the Mørketid – literally translating to ‘dark time,’ but better known as the polar night. The sun no longer rises above the horizon and the ‘days’ become gradually darker and shorter until the winter solstice – the longest night of the year.

Most of December has been on the stormy and, for the arctic circle, warm side. Lots of wind and rain have been blowing through the fjord lately, my house moving and shaking as night after night of storms have passed. However, Sunday brought cold and clear skies over the islands.

With the sun below the horizon, the day is little more than a few hours of a soft twilight glow. But in fine weather such as this, the light is simply magical, and one forgets that the sun will never rise, as it doesn’t really need to.

The wind and rain are back again for the next week, but hopefully there will be some more days like this before the sun returns in early January.

Polar Night - Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Skjelfjord noon, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 2016

Polar Night - Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Skjelfjord twilight, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 2016

Polar Night - Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Stjerntind twilight, Lofoten Islands, Norway. December 2016

New Greenland Gallery

Photo: Sailing off the east coast of Greenland. August 2015

I’ve added a gallery of images from Greenland: CHECK IT OUT HERE

I have also put out a short video from the trip: CHECK IT OUT HERE

I photographed the trip for Rubicon 3 sailing, an expedition sailing company based out of the UK with an emphasis on training and education while taking guest to wild and remote parts of the world. The Greenland expedition began is Isafjordur, in the remote Westfjords of Iceland. We spent a week plus exploring Iceland’s fjords while waiting for the ice to clear and a good weather window to make the 72 hour crossing of the Denmark Straight to Tasiilaq, a remote village on the east coast of Greenland.

2015 experienced a cooler than normal summer, so the sea ice remained along the coast of Greenland later into the season than normal, leaving us wondering if we could actually make it to port. But as we arrived off the coast after 3 days at sea, we were able to weave our way through the ice into Kong Oscars Havn and moor up in Tasiilaq, were we enjoyed several days of perfect weather and I was even able to get to the summit of a decent mountain for some nice views across the icy coastline.

Overall, it was a trip to remember, and I think I might now have the ‘Greenland bug.’  Hopefully I can return again one of these days…

Lofoten Winter Photography Workshop

2016 Lofoten Winter Photography Workshop

Lofoten Winter Photography Workshop

I’m super happy to announce that I will be hosting my own photo workshop on Lofoten this winter: February 14 – 21, 2016.

You can find more info about the workshop here: Exploring Lofoten – Winter Photo Workshop 2016

Guiding my own workshops on Lofoten has been a long time dream of mine – you can see the business plan I wrote back in 2011, but until now I was never able to cover all the legal aspects of running a workshop to keep everything legitimate as it needs to be. However, now that I’ve been able to obtain residency in Germany, as well as teaming up with a local business on Lofoten, things can finally get underway.

And if you sign up to my email list by August, there is a substantial early bird discount for the workshop. 🙂

X Journey Magazine 2015

Kungsleden Article In X Journey Magazine

X Journey Magazine 2015

In the 2015 issue of X Journey magazine is a 13 page article (+ photos) written by me about hiking on Sweden’s Kungsleden trail.  You can find more info about the article on their blog HERE.

You can also find an online supplement to the article and many images on HERE on ISSUU

This is the 2nd edition of X Journey, a beautifully printed and wonderfully thick yearly magazine focusing on hiking and travel. Published in Germany, all articles are bilingual in German and English.

You can find out more about the X Journey HERE or follow them on FACEBOOK.

X Journey Magazine 2015

Photo: Cover of X Journey magazine 2015

Seasons On Lofoten: Summer

New Ebook – Seasons On Lofoten – Summer

Seasons On Lofoten: Summer

I’m super happy to announce that the second eBook in my ‘Seasons on Lofoten’ series is now available: Seasons On Lofoten – Summer

Available as PDF, 125 pages, 98 images, and over 14,000 words. $10

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Building upon the same theme as the Winter edition, Seasons On Lofoten – Summer is a photography and travel guide focused on the Specifics of the summer season on the Islands.  Also included is the info for 6 of my favorite hikes and camping locations on Lofoten: Bunes beach, Horseid beach, Kvalvika beach, Ryten, Reinebringen, and Mannen.

Scenic Geirangerfjord in autumn, Geiranger, Møre of Romsdals, Norway

Norwegian Autumn FJords

Scenic Geirangerfjord in autumn, Geiranger, Møre of Romsdals, Norway

Photo: Autumn morning at Geirangerfjord, Geiranger, Norway. October 2014

Images from my October travels through the Norwegian fjords are now online in my archive gallery.

With all the time I have spent on Lofoten, I have never spent that much time in central Norway. There was so much bright colors and light, I hope to make it back again one of these years!

NORWAY GALLERY

Clearing storm on Aurlandsfjord, Aurland, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway

Photo: Clearing storm over Aurlandsfjord, Aurland, Norway. October 2014

 

Aurlandsfjord, Norway

Favorite Images of 2014

I welcomed in 2015 camping in the freezing cold temperatures outside Ouray, Colorado.  Though I was in bed by 6:30pm, because it was simply too cold to do anything but sleep, it seemed a fitting end to the year and beginning of the next.

Here are some of my favorite images from 2014.  Though I have gone to some effort to exclude most of my Lofoten Images, which I’ll post as a set of their own in a few more days over at 68north.  Otherwise, it would be too easy for this list to be entirely made up of images from the Islands.  But I also ended up a couple other places as well, so I thought I would separate the two collections.

2014 was fairly similar to the previous year.  Once again, a majority of my focus was on the Lofoten Islands, staying for just over 2 months in total this year, split between winter and autumn.

In February, between visits to Lofoten, I attempted to make a ski tour on the Kungsleden trail in Sweden.  It didn’t go too well and I never made it very far from Kebnekaise Fjällstation.  But I still had some fun and look forward to making another attempt one of these years.

The spring saw me return to the Silesian countryside of south Poland and a brief visit to the Tatra mountains.  The rest of the time I was in Wales.

In late August, I made my first visit to Tromsø, where I boarded a sailboat for a 2 week trip to Lofoten.  It was absolutely fantastic, and I hope I find the time to make a proper writeup one of these days.  After the sailing trip I remained on Lofoten for most of September.  It was perhaps the best month of northern lights I’ve ever had on the islands, with night after night of aurora filled skies until the early morning hours.

One of the highlights of the year was a 10 day road trip though Norway in October, From Lofoten to Stavanger.  I’ve never properly explored central Norway, only ever hitch-hiking or busses previously.  So it was happy to finally begin to explore some places that I’ve wanted to visit for years.  And the autumn color was some of the best I’ve ever seen, making up for the rather dull color on Lofoten this year.

I’ve missed out on celebrating the New Year on Scotland’s Outer Hebrides for the last 2 years now, which I slightly miss.  So in an attempt to make up for it, I headed to Scotland in October, only to be blasted by wind and rain for nearly 2 weeks straight until I finally lost all motivation and headed south to Wales before returning to California.

2015 will be off to a quick start.  Next week, I’ll already be on my way back to Lofoten to co-guide a photo tour for Muench Workshops.  After that, I’ll stay on the Islands until the end of February to work on my own photography and hopefully climb a few mountains.

 

Winter night at Kebnekaise Fjällstation, Lapland, Sweden

Photo: Evening comes to Kebnekaise Fjällstation, Lapland, Sweden.  February 2014

Old barn in farm field, Prudnik County, Opole Voivodship, Silesia, Poland

Photo: Old barn in field, Silesia, Poland.  May 2014

Spring thunderstom over fields, Prudnik County, Opole Voivodship, Silesia, Poland

Photo: Approaching storm over field, Silesia, Poland.  May 2014

Town hall and Rynek market square, Opole, Silesia, Poland

Photo: Opole City Hall, Silesia, Poland.  May 2014

Female hill walker on Carmarthen Fans - Bannau Sir Gaer with Picws Du in distance, Black Mountain, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales

Photo: Hiker on Bannau Sir Gaer, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales.  April 2014

Wild Welsh Mountain Pony at sunset on Mynydd Llangorse, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales

Photo: Welsh mountain pony at sunset, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales.  April 2014

Silhouette of person watching Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis  over coastline, Austvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Northern lights over coast, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 2014

Norddalsfjord autumn, Norway

Photo: Alpine farm above Norddalsfjord, Møre go Romsdal, Norway.  October 2014

Nigardsbreen glacier, Norway

Photo: Nigardsbreen glacier, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway.  October 2014

Aurlandsfjord, Norway

Photo: Clearing storm over Aurlandsfjord, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway.  October 2014

Scenic Myrland beach, Flakstadoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Lofoten Islands Friday Photo Series

Scenic Myrland beach, Flakstadoy, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Sunset at Myrland Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  September 2013

Things will be a bit quite around here while I finish up the last few weeks of my travels before heading back to California in November.

In the mean time, I invite you over to 68 North where my weekly ‘FRIDAY PHOTO‘ series is nearing two years of posts.

Or, you can also see where I’m at and the images you’ll get to look forward to by checking out my FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM pages, where It’s a bit easier to keep regular updates…

 

Looking down on Kvalvika beach from near summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Kvalvika Beach – Lofoten Islands

Looking down on Kvalvika beach from near summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Summer sun shines across Kvalvika Beach from the summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 2012

was looking back through some old photos looking for something to post while traveling and came across these images.  I have posted the first one several times, as it is one of my favorite images of one of Lofoten’s most spectacular locations, Kvalvika beach.

The second image I’m not too sure if I have posted before.  But what caught me was the contrast between the two images.  They were taken 42 minutes apart, but might as well have been taken on different days.

Every time I hike up Ryten, I hike with the intention of staying for sunset.  But I also hope to get some nice light shining over Kvalvika beach.  Luckily this is an afternoon/evening event in summer, but there still can be quite a bit of time passed between a shining sun and sunset.  Time that I often spend shivering in the cold northern wind that seems to constantly blow across the summit of Ryten.

But the two scenes seem like such contrasts.  The first, the brilliant golden sunlight shining over the green hills seems so warm and inviting.  The second, dark and cold in appearance is more true to the day, where I was bitterly cold during the hours I spent up high in the mountains.

Looking down on Kvalvika beach from near summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Twilight light over Kvalvika Beach from the summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  August 2012