Kjerkfjord as seen from near Reine, Lofoten islands, Norway.
This is the light at around 1:30 pm on the afternoon of January 6, the first day since mid December where the sun once again appears on the horizon at 68˚ north. Got lucky to have calm winds and mostly clear skies on this day. Imagine more or less the same light like this lasting for hours. Magical.
Haukland Beach winter, Lofoten islands, Norway.
When the sky is clear, the light as this amazing diffuse glow to it. Due to being so far north, the sun travel at much more of a horizontal angle than what occurs as one approaches the equator. So due to this, the period of ‘sunset’ or ‘sunrise’ light is extended into hours, not just minutes. In early January, the sun barely rises above the horizon so there is not really any direct sunlight, more like a 4-5 hour sunrise-sunset until the darkness of night comes by about 2:30-3:00 pm.
We’ve had a fair bit of snow here in the south of Wales (and the UK as a whole, causing quite a bit of chaos) over the last week (snowing right now as well). My current location is right on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park, so it’s been nice to get up into the hills over the last days. On Sunday and Monday I was up on Pen Y Fan and Corn Du. Tuesday was a wonderful day up on Fan Fawr and this morning (Wednesday) was a dawn patrol run up Pen Y Fan and Corn Du again in hopes of a nice sunrise, which never materialized.
Panoramic image of view from Pen Y Fan looking towards Cribyn. Sunday was a day of 50-60 mph winds blasting across the summits and ridges throwing snow everywhere. A layer of clouds sat about 200 meters above the mountains forming a constantly changing show of light and shadow. A constant struggle to keep the lens free from spindrift – actually better to keep the lens hood off, as it would create some weird wind vortex that would bring more snow.
Pen Y Fan concealed behind clouds as seen from Corn Du. Monday was a much calmer day with slow moving clouds forming over the summits and then clearing again.
Black Cuillin Hills as viewed from Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Ring of Brodgar standing stones, Orkney.
Winter sunset behind Ring of Brodgar stone circle, Orkney
Late afternoon light over Loch Brittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
I say late afternoon and not evening, as I do not consider 4:00 pm to count as ‘evening,’ despite the fact that it was nearly dark at this time.
September snow falls on mountains along the Kungsleden trail, Sweden.
Autumn snow on rocky coast at Stamsund, Lofoten Islands, Norway.
Utakleiv, Lofoten islands, Norway.
On a nicer day, the Norwegian mainland would be visible in the distance. The Vestfjord as viewed from Stamsund, Lofoten islands, Norway.
