Photo: Rainy days on Sweden’s Kungsleden Trail
There’s an interview with me now appearing over on the Routes North website.
It’s mostly about travel and photography in Scandinavia and how someone from California has ended up spending so much time in the north.
Routes North is a travel website focusing mostly on Sweden and Scandinavia.
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
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.
I’m super happy to announce that I’ve just published my first eBook! It’s taken up the majority of my free time over the last couple months, and I’ve just finished it less than 24 hours before I’m heading back to Lofoten myself.
You can BUY THE BOOK HERE.
The cost is $5. It is 104 pages long, contains 80 images (45 of which are a portfolio/location section) and nearly 15,000 words. I mostly cover the basics for the first time visitor to Lofoten in winter. But even as a photo book, I think most people will enjoy it.
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.
Photo: Evening comes to Kebnekaise Fjällstation, Lapland, Sweden. February 2014
Photo: Old barn in field, Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Approaching storm over field, Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Opole City Hall, Silesia, Poland. May 2014
Photo: Hiker on Bannau Sir Gaer, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. April 2014
Photo: Welsh mountain pony at sunset, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. April 2014
Photo: Northern lights over coast, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2014
Photo: Alpine farm above Norddalsfjord, Møre go Romsdal, Norway. October 2014
Photo: Nigardsbreen glacier, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. October 2014
Photo: Clearing storm over Aurlandsfjord, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. October 2014
Photo: Sunset over Kråkhammartind from the summit of Markan, Moskenesøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2014
I’ve added a few new mountain hiking routes from my September trip on the islands.
Markan – Moskenesøy
Munken – Moskenesøy
Stornappstind – Flakstadøy
I still have a couple more mountains to add as well, but time is going to be tight, with a little less then a month before I’m returning to Lofoten again to co-guide a photo tour with Muench Workshops. I’m hoping to have the time to write up a few posts about my autumn travels, particularly about the sailing trip, which was fantastic! But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get around to it, so things might be a little quiet around here for a while. Though most of the next couple weeks will be spent working on something cool, and if I can finish in time, then it should more than make up for my lack of posting here…
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…
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.
Photo: Twilight light over Kvalvika Beach from the summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2012
Photo: Summer evening view from the summit of Ryten, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2012
I will be on Lofoten now for more of less the whole of September. Hopefully the weather is as good as the previous two years, as I have put together a pretty long ‘to-do’ list of mountains to hike. And I have a few mountains I need to hike again, hopefully with some better weather, to add more hiking guides to this website, as it seems there is some new competition out there these days.
If you see someone (me) in an somewhat ugly bright blue jacket, come and say hello. Or you can try and contact me via FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM if you know you’ll be around…
I want to try and remain on Lofoten as long as possible, especially as the chance for northern lights grows with the ever darkening nights of autumn – the best displays always seem to be the day after I leave, so I suggest scheduling at trip for the beginning of October! 🙂
But it will be a long trip down from the north car, and not knowing what the weather may due, I might be forced south a bit earlier than planned. Plus, this will be my first ever opportunity to visit central Norway by car, and there is a huge list of place I want to see or re-visit from my hitchhiking days of years gone by.
Photo: Kvalvika Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. August 2013
Part two of my travels in Norway begin today: A two week sailing expedition from Tromsø along the Norwegian coast to the Lofoten Islands with Vertical Shot Expeditions.
I have only been on a sailboat once before, a week long journey out to the Channel Islands national park off the coast of my hometown of Santa Barbara, CA. I really fell in love with everything sailing and ocean during that trip. And even gave thought to taking some classes, something that still remains in the back of my mind should I find the time one day. So it seems appropriate that my next trip on a sailboat will include Norway, one of my other loves in life.
I have no idea what to expect really, but I have no doubt the journey will be nothing short of epic! I just hope no early autumn gales decided to pass our way. I don’t want any, ‘I’m glad I’m not on a boat today!’ type weather during the trip. But the North does what the North will do, and hopefully I’m prepared for it.
I wont be posting much from the trip until I’m off the road, but you can keep up with my journey over on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM, where I’ll do my best too keep things updated whenever I find a wifi connection.
Photo: Northern Lights over Stamsund, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 2011
For any of you guys in the German speaking countries, a couple of my Lofoten Islands photos are in the GEO ‘Im Licht des Nordens’ 2015 calendar.
The first image is on the cover, a photo of the northern lights I took in October 2011. It was my last night of a two week autumn trip to Lofoten. Thus far, the sky had been quiet, not a hind of northern lights to be found. Though 2011 was a turbulent autumn, so there often wasn’t much night sky to be seen. But finally with one night left the weather calmed and the sky remained clear. I could sense that auroras would appear. The islands’ final gift to me; making sure I didn’t leave empty handed. They lights were somewhat late to arrive, but when they did, wow! I stayed on shore to photograph while Roar took the others out on the boat to gaze at the sky from the calm waters of the Vestfjord. This was the best aurora I had seen up to that point.
The second image from from the summit of Offersøykammen. Frustrated with my efforts for the day thus far, I decided just to hike up the small mountain and wait for sunset. With about 40-50 minutes remaining before sunset, a layer of cloud began to develop over the summit of the mountain. The cloud thickened, but before I was lost in a total whiteout I was given about 15 minutes of beautiful light. I never saw the sunset, and as I descended the mountain and could see again I discovered that I hiked up the only mountain covered in cloud. Though I think it worked out for the best in the end…
So, if you’re in Germany/Austria/Swiss and want to purchase the calendar, you can do so here: Geo – Im Licht des Nordens
Photo: Autumn light over Offersøykammen, Vestvågøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. October 2012
