Lofoten Islands Winter Sunrise

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colorful sunrise lofoten islands

Photo: Colorful winter sunrise over Norwegian mainland, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

A layer of clouds was hanging over the islands with only a thin slice of clear sky in the eastern horizon.  This light lasted a few minutes and then turned to gray and my camera didn’t come out of the bag for the rest of the day.  I was hiding behind a rock to try and get a little protection for the winds – the sea is dark, but you can see it’s a bit rough.  This was the 2nd best/most colorful sunrise of my February trip.  The best was the day before as I was looking out the window of a bus, in my typical expertise of missing good light.

The arctic sun is deceptive in the fact that it rises so slowly in the sky.  In my head I have what I expect as a standard length of time from when I start to see the light of the sun building below the horizon until it finally breaks it.  In the north I end up standing, jumping around the keep warm, and telling the sun to come on and hurry up so I can get back in the car as I can’t feel my toes anymore.  Although the benefit of this is that the light last so much longer and you take take a little more time to work with each scene before the light fades, all depending on what the clouds are up to of course.

Olstind – Lofoten Islands

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Olstind mountain peak rises from fjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Olstind rises from waters of Kjerkfjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

Olstind, as it rises from the waters of the Kjerkfjord is probably the most iconic mountain view of the Lofoten Islands.  It is often a scene that literally says ‘take a picture of me.’  Changing angles from Hamnøy towards Reine can give a different look to the mountain.  My favorite view (below photo) is from down near where the E10 crosses to Andøya.  It’s best to walk out on the rocks to get the most unobstructed view.  Though be careful of an incoming tide, I almost got stuck out there on a lone rock when not quite paying enough attention.

Olstind mountain peak rises from fjord, Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Olstind reflection in partially frozen Kjerkfjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

 

Olstind mountain peak rises from Kjerkfjord in winter, Lofoten islands, Norway

Photo: Olstind, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

Streets of San Felipe

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San Felipe Baja California Mexico

Here’s some random photos from around San Felipe during race week.  No particular order…

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

 

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

 

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

 

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

 

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

 

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

 

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

 

San Felipe Baja California Mexico

2012 San Felipe Baja 250 Photos

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Luke McMillin Class 1 arriving at finish of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. 4th place overall finisher.

Photo: Luke McMillin Class 1 arrives at finish of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250

–CLICK HERE– For a gallery of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250 images.

Here are the first few photos from San Felipe.  I was at race mile 58 when the motorcycles came through, then at mile 30 for the trophy trucks and again at the finish for the first trucks.   I only have a few photos in the gallery at the moment and will be adding more over the next couple days.  Though this was more of a working trip to help out my brother’s team, so I didn’t end up shooting too much.

3x KTM motorcycle of Kurt Caselli/Ivan Ramirez pass race mile 58 in 2012 San Felipe Baja 250, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. 1st place motorcycle finishers

Photo: 3x KTM of Kurt Caselli/Ivan Ramirez first bike through mile 58 and overall class 22 1st place finisher, 2012 San Felipe Baja 250.

 

B.J. Baldwin Trophy Truck arriving at finish of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Photo: BJ Baldwin’s Trophy Truck sends dust into the crowd at finish of 2012 San Felipe Baja 250

Last Journeys Among the Brecon Beacons

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Hiking Brecon Beacons national park Wales

Photo: hiking towads Fan Y Big, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales.  Feb 2012

As luck would have it, my final days here in Wales took a turn from the usual gray, rainy days, for a weekend of brilliant sunshine.  Saturday saw us heading up Fan Y Big and Cribyn.  I was hoping to wait around until sunset, but clouds descended late in the afternoon.  I still walked away with over 1100 photos for the day, which for me is quite rare.  The forecast for Sunday was for cloud, but as I was stirring in the morning hours I could see sunshine coming through the blinds.  So instead of going climbing as the original plan had been, we once again took advantage of the weather and headed up to Hay Bluff and wandered a bit down Offa’s Dyke path for a couple hours.

Tonight is my last night in Wales, so I’m glad I got a few final days out in the hills.  Same thing happened last year as well, maybe it’s the California sun trying to welcome me home…

Hiking Brecon Beacons national park Wales

Photo: Big views from Fan Y Big, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales.  Feb 2012

 

Hiking Brecon Beacons national park Wales

Photo: Heading towards Cribyn, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales.  Feb 2012

Patterns in Ice – Lofoten Islands

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Snow on frozen lake Urvatnet, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Snow on Urvatnet, Lofoten Islands, Norway.   Feb 2012

Nedre Heimdalsvatnet, Eggum, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Photo: Rock breaks through ice on Nedre Heimdalsvatnet, Eggum, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

With the relatively low amounts of snow during my two weeks on the islands I often found myself using ice as a foreground subject.  Normally, even with only 10cm or so of snow, the frozen lakes and fjords would just be flat areas of white without much contrast or anything of interest.  With the snow mostly melted from rain or blown away by the wind I found the crack patterns that formed in the ice to be patterns for study.  The frozen areas of tidal inlets where rocks would break through the ice and form unique shapes and patterns were especially interesting.  This also helped add a bit of contrast to the scene on otherwise flat and overcast days.

Being from California, ice isn’t exactly a common sight for me.  I probably looked pretty funny at times trying to negotiate my way around.  Especially after the days of rain when the ice was especially slippery and I would have to use my tripod as a sort of walker to keep me from falling on my ass.  Though I still managed that a few times as well.  On one somewhat windy day, my tripod (without camera) was blown about 20 meters while standing up.  It was a bit funny to watch it just slide across the lake until I realised that it ended up a bit farther from the shore than I was comfortable in walking; I usually stuck to areas where I could see that the bottom wasn’t much more than knee deep if the ice was to break for some reason, although it was plenty thick enough.

The following two photos illustrate just how much a night of rain can change the scene.  In the first photo the snow helps emphasise the crack patterns in the ice, giving a bit of contrast to the scene in the flat light just before dark.  In the second image, the cracks are almost without detail and the contrast in the scene comes from the changing hues of the ice as it is elevated upon a rock below the surface and the water covered ice reflects like the surface of a lake.

In case you missed my post from the other day, HERE’S THE LINK to my gallery of the trip.

Lofoten Islands winter landscape

Photo: Frozen shore of Ytterpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

 
Lofoten Islands winter landscape
Photo: Frozen shore of Ytterpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

Lofoten Islands Winter Photo Gallery

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Lofoten Islands winter, Norway

Photo: Edge of the World, Å I Lofoten, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

Lofoten Islands Winter 2012 Image Gallery –CLICK HERE–

The first images from my 2 weeks in early February 2012 on the Lofoten Islands are now up on my archive.  Overall there is a more variety than the images from my January 2010 trip, but I think the 2010 collection is still better overall;  more dramatic and better light conditions.   It was definitely a struggle this year at times.  From what I’ve seen online in recent days, it seems conditions improved greatly after I left.  Bad timing on my part I guess.  I’ve had pretty bad conditions for my last 3 Lofoten trips, so I think I’m due for some better weather next time.  One of those 25˚ C summers with no rain would be nice! Maybe if I can get back in July…


Lofoten Islands Winter II – Images by Cody Duncan

Haukland in Winter II – Lofoten Islands

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Haukland beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Photo: Haukland beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

I’ve been busy the last week getting a few images processed.  I should have a gallery of the first 50 online and ready to go tomorrow.

I made several journeys out to Haukland Beach during my time on the islands.  I was hoping for conditions similar to the award winning image I photographed in 2010 but I never managed to get the timing right for the tides and temperatures were too warm for much ice to have formed.  While it’s not as dramatic as I might have hoped, I still like the simplicity in the above image.  I should have arrived a bit earlier though for a bit more color in the sky.  Next time…

Lofoten Islands Northern Lights

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Lofoten islands northern lights Reine

Photo: Northern lights fill sky over Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

Out of 12 nights on the islands I only saw a minor display of the northern lights – aurora borealis on February 6th.  Most every other night of my trip the sky was cloudy and thus not very conductive to northern lights watching.   Capturing a photo of the lights over Reine, or more specifically the mountain peak Olstind is an image that has been on my mind for a while.  I think I came close, but the aurora wasn’t particularly bright so I’ll have to be back to try again.  As luck would have it, I missed a fantastic display of the lights just two days after I left the islands.  In addition to missing a good display that occurred at the end of January.

I’m of a sort of mixed opinion as to how good the Lofoten Islands are as a location for viewing the Northern Lights.  While snow covered mountain peaks rising out of the sea make for perhaps some of the best subjects to include in a photo of the northern lights, the weather on Lofoten greatly diminishes ones chance of seeing the lights.  I’d say that if you have 2+ weeks and want to see/photograph the northern lights than Lofoten Islands would be a good location.  If you’re time is limited to under a week, then it would probably be better to look to northern Sweden or Finland where the chances of having clear skies are much higher.  It doesn’t matter active the sun is, if the night sky is full of clouds, as it was 10 of 12 nights for my last trip, you’re not going to see anything.

 

Lofoten islands northern lights Reine

Photo: Northern Lights over Olstind, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

Eggum Nights

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Moonlight over Eggum Lofoten Islands Norway

Photo: Moon over mountain, Eggum, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

Eggum is one of those places that I’ve been to a fair amount of times, yet generally walk away without any photos.  I’m not sure if its because I don’t find Eggum as immediately scenic as say Utakleiv or Unstad, so I tend to shoot those locations when the light is good and leave Eggum for the not-so-good days.  This time however, Utakleiv and Unstad were crap most of the time, windswept with dull grey light, and so I found myself at Eggum just hoping to shoot something, anything.

It was here that I first started to notice how cool the frozen lakes looked.  I’m used to frozen lakes being covered in snow, but since there wasn’t much snow upon my arrival to the islands, many of the lakes were clear.  The cracked surfaces often made better subjects than the dull brown grasses or barren trees of winter so I found myself spending a fair amount of time nervously walking around on ice during this trip.  It was a bit eerie to stand around in the moonlit silence listening as the moved and cracked about the lake as the nights temperatures dropped.

 

Frozen Lake Eggum Lofoten Islands Norway

Photo: Crack in ice on frozen Nedre Heimdalsvatnet, Eggum, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012