Yttersand – Lofoten Islands
Photo: Yttersand, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Oct. 2011
Despite appearances of a pleasant sunny day, it was raining 6 minutes after I too this image.
Utakleiv – Lofoten Islands
Photo: Low tide and stormy skies at Utakleiv beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. September 2011
Utakleiv is one of the places where I can return to again and again and always find something new. The only thing that I never seem to see there is the sun. I’m sure it does shine from time to time, just not whenever I happen to be around. As much as I would like to take a photo of the bright sand and crystal blue water with a nice sky full of puffy white clouds, I think this will always remain hidden from me.
So I must be content with the dark, moody days at Utakleiv. Always watching the sky to see how much longer I can shoot until the next rain shower arrives and I’m completely soaked. Waiting for a lull in the wind so I can hopefully get a sharp image. Timing the waves so I can stand right on the edge of the sea and not walk away with wet feet (though I often do).
I think I work best under these conditions, on the edge of the elements. Bad weather makes good photos I keep telling myself, perhaps hoping that if I say it enough it will become true. And perhaps to keep my mind from wandering to a warm fire and hot cup of tea as I stand there cold and wet waiting for light that may never arrive.
Here’s a few images from a couple different days in Sept/Oct.
Lofoten Islands – Autumn 2011 Photos
Photo: Dark skies over Vestfjord, Stamsund, Lofoten Islands, Norway.
—-CLICK HERE— To go to the Lofoten autumn gallery.
It’s taken a few months, but I’m finally getting a few photos online (60 so far) from my Sept/Oct trip to the islands. I’ll keep updating things over the next weeks as well, so keep checking back!
Overall it was quite a stormy, yet warm autumn. Often there was a southwest wind which brings an awful misty rain much of the time, especially on the days I was hoping to go out camping. Overall, Norway had the warmest November in 111 years. There was one brief night of snow a week into October, but nothing like the cold I experienced in 2009. So no pics of nice snow capped mountains this year.
I found myself struggling against wind and mist or rain nearly every day, often with only brief moments of better weather. A few days into the trip a big gale arrived that cleared most of the trees of their leaves, leaving the forests mostly barren and ugly looking. This led me to have a greater focus on seascapes that I was originally intending, but that is how it goes in the north. And despite the weather, I still managed a fantastic afternoon up on Reinebringen and on my last night conditions were near perfect for shooting the best Northern Lights that I’ve seen thus far.
I often get asked for info about travel and photography on the islands. My best piece of advice is to give yourself as much time as possible, the islands need lots of it.
Photo: Hiker on Reinebringen with Kjerkfjord in background, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Lofoten Islands Travel Article
Photo: View over Kjerkfjord from Reinebringen, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Oct. 2011
A few months back I wrote an article about the Lofoten Islands for a new travel website. As I’ve been on the road, I never got around to posting a link, so here it is finally. Give it a read and let me know what you think. Though please don’t try and tell me I have a future in writing.
SWITCHBACK TRAVEL – Lofoten Islands by Cody Duncan
Photo: Maervoll, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Oct. 2011
Northern Lights Over Lofoten Islands, Norway
Photo: Northern lights fill sky over Lofoten Islands, Norway.
October 8, 2011. It was my final night after another two weeks on the Lofoten islands. There had been a couple minor displays of the northern lights but for the most part these nights were cloudy and stormy, blocking any aurora that would normally be visible. Finally on my last night the conditions seemed perfect; clear sky and only a calm breeze. As the hours of darkness passed I would take a look outside in hopes of aurora. 8:00, nothing. 9:00, nothing. 10:00, nothing. 10:30, a bit of something! Fingers crossed.
By 11:00 the night sky was filled with the best aurora that I’ve ever seen. Horizon to horizon, the whole sky was dancing with light for a full hour. I stood out on the edge of the sea, waves gently crashing ageist the rocks, and photographed into the night. And it was one of those moments I wished I had 20 arms and 10 cameras, as there was so much going on I didn’t know where to point my camera first. Needless to say, it was a good farewell I was given by the north.
Photo: Aurora Borealis over mountains of Lofoten Islands, Norway
Photo: Aurora Borealis over mountains of Lofoten Islands, Norway
Photo: Northern Lights fill sky, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Photo: Northern Lights in sky over rocky coastline at Stamsund, Lofoten Islands, Norway
PDN Great Outdoors 2011 Contest Winner
My image from Haukland beach, Lofoten Islands was selected as a finalist in the 2011 PDN Great Outdoors photo contest. It was printed in the Sept. issue and now the contest website is live. I’m quite honored to appear next to quite a few other photographers whom I myself admire.
CLICK HERE: for 2011 PDN Great Outdoor photo contest
Not to promote myself too much, but if you’re interested in purchasing a print of this image: CLICK HERE
Europe Travel Plans
Photo: Highway E10 towards Gimsoya, Lofoten Islands, Norway.
I’m heading out of California in another week and a half. First is a quick two nights in Wales before flying to Norway. I’ll be on the Lofoten islands from Sept 24th until Oct. 10th. I’m very much looking forward to Autumn color and I hope the weather cooperates. I also have a bit of work to do in seeing if it is at all possible for me to rent a flat so I can carry forward with my business plans. Anyhow, I’m hoping to stand on a few mountains and maybe a night or two at Bunes or Kvalvika. Otherwise, the warm cozy comfort of the Stamsund Vandrerhjem will be my main base. I can’t say how nice it is to sit besides a warm fire and watch the snow fall outside, much better than a tent. Maybe I’m getting lazy with age.
After Lofoten my plans get a bit fuzzy. I’ll travel overland to Stockholm, but if the conditions are good, I might hang out for a few days around Östersund and central Sweden. I remember seeing brilliant color a few years ago while I was sitting on the train, so I’ll probably try hitching this time to give me a bit of flexibility. Also, I’ll carry a -11˚ C sleeping bag this time, I’m not interested in repeating a night at -14˚ C in my old 0˚ bag which is probably closer to 8-10˚ C in comfort level these days. Not much fun and not much sleep. From Stockholm, depending on conditions, I’ll either travel to Helsinki and then south through the Baltics to meet a friend in Poland at the end of Oct. Otherwise I might do some island hopping on the Swedish west coast an then visit some friends in north Germany before heading to Poland.
If the weather holds out in Poland, hopefully I’ll have a few days in the Tatry mountains and try and hike up Rysy, the highest mountain in Poland. From there I’ll head towards some old favorite places like Olomouc and Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic and maybe down to Budapest and Vienna. Towards the end of November I’ll be back in Germany and hopefully catch a few Christmas markets, which maybe I’m a nerd, but I think are pretty cool, or at least for photos.
Photo: Cobble stone streets, Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden.
Making Plans for Europe
Photo: Autumn storm over Vestfjord, Lofoten islands, Norway
For whatever reason, it’s been a pretty stagnant and boring summer (and year for that matter) for me so far. I’ve hardly been able to get out of Santa Barbara and other than a few commercial assignments, I haven’t even touched my camera in months. I’ve been trying to put something together for several months now, but I always seem to run into some sort of setback.. Finally now it seems I have somewhat of a haphazard travel plan materializing.
With Luck I should be back on the Lofoten islands around the last week of September. It’s not exactly under the conditions I had hoped, to move there with a work visa. But if I can manage to find a flat to rent, at least I’ll be able to continue with the application process. If not, it might just forever remain an unfulfilled dream. I know its a bit late in the year and I’m hoping autumn waits for me, but other engagements keep me here until then. I had also hoped to hike another section on the Kungsleden or perhaps wander around Sarek national park in Sweden, but that will have to wait another year unfortunately. So I’m looking at some other hiking options that I might be able to manage in October. Been thinking about maybe crossing the High Tatra mountains from Slovakia to Poland, or perhaps something in Austria or Switzerland. I Mainly just have to see how early the snow arrives and decide from there. Otherwise I think I’ll pay another visit to Stockholm on the way down from Lofoten and maybe Copenhagen. Then visit some friends in Germany and perhaps some old places in Czech Republic that I really like. Hopefully I’ll catch some Christmas markets before going to Wales in early December or so, where I’ll stay a few more months. As much as I seem to travel, it’s really been over 4 years since I did any proper ‘backpacking’ in the Euro sense of the word: hostels, trains, buses, hitchhiking, cities, etc. I almost feel a bit nervous about it.
Photo: Empty stockfish drying rack, Lofoten islands, Norway
Photo: Scenic beach at Ramberg, Flakstadoy, Lofoten islands, Norway
Photo: Snow covered rocky coastline at Stamsund, Vestvagoy, Lofoten islands, Norway
Business Plan for Norway
My business plan that I wrote to apply for a Norwegian self-employed person visa arrived in the mail today. I’m not the best at writing these things, so it took most of attention during July (the reason the blog was a bit quiet). Not to mention I had to re-learn InDesign for making the layout, I guess I didn’t remember much after not using the program for 6 years. As the business will be photography, I had it printed as a book, 28 pages total, from Blurb.com
My Plan is to start photography tours and workshops on the Lofoten islands, as well as live there. I’m also going to work on a book that covers a year on the islands.
I only have one problem. I can’t apply for the visa yet as I don’t have a residence in Norway. But to get a residence in Norway, you sort of need to be allowed to live in Norway. No one is likely to rent to me on a 3 month tourist visa. And I have to apply for the visa from here in California, which can take 2-3 months to process. And even if I managed to somehow find a place in Norway there’s no guarantee I’ll get the work visa anyhow, so it could end up just being a big waste of money, which I don’t have enough of to waste. It’s all a big frustrating circle. I called the Norwegian consulate to try and get some answers, but they weren’t especially helpful. I actually got the feeling that she thought I was rather stupid for even trying.
I’m not giving up until I get a definite ‘no’ for an answer though. And if I do, I’ll re-organize and apply again, and again, and again… I figure that after a few years they’ll get so tired of hearing from me they’ll just let me in so I go away!
I’m thinking of heading to Lofoten in Sept./Oct. to take a look around and see if I manage to come up with any solutions.
Lofoten Islands Hiking
Photo: View from Reinebringen, Lofoten islands, Norway
I’ve written several post about mountain hikes and camping on the Lofoten islands, but they’re a bit scattered across my blog at the moment so I putting links to them all here in one place.
Reinebringen hiking and info: CLICK HERE. Reinebringen trailhead is located near Reine, on Moskenesoy.
Justadtinden hiking and info: CLICK HERE. Justadtinden trailhead is located at Hagskaret, between Leknes and Stamsund on Vestvagoy.
Steinetinden hiking and info: CLICK HERE. Steinetinden trailhead is located in Stamsund, on Vestvagoy.
Bunes Beach camping and info: CLICK HERE. The ferry to Bunes Beach is located in Reine, on Moskenesoy.
Photo: Summer afternoon on Justadtinden, Lofoten islands, Norway
Photo: Saviors of my knees, Justadtinden, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Seasons On Lofoten Winter eBook
Seasons On Lofoten Summer eBook
