Landscapes

Senja and Lofoten, part 10: All good things...

When I woke up the next day and looked outside, I was met with very gray skies. I felt a bit down, but mostly relieved; I had gotten out the morning before and got some amazing images. Now I could sleep in and not feel disappointed with myself for not getting out. 

During the night, the snow had come rolling in. What was just a cloud bank on the horizon was now thick clouds with occasional snowfall, adding more fresh snow to the already impressive amount. I was in no hurry anywhere. It was my last full day, and I had a very early start the next day. I ate a good breakfast and packed down most of my stuff that I didn't need. I decided to drive around a bit just to scout the area. I knew there was no photos to be had, but at least I'd have a record of the area for next time.

A good sunrise location, just not today.

Ytresand beach.

I tried to find inspiration to take some photos that day. I really did. But I was tired. I had been on the trip for 11 days now, and I was really feeling it. The location was still as beautiful as ever, and the weather wasn't all that bad, but I just kind of gave up. It was enough. There is only so much travel and photography I can do during a trip. One final location, and I was done.

Beach on the road to Myrland. I wish I was here earlier.

As another patch of snow started coming down, I snapped the final image of the trip. The location was great, the rest wasn't.

The drive home was long. Apart from some GoPro time lapse, I don't have any footage from either day. Nothing really happened either; the weather was good, the roads were excellent (especially the Swedish ones), and I just kept driving. In hindsight, I'd probably do the same trip in three days next time, especially the return drive. It took me days to recover from the driving, and weeks to recover from the trip itself.

Home, at last. 5223 kilometers, by far the longest trip I've ever done by car.

So, was it worth it?

For once, I don't know. I really don't want to complain, but there is one really big issue with the trip after I've been home for a few months. I'm completely fed up with landscape photography, and photography in general. It's now been three months since I came back, and I've taken my camera out of the bag once during that time. I think it was too much. The utter, absolute, amazing crazy place I spent many days in spoiled me really, really badly. I look out my window at home, and I don't see a single mountain. There's no fjords, no solitude, no deserted beaches, and no eagles anywhere.

It's taken me this long to process all my images, and I still have over 200 GB of time lapse footage left; I have no idea when I'll have the energy to finish that. I'm sure I will get around to it eventually, but it still feels I need a break. My summer vacations are coming up in a month or so, I will probably try something then; I've been thinking about some intimate woodland landscapes this time around. Maybe that'll work out, maybe it wont. Time will tell.

I'm sure I will go back to Lofoten. I want to see how it looks without snow and ice. It feels like I barely scratched the surface of what you can see and experience in the region, and now that I've been there, I know where to head next and what regions to concentrate on. But the return trip will have to wait. For now, I have the images, and more importantly, the memories to remind me of that superlative, magical place. They remind me of how incredibly lucky I am to be able to visit such a paradise.

Senja and Lofoten, part 9: Hamnøy and exploring southeast

In the second post of this series, I talked about putting in the effort. As landscape photographers, it is almost mandatory if you want to get those once in a lifetime shots. Sure, you can get lucky and get the perfect conditions at the perfect location (the storm clouds over mountains a few posts ago is an example of just that), but for consistency, you have no choice but to do the work, set the alarm, and get out of bed.

That said, I'm horrible at it. On this trip, there were multiple mornings where I should have gone out, but didn't; many times I'm a lazy man, even with things I know I'd enjoy once I get going. This particular morning however, I didn't have a choice. I had two mornings to go before heading back to Finland. If the weather wasn't on my side this day, I'd only have one backup morning. So, at 4:30 in the morning, I started my drive to Hamnøy.

Of course, I wasn't alone. Hamnøy is the defining photo of the Lofoten islands, and I counted around 30 other people on the bridge with me. I was one of the earlier ones so I could pick my spot. We all lined up, set up, and waited.

45 minutes to go.

If I'd sell my stuff I guess this one would be called the money maker. Then again, I know for a fact that 30 people have the same image, so...

The sky eastward slowly got brighter and brighter, lighting the horizon a lovely pink and orange. Then, there it was, the first light hitting the peak, a lovely pink spreading around the cliff face. I took my shot, double-checked it, re-framed, and shot again. Two images, slightly different, and both absolutely worth it to wake up for.

But I wasn't done. While most people were staying on the bridge, shooting that scene, I packed my stuff and walked up a small hill close by that I'd scouted the day before. I had gotten an idea for a shot; something I could use as a background for my emails, to remind me of where I had been. Something simple. Something that showcased this wondrous place. I knew just what to shoot, and I had the perfect weather for it.

View northward from the hill. You don't have to look closely if you don't want to. But if you do, you see the small detail, such as the fishing boats. This photograph brings a smile to my lips each time I see it; it's not perfect by any means, but it means the world to me.

After that, I was done. I had gotten the photo I came to Lofoten for, and a great bonus on top of that. It had been a superb morning. While driving back, the landscape got brighter and brighter as the sun rose. I tried a few locations on the road back, but they would have worked better at sunrise. Didn't bother me though, not one bit.

Not the best I'd seen, but not bad.

After breakfast I decided to explore the final direction I hadn't been to yet, the southern part of Vestvågøy, the island I was staying on. The reason I had left it for last was that the maps didn't promise a lot of amazing views. I mean it isn't bad by any means, but it just isn't as dramatic as the drive south. 

Possible sunrise location for the last morning, but OK mid-day too.

Ballstad harbor.

Mountaintop detail.

Same mountain from the other side of the bay.

I continued my drive along the coast, trying to find images, but also just enjoying the scenery. As expected, it wasn't as dramatic as the previous days, but the weather as great so I didn't mind. On the way, I found a small installation of fish drying, nestled in by a small leisure harbor. I really do wonder why the birds don't eat all of the fish, since there is nothing to protect them, they just hang there:

Dried fish, anyone?

I didn't count them.

I mean, there were plenty of crows and eagles around, I'd think they'd treat the display as an all-you-can-eat buffet. I don't know, maybe the local birds prefer more sportsmanlike behavior. But speaking of eagles, guess what I photographed during my lunch?

I really do miss being able to take close-ups of these majestic birds.. Although we do have white-tailed eagles in the Turku archipelago too, they are mostly very shy and don't come nearly as close as this. At least if, you're not being sneaky, which I really wasn't, eating my bag of food at the top of a mountain pass.

After lunch I finished my drive round to Stamsund; not really much to report there. That particular area has forest by the road and coast, so you can't really see much of anything while driving. My mind was quickly moving to where I was planning to take the sunset image of the day, Uttakleiv Beach. Uttakleiv is one of the iconic beaches in Lofoten and is right next to Haukland Beach where I had been earlier. Getting there was no problem; finding a composition with more than a hundred other photographers was.

I'm not super happy with what I got, to be honest. There were too many people around and I couldn't really concentrate on the image. After I took this, I wanted to see if I could find something else, but it was no use. The beach was full of tourists and the light was disappearing fast; another storm was heading our way and it covered most of the horizon, blocking the final phase of the sunset. I stayed on the beach for a good hour after I took the image above, just taking in the view. I knew it was probably going to be the last sunset image I took during the trip. It turns out I was right.

Finally some snow!

If you don't live in Finland, you might think that the winters here are snow-filled and beautiful, the low-hanging sun bathing everything in a wonderful glow. Well, it can be. But where I live, the truth is that winter can suck. Especially in November an December, when the days are getting short and the rain starts pelting down. It's quite typical not to see the sun for weeks on end. The sun rises at 9:30 and sets at 15:30, and when it's overcast it never gets very bright even mid day.

All of that gloom usually has a definitive effect on my mood, that sometimes can be helped with some short trips out to the cabin, and sometimes not. This year was one of those sucky years where I felt miserable the whole time. I actually had to resort to more food photography! More on that later.

As many other photographers, I've been watching a lot of YouTube, hoping a few of my favorites would have some inspiring words. What I got instead, was beautiful, snow and ice-filled woodland and landscapes.. from the UK. If you want to take a look yourself, here's an example from Simon Baxter, who does some beautiful, low-key woodland photography. All in all, I had been waiting for good weather for a few months already. And then, a week after new years, it finally happened. Sun! Cold! Snow! 

Instead of going to my normal places, I decided to go to Kurjenrahka National Park just north of Turku where I live. The reason was twofold; firstly, I had never been there and wanted to check it out, and secondly, I was pretty sure there wouldn't be that many people around. After a short drive I found the parking lot, and swung on my backpack. Almost immediately, I found my first composition.

What drew me to the sight was, well, firstly, I literally walked into it. I was about 50 meters from the parking lot (I could still see my car), but a picture is a picture, so who cares as long as the car isn't in the shot :) Secondly, I liked how the strong tree on the left is contrasted by the thinner, fallen one, and the even thinner felled one. And third, I was super lucky and the sun slightly lit up the trees behind my main subjects, creating nice contrast (in the center of the frame). The path (although you can't really see it in the photo) goes from the bottom off to the right, sidestepping some heaped logs.

One thing I was very strict with this particular day; I always had my camera packed, without a lens on. I also had my tripod with me, and was adamant of using it every single shot. Why? It slows you down. It allowed me to just walk through the forest, looking at nature and enjoying myself. Every now and then something caught my eye; those are the potential photographs. At that point I'd look closer, trying to figure out why I liked it. Many times it wasn't anything worth of a photo, so I left my camera in the bag.

Sometimes, it was most definitely a photo. For those, I took off my backpack so that I could move a bit better, and started to frame the picture in my mind; what focal length would I need, where to put the edges of the frame, how was the light. When I started to think like this, something just clicked. I think I kind of understand the 'take it slow' mentality now. To cap it off, I stumbled on this.

I first noticed the fallen tree, there were in fact two of them, lying almost parallel (the other one is to the left, out of frame). Second, I noticed the light, spilling through from the open area just behind the trees. The sun was out in full force, which really isn't all that much this time of year, but it was just perfect. I found the right spot (without the camera), set up the tripod and camera there, and took the image. Then I packed everything into my bag again, just like my YouTube mentors.

This was turning out to be a really nice day. It was the first time in weeks that I'd seen the sun, I was out in a beautiful forest, and I was getting some photography done. The fact that the area was completely new to me just added to the sense of discovery.

After the photo above, I reached the edge of the forest, where a big swamp started. There were small clouds going in and out in front of the sun, bathing everything in the golden light one minute, and into a blueish gloom the other. I climbed up a bird-watching tower to take in a view over the marshes. Beautiful, but not really worthy of a photo. Some places are just like that; while you are there, it's great, but you just can't capture it. Instead, I tried to think about what made the place so great, to see if I could hone in on that. 

What I saw in front of me was frozen, snow-covered marshland, with small trees everywhere, occasionally in beautiful light. So, it just made sense to me to try to capture that; a simple detail in a vast landscape, that nevertheless tells the story. I tried multiple angles, never being quite happy. I was looking for a single small tree, with nice side light, and a nice white background. I knew there was a lot of marsh to find the picture in, but the clock was against me and I started panicking (taking photos without a tripod). Here are a few of the not-so-good captures I tried:

Small tree, golden light, background. Yes? No. I think it's too cluttered: I wanted simple, this is not it. The two trees were nice though.

Same tree, taken from a higher vantage point to contrast with the snow behind. This makes the tree more isolated. I didn't like this one either.

Maybe towards the sun? I like this one even less. There is too much contrast, and too much stuff going on.

As I was taking the photos above, I started thinking again; the idea was still valid, but my execution was flawed. I wanted simplicity, but was trying to include everything in the frame. I remembered a shot I had taken an hour or do earlier, just to get it. At the time, I thought it was a bit cliche, I just happened to be in the right place when the sun hit a small tree in a clearing. Now, it was everything I was looking for, but couldn't find out in the marsh.

It doesn't have to be difficult. I know it's been done before, but I don't care.

The composition isn't perfect; there's a small tree on the right side that I'd get rid of. The bigger tree in the background should be slightly more to the left. But it's still a nice picture. So, I gave up my search for a small tree in the marsh, and started to think about returning to the car. At this point was around two o'clock, meaning I had about an hour of sunlight left. I'd been out for three hours already, and I was very content with the images I already had. As a final image, I decided to capture the slight s-curve of the path through the marsh; the light was still nice, and s-curves are almost always good subjects. I had to wait about 15 minutes for the sun to show and a few families to get out of shot, but I think was worth it. Having my tripod out again meant I just had to wait for the right time, and press the shutter. No need to re-frame or remember where you where standing.

After driving home and making some food, I looked out my kitchen window to see a beautiful pink sunset. I knew it was a possibility when I left the park; but I was still happy even though I didn't capture it. I knew I had some keepers on the memory card, slowly warming up in my camera bag.

Finally, a few things I learned during the Sunday trip:

  1. If you think it might be good weather for a photo or two, don't hesitate, just go.
  2. Pack all lenses you have, an extra battery, and an extra memory card.
  3. Do not walk around with your camera out. Take your time. Enjoy. The photos will show themselves.
  4. Light is everything. I know it sounds dumb, but I think I'm finally getting it.

Also, I am really starting to dislike my 18-200mm lens. It's just not up to par with my other lenses. Those aren't superb either, but this particular one is really, really bad at most focal lengths. Makes me think on what I'm going to do for my return trip to Norway in a few months...