Nyksund, Vesterålen, Norway
Single-row panorama stitched of 5 images,
Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G at 38mm, 1/200 sec, f 11,ISO 400
 

Travelling to Nyksund, Norway
Late Winter 2012

March 15 - April 12, 2012

Nyksund is a tiny fishing-harbour nearly at the northwestern tip of Langøya (Vesterålen). Abandoned because of economical reasons int the 1070's young people fortunately rediscovered the spirit of this extraordinary location and so they started with the restauration of the old harbour. Now, it has become a picturesque place.


www.nyksund.com/
www.nyksund.org/
www.nyksund.biz/


 

Morning light at Gimsøystraumen, Lofoten
Single-row panorama stitched of 8 images,
Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G at 38mm, 1/60 sec, f 8
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  Travelling to Nyksund, Part 1

 Sweden and Lofoten

Sweden

Winter has been retreating from southern and middle Sweden. The last ice floes on the Vänern are driven by wind to the east-shore.

Many rivers in middle Sweden are already free of ice and seem to be waiting for spring. (↓)

Further in the north rivers are about to burst their thick ice-sheet.

Ice floes are carried away by the rapid current of the big rivers ...

... and are gathering in quiet coves to be melted by the warm springtime sun.

(↑) The open water of the river rapids is foaming in the icy air.

The more you get north, the more you come into winterlandscape. Winter is still ruling in northern Sweden in March.

All rivers are covered with thick ice-sheets. How thick the ice-coat is can be seen at rapids when braking up occasionally. (→)

Torneträsk is a large lake in the very north of Sweden close to the Norwegian border. At the beginning of winter storm and ice pressure had piled up the first ice floes to mighty ice rims along the shoreline.

When I came to the lake, there was fine weather with almost no wind and temperatures below - 10° C. But I could experience a phenomenon caused by the last storm. The wind had freed large areas of the ice surface of snow.

Close to the shore one could clearly see the stones on the ground under the thick and bubblefree ice-coat.

Looking down further from the shore, I saw nothing but darkness under the thick ice layer.

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Lofoten



Vestvagøy
Two-row panorama of 6 images
F-Nikkor 70-210 1:4-5,6 at 210mm, 1/13 sec, f16


 

The E 10 connects each Lofoten island either by high bridges or by deep tunnels. So travelling by car is easy at all seasens and it is impressive all the time.

Already in March the islands sometimes look as if spring will be comming in a few days ...

... but it is better to be always prepared for sudden changes of  weather. In this season snow showers come and go frequently. (↓)

Normally visiters of the Lofoten in late winter don't face really dangerous hurricanes. But in the face of the damages they can get an idea how devastating the last severe winterstorms must have hit the coast.

What do you think is the most spectacular sight on the Lofoten? For me it  is the view from Hamnøy, Sakrisøy or Reine towards the Kirkfjorden It is like a spectacular marine stage: high and rocky mountains are the impressive backdrop to the calm waters of the fjord. In this scenery every movement becomes a theatrical performance.

When I arrived, the curtain was still closed. The scenery was hidden behind a snow shower, except the fishermen who were hanging out the freshly caught fish.

A few minutes later the curtain rises, and at first a small chugging fishing boat appears on the scene.

Against the breathtaking backdrop of rocks and dark snow-clouds fishermen are preparing a wooden frame for hanging out new catch.

It is the high season for cod fishing. That's why another boat is turning up in the calm water of the fjord to unload the catch at Hamnøy.

Some minutes later the next snow shower approaches and the curtain falls again.

After the end of the polar night sunrise is really a very special event every clear morning.

Breidtinden from Grunnførfjorden, Vestvagøy
Single-row panorama of 4 images
F-Nikkor 70-210 1:4-5,6 at 210 mm, 1/30 sec, f 10

 

This was the last photograph I could take of Gimsøya from Kleppstadheia before a snow shower was blocking the view just minutes before sunrise. (↓)

In clear and cold nights a fresh layer of sea ice freezes in the calm waters of the fjords.  When the water is running out during low tide  the thin layer of ice settles on the rocks and the drying sea bottem.

A very beautiful small fishing port covered with fresh snow, hit by the first rays of the rising sun - a dream not only for a landscape photographer ! (↓)

Gunnførfjorden, Austvagøya
Three-row panorama stitched of 9 images,
Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G at 50 mm, 1/8 sec, f 22

 

When it happens that the spectacle of drifting clouds and rapidly changing light have a break it is worth looking down to the ground at the sandy beaches ...

... as well as the rocky coast line.

The winter storms have deposited jetsam on the beaches. Most of it is plastic waste but there is also a lot of wooden flotsam like this old door. The surface of the door tells a story of its journey through the waves to the beach of one of the Lofoten Islands.