Lofoten Scenes: Skagsanden Beach and Arctic Sunsets
Got a late start going through the pictures from my most recent photography trip. I think I've seen pictures from everyone else from the group posted to their various websites and social media outlets. In all honesty this last trip motivated me to finish a first pass on all of my pictures from my previous Bhutan trip last year. Couldn't start going through these and leave those unfinished.
At the end of February, I took a photography workshop with Daniel Kordon and Alban Henderyckx in the Lofoten Islands in Norway. Again, after my photography workshop in Bhutan, I was hooked on doing something like that again. I've never traveled to a "winter" destination specifically for photography, so this was another first for me. Amazing trip. Met a lot of great people that I will make an effort to stay in touch with, and I learned a lot more about landscape photography. While only a week long, my field notes journal still has a bunch of notes that I need to transfer over to here, however I decided rather than go through a bunch of posts for each portion of the trip, I'd tackle the pictures first. For now, I am trying to grab one from each day before moving on to the next.
Skagsanden Beach, Lofoten Islands, NorwayLong exposure to capture the patterns of the arctic waves on Skagsanden Beach off the coast of Flakstad in the Lofoten Islands, Norway. First time standing in an arctic ocean during the winter.
Found ourselves at Skagsanden Beach as the sun was going down. We had been told to bring waterproof waders for this trip by our guides, and mine were definitely used whenever we were along the coastlines.
Took several exposures using my new RRS tripod (I love this thing). Started with this one in Lightroom.
Adjusted the color and white balance, and warmed up the scene a little.
I used the water from this exposure. I think it looked the best out of all the shots that I grabbed. I blended the water into the other exposures in Photoshop. Added some sharpening to the rocks, and in the end I decided to crop out the house on the right. I thought it was too distracting.
Sunset in Å, the "End of the World", a small town in Moskenes, the Lofoten Islands, NorwayAs the clouds moved in, a snowstorm turned the visibility to zero, but not before we caught some nice light during the sunset viewed from the cliffs around Å, a small village in Lofoten, Norway.
I took several pictures from this location near Å, the "End of the World" according to the Lofoten Norwegians, but I started off with this one. I really liked the light rays around the mountain islands in the distance.
Started off with the shot with the mountains exposed correctly.
Then adjusted the underexposed version to blend in the sky and the reflections in the water.
Any questions, critiques, or comments are welcome. EXIF information for my pictures is always available once I post the gallery.
This blending of exposures is still new to me and I have a ways to go with my post processing skills. But practicing this is fun for me, and a nice break from the work side of my life. I avoided using filters in this scenario as I zoomed into the sunny area, as dumping more glass in front of my lens tends to cause lens flare which can be tough to get rid of in post processing. Hey, it's a first pass. I'm glad for this trip that I planned on doing this type of post processing by getting myself a good tripod and taking a lot of bracketed shots.
More to come as I get through more pictures.