One Week Itinerary In Lofoten Islands In October (Part 3)
I’ve been talking about my desire to photograph Lofoten, but so far most of my landscape photos in Norway were about northern lights. It was rainy on and off every day, and opportunities to photograph landscape during my favorite sunset hours didn’t come by easily. That opportunity finally arrived on Day 5, although a little different, during sunrise!
Sunrise at Storsandnessanden Beach. ISO100, 15mm, f/11, 120sec.
Day 5: Storsandnessanden - Vareid - Ramberg - Fredvang - Flakstadveien - Uttakleiv Beach
I took a break going out at night to photograph northern lights on Day 4. That meant I had no excuse to miss sunrise in the second morning.
Photo tips
In fact, photographing landscape during sunrise in the fall and winter was a lot easier - you don’t need to get up super early. In areas with higher latitude like the Arctic Circle, sunrise seemed to last forever because the sun never climbed high in the sky. The above and below photos were both taken around 9:30am. Even at 10:30 or noon time that day, the light was still soft.
Sunrise at Storsandnessanden Beach, Lofoten Islands. ISO100, 18mm, f/11, 120sec
Just as I walked out with my photo gear, it started to drizzle. I had a ton of excuses to turn around, but decided to push forward. I hiked onto dozens of big and slippery rocks on the same beach where I photographed northern lights. It was the first time I saw what Storsandnessanden Beach looked like during the day. What a charming place! Even better, I had the entire beach all to myself.
Just as I set up my tripod and camera, the rainbow showed up and grew bigger across the sky, as if it were waiting for me to be photographed. What a magical morning!
Rainbow at Storsandnessanden Beach, Lofoten Islands. ISO100, 15mm, f/11, 25sec
When I wrapped up my sunrise landscape shoot, it was already 10:30am. I regrouped with my family at the Airbnb, and set out after lunch for a different sight-seeing route.
I would literally like to stop by the road at every turn. There were amazing sceneries and photo opportunities everywhere. Did I say Lofoten was a landscape photographer’s dream? It truly was!
The following photos were just a small collection of the 600 photos I took for the day.
Vareid
We made a quick stop just to take photo below. So I couldn’t comment the area too much other than labeling it with my usual word for Lofoten - picturesque.
Long exposure at Vareid, Lofoten Islands. ISO100, 15mm, f/13, 120sec
Ramberg
This area was very charming. We made multiple random road side stops. I would hardly imagine anyone not being able to get away with a good picture here. All of my following photos were handheld snapshots. It was a bit muddy and slippery, so I didn’t take my tripod out of the car. I loved the combination of rich yellow grass colors and the neutral grey in the rain clouds.
Lofoten Store
We were not gift shoppers during travel. But Lofoten made an exception. Did I mention I left my heart in the Arctic Circle (see my last post)? I bought some gifts this time - a mug, a linen shopping tote, a baseball cap, all with loud “Lofoten” prints on them, as if I wanted to remind everyone to go check out Lofoten.
Fredvang
I had a different photo plan for Fredvang originally. I remember seeing some incredible drone shots of the area, but I didn’t find a convenient vantage point. By the time we did, we were mesmerized by the new scenes, which was the repeat theme of our travel in Lofoten.
Flakstadveien
Perhaps underrated, Flakstadveien was such a peaceful stop. The calm water, the fog, the rain clouds and the ultimate serenity. I loved the reflection in the calm water. It gave me the perfect opportunity to create symmetry, a simple and strong composition I always loved. (see Less Is More - 7 Approaches To Create Simple Yet Strong Composition I wrote 9 years ago). If I had to pick my favorite photo time in Lofoten, this was definitely one of them.
Sakrisøya
We paid Anita’s Seafood a second visit and had an early dinner there. I knew it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say we went back because we loved the food and the restaurant. But the fact was we had to balance our fun with the kids’.
No matter how beautiful the landscape, it was never our kids’ top priority and interest. Every playground stop on any trip was our way to say thank you for their unconditional time contribution to anything we loved to do.
Uttakleiv Beach
Uttakleiv Beach in sunset, Lofoten Islands
I wanted to try my luck to photograph the beach during sunset. But by the time we found the beach, it was a tad late. Colors were fading fast. I didn’t have anytime to pick where to set my tripod. Any spot would be the best spot.
Blue hour long exposure at Uttakleiv Beach, Lofoten Islands. ISO125, 15mm, f/9, 120sec
This wrapped up our last evening in Napp. We had to drive up north to spend our last night close to Harstad/Narvik Airport in Evenes. It was 3.5 hours away by car, and our flight was early in the morning of Day 7.
Day 6: Napp - Leknes - Skånland
Road trip in Lofoten meant our actual driving time typically doubled the estimated time by google map. For one, traveling with kids often required many stops, expected or unexpected (see below random library stop after a restaurant visit in Leknes). For two, we were in Lofoten. It was too easy to find a breathtaking view on the road, and it was very hard not to make any stops.
We encountered rain storms and rapid temperature drop on our northbound drive for the day. Surprisingly, the colors peeped through the rain clouds before sunset. It was the best golden hour color I’d seen in Lofoten, or even Norway.
This was an unnamed viewpoint on the main road E10 near Lodingen. It looked just as stunning as those iconic instagrammable photo spots. We skipped quite a few until I finally said to myself - how could I skip and not photograph this magic place?
There were so many of these viewpoints throughout the islands. Needless to say, Lofoten was simply picturesque in every corner.
Day 7: Skånland
Skånland wouldn’t be a stop if it weren’t next to the Harstad/Narvik Airport, and we didn’t have an early flight. As usual, I picked an Airbnb home with open view. There was snow forecast that night, and the sky was covered by thick clouds. So we had no chance to see northern lights for the last evening.
My husband took a morning walk with our 5 year old steps away from the house by the sea. Even it appeared gloomy without sunrise colors, the place still looked serene and beautiful.
So long Lofoten, we completely enjoyed your elegance and charm. I couldn’t have enjoyed our Norway trip more without you.
👉 Check out 3 Day Itinerary In Bergen Norway And Our Favorite Photo Spots after Lofoten, or
👉 See all my posts about our 2022 Norway trip.
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