Værøy and Røst from Å far out in Lofoten

This picture is the last one from my trip to Lofoten last summer. It is from aout a km or two vest of Å in Lofoten, Norway. Å is a small place and the end point of the E-10 highway . The village is as far out you can go by car without taking a ferry and pretty much as far out most tourists go. Walking vest from Å, there is a nice path and a very nice landscape if the weather is good. It was a bit windy, but I found a very nice place with this nice view towards the islands Værøy and Røst. To go to these islands, you can go by ferry from Moskenes or Bodø. At Røst, there is also a small airport.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 59 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/640 seconds.

Lofoten Stockfish museum

If you enjoy fish, and in particular stockfish or related products from cod, you may want to visit the stockfish museum in Å. Stockfish from Lofoten is said to be of the best quality, and has actually been an important export commodity for more than 1000 years. You may find more information about the museum here. You may also like to take a look at a previous blog entry here.

The E-10, European Highway no. 10, ends (or starts, depending on your perspective) in the village Å of Lofoten. It's small village of the Moskenes island in the Moskenes municpality.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 70 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/250 seconds.

Lightpoint of Reeine

Lighthouses and lightpoints are important for traffic on sea along the Norwegian coast. Around Lofoten, a lot of fishery boats of many sizes are guided by lightpoints as these two at Reine in Lofoten. Many years ago, there used to be many manned lighthouses around the Norwegian coast, but now all are replaced by lighthouses or automated lighthouses. Want to know more? Take a look at Wikipedia here.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/4.0 with a focal length of 17mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/640 seconds. A the time I took the picture, it seems the owerwhelming nature got me to forget thinking: I should have used Av with a narrower aperture to get a sharper picture. Still, the picture is not bad at all, maybe due to the composition.

Mountains nearby Reine in Moskenes

The above picture is also taken from Reine last July. The mountains of Lofoten is not particularly high, but many people find them spectacular, possible due to their form and their steep descent into the sea. Make sure you visit Lofoten when the weather is nice like this, although mist around the mountains also may be beautiful in its own way.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.0 with a focal length of 33 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/250 seconds.


Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/7.1 with a focal length of 73 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/250 seconds.

Both pictures are part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Reine rorbuer, Moskenes

If you would like to stay the night in Reine, Reine Rorbuer might be the place. Gammelbua in the picture above used to be the old grocery store in Reine. Now, there is a restaurant, where you should expect local dishes with fish. It is normally open from beginning of May to end of August, i.e. during the tourist season, not the fishery season. Still, I expect high quality fish to be served for dinner. I didn't try myself.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 44 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/500 seconds.

The above picture shows one of the small houses of Reine Rorbuer. Note the stairs down to the sea. In the background you may see part of the small island of Sakrisøy. The bridge is part of the E-10, however it is quite narrow.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 47 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/320 seconds.

Both pictures are part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Fish-drying rack at Reine in Moskenes

For centuries, stockfish has been an import product exported from Lofoten to southern Europe. A large quantum of stockfish is normally exported each year to countries like Portugal, Italy and probably Spain. To make stockfish, the fish has to dry. The principle is generally quite simple - although I guess it is a lot of work. The fish is hung on the racks for quite some time to be dried by sun and wind. In this photo from just outside Reine, the racks are empty. In the backround, you may see the small island Sakrisøy.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/4.0 with a focal length of 17 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/500 seconds.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

A closer view of Reine

This photo photo was also taken from the point where the road to Reine takes off E-10, but from a slightly different angle than the previous one. Of course, here I've zoomed a bit closer as well. I like the sense of depth the mountains in the background give. Both pictures were taken July 22nd 2008. Luckily, I had filled the fuel tank when I left Svolvær, beacuse here, petrol was really expensive.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 72 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter speed was 1/250 seconds.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Overview of Reine in Lofoten

Reine is the administrative center of the municipality of Moskenes in Lofoten. The village has a poulation of approximately 340 of the 1150 inhabitants of Moskenes. Hamnøy, Sakrisøy, Moskenes, Sørvågen, Tind and Å are other fishing villages in the municipality far out (i.e. west) in Lofoten. Only Verøy and Røst are further out. The above picture was taken from the point where you take off the E-10 highway to go to Reine. Hamnøy and Sakrisøy are both in front of the mountain to the right in the background, but I'm not sure if you are able to see them here. At least you should be able to see one of the bridges near Sakrisøy.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/4.0 with a focal length of 20 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/250 seconds. Hmm, I had my ES-S 10-22 lens available, and I regret that I did not use it here. I guess I was to much in a hurry. The picture has been slightly edited in Adobe Photoshop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Ramberg in Flakstad

Ramberg is the administrative center of Flakstad, one of the municipalities of Lofoten. Flakstad only has about 1400 inhabitants. As you can see from the pictures above, the beach at Flakstad is really nice. It's on the outside of Lofoten, so the sea is really the Atlantic ocean. Although it looks tempting, you should not expect a warm bath!

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 33 mm. With ISO at 400, the shutter time was 1/20 seconds.

The above picture shows the eastern part of the beach.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 33 mm. With ISO at 400, the shutter time was 1/20 seconds.

These two pictures are part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Nusfjord in Flakstad

When travelling west in Lofoten, after crossing the Nappstraumen in a short underwater tunnel, you arrive at the Flakstad island. After some kilometers, in the inner part of Flakstadpollen, you may take off the E-10 and go south some kilometres to Nusfjord. It is a qute little fishing village next to Vestfjorden. In the European Architectural Heritage Year of 1975, Nusfjord was declared worthy of conservation. Situated in Flakstad in Lofoten, it is the best preserved fishing village in Norway. This picture was taken August 6th in 2006, and as you can see, unfortunately it was cloudy and raining. If you would like to stay overnight, visit this link.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 33 mm. With ISO at 400, the shutter time was 1/20 seconds. Yes, it was handheld without tripod, but with IS on.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Offersøystraumen in Vestvågøy

A few kilometres west of Leknes, E-10 crosses Offersøystraumen over a small bridge, which you may see in the upper part of the picture. About one kilometer from the bridge, the E-10 has a rest place from which this picture is taken. From the rest place, you should be able to se a sculpture in the mountain just above the road.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 56 mm. With ISO at 250, the shutter time was 1/60 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted with Adobe Potoshop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Fishing boats at harbour in Ballstad

From Leknes, you can take off the E-10 high way and go south some kilometres until you arrive in Ballstad. It's as far south you can come in Vestvågøy, and thus it's on the Vestfjorden side of Lofoten. The above picture is taken in the beginning of August 2006. It's raining, and a bit dark. Ballstad has approximately 740 inhabitants. It's been a fishing town for around 1000 years, and fishing is still important.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 85 mm. With ISO at 125, the shutter time was 1/100 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted with Adobe Potoshop Elements.

"Head" at Eggum in Vestvågøy

"Sculpture landscape Nordland" is a series of art placed in the nature around the Norland county of Norway. This one is called "Head" and made by an artist called Markus Raetz It is placed nearby Eggum in Lofoten, on the western "outside" part of Lofoten, in the minicipality of Vestvågøy in the norhtern part of Norway. I found this head really interesting. It looks quite different on each side. This view is toward the sea. The background is the Atlantic ocean.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 59 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/13 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted with Adobe Potoshop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Moving horse

Just outside the Chieftain's house of the Loftr Museum at Borg, several horses were enjoying the grass. This one was moving, and I tried to photograph it. As you may see, the shutter speed was low (1/13 seconds) and without tripod or any support, it's not easy to get it sharp. However, it should be clear that the horse really is moving!

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 59 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/13 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted with Adobe Potoshop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Loftr Viking Museum at Borg

At Borg in Vestvågøy, Loftr Viking Museum was opened in 1995. Here, a group of Scandinavian archelogists between 1986 and 1989 discovered the remains of a large (67 m long) building dated back to around year 500 (i.e. 1500 years ago). The main building of the museum is the Cieftain's house - a recontruction based on the archeological studies and how one believe the old building was. The museum seems to be popular among turists, and from what I've heard (and seen the two times I've visited), has a lot of visitors each year. Yoy may find more information here.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.0 with a focal length of 38 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/80 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted with Adobe Potoshop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.