Seals at Lofotakvariet

In Storvågen nearby Kabelvåg, Lofotakvariet is located close to Galleri Espolin, Lofotmuseet and Nyvågar Rorbuhotell. Inside, you will find many aquarium tanks with different kinds of fish species and educating exibitions about fishing and oil industries. A simple, yet impressing self-service point and click multimedia "table" attracted both children as well as older people.

The above picture is taken outside and shows two seals showing off to get food. The water looked clean and in general the animals seemed to have it quitee nice although not free to go entirely where they want. In addition to the seal pond, there is an otter pond with a few otters. Inside, there is also a cafeteria as well as a souvenir shop.

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 200, the shutter time was 1/80 seconds. The picture has been cropped using Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Storvågan

Just outside Kabelvåg, and close enough to be considered part of Kabelvåg, you will find Storvågan with Lofotmuseet, Galleri Espolin, Lofotakvariet and Nyvågar Rorbuhotell. 

The picture above shows the main building of Nyvågar Rorbuhotell, which offers you to stay in hotell rooms or small apartments. I haven't stayed at the hotell, but I've "tested" the restaurant, which I found to be quite good with excellent service and well-tasting food. I had a fish dish, but they also offer meat if you prefer (although you should eat fish when in Lofoten).

Galleri Espolin is just nearby, and has an extensive exibition with paintings of Kaare Espolin Johnsen, well known for his paintings of the sea, Lofoten and fishermen.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.0 with a focal length of 41 mm. With ISO at 200, the shutter time was 1/160 seconds.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Kabelvåg

Kabelvåg was historically the first and biggest fishery town ("fiskevær") of Lofoten.  The commercial "Lofotfiske" (meaning approximately fishing in Lofoten...) started here around 1000 years ago when the stockfish (dried cod) became a product of trade.  Until past 1900, Kabelvåg was considered the centre of Lofoten and had a lot of activity related to fishing. The harbour is not very deep, and when bigger boats became more usual other places took over.

The above picture shows part of the square. Most of the town is in the opposite direction.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 24 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/60 seconds. In this case, I used the "landscape mode", i.e. one of the more automatic "newbie" options of the basic zone.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

A small hotel in Kabelvåg

In Kabelvåg, you may also stay at Kabelvåg hotell. It is a bit more expensive than the summer hostel of Lofoten Folkehøgskole, but still not very expensive - at least in Norwegian sense. I stayed here once on my way back from Lofoten, and I found it to be a nice hotel with clean and nice rooms. The hotel is situated pretty much in the center of Kabelvåg, which of course is not very big.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM at f/4 with a focal length of 16 mm. With ISO at 200, the shutter time was 1/1000 seconds. I probably should have used a slower (narrower) aperture.

Lofotkatedralen

When you leave Svolvær by car and go further out on the E-10, you will soon arrive in Kabelvåg. Just before you do, you will see Lofotkatedralen on the left side of the road. Lofotkatedralen (or the Curch of Vågan) was opened in 1898, and is said to be the largest Norwegian wooden church north of Trondheim. In fact, it is said to be the largest Norwegian wooden building north of Trondheim. It has a capacity of 1200 people. Kabelvåg has around 1600 inhabitants (2006), so there should be room for everyone. The church was probably sized for the busy fishing period around 1900 than todays need.

The picture above is taken from the road towards Lofoten Folkehøgskole, which offer inexpensive overnight stay during the summer. The weather was a bit misty and I didn't take enough time. To be honest, I think the picture was taken sitting in my car with the window rolled down. Thus, I am not too happy with the quality of the picture.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/6.3 with a focal length of 41 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/80 seconds. In this case, I had used "landscape mode", i.e. one of the more automatic "newbie" options of the basic zone.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Lofotcruise - sightseeing

The picture above shows one of the small tourist boats at the harbour of Svolvær. During the summer, you may go onboard small ships like this one to take a trip nearby.Tickets may be bought at the harbour or most likely at the tourist information in the white building in the background. It seems like the most popular trips go to Trollfjorden where you can watch eagles and other birds - or the Hurtigruten ship turning in the really narrow fjord. At least in Norway, Trollfjorden is famous for "The battle of Trollfjorden", an "incident" in 1890 when fishermen of small rowing boats attacked bigger steam boats that tried to keep them off fishing in the fjord. In the summer, Hurtigruten takes a small detour inside Trollfjorden.  I haven't been there myself, but Trollfjorden is said to be very beautiful. 

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/7.1 with a focal length of 20 mm. With ISO at 400, the shutter time was 1/500 seconds. 

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Chain at Svolvær harbour

I took this picture at the harbour of Svolvær last summer. The chain is a bit rusty, but I assume it does what it is supposed to - whatever that is. Well, I suppose it's related to something like keeping the boat at the harbour.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF 70-200 F4 L at f/4.0 with a focal length of 104 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/500 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted and cropped with PhotoShop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Seagull in Svolvær

When I visited Svolvær last summer, I walked around the harbour in the evening with my camera along. Suddenly, a seagull landed at a pole around 1-2 meters or so from me. Strangely, it just sat there moving its head a little and looking at me for quite some time. This went on for more than a minute, allowing me to take several pictures. I had the feeling it wanted me to make portraits of it. The above picture is one of them.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF 70-200 F4 L at f/4.0 with a focal length of 200 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/2000 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted and cropped with PhotoShop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Svolværgeita - now you should see the climbers

After a little investigation, I've discovered that the other climber did not have a blue jacket. It looks like his backpack is blue or at least dark. The above picture was taken just a few minutes before the other I've justed posted (see below), and here you can see the climbers close to the top of the left horn. Unfortunately, I was totally unaware of the climbers, so I don't have a picture of them jumping. Even this picture of the Svolvær goat was taken from downtown.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF 70-200 F4 L at f/4.0 with a focal length of 200 mm. With ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/1250 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted and cropped with PhotoShop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Svolværgeita - spot the climbers?

From Svolvær you should be able to spot Svolværgeita - at least if the weather is not to bad. This picture is taken from the middle of the town. If you look close at the picture (click at it to show a bigger picture and zoom in), you should be able to spot the two horns of the "goat" (i.e. the mountain) a little to the right and up from the middle. Even more spectacular, if you look even closer, you will notice two climbers on the left horn. One of them has a red jacket and the other one a blue. They are soon ready to make the jump over to the other horn! If you would like to try yourself, yoy may find more information here.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF 70-200 F4 L at f/4.0 with a focal length of 200 mm. WIth ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/1250 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted and cropped with PhotoShop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Svolvær - Lamholmen with Anker Brygge

It's not far from Vestpollen to Svolvær, which was the next stop of my trip. Solvær is the biggest town in Lofoten with a population close to 4 400 people, and if you visit Lofoten you are likely to stop here. There are quite a few hotels and restaurants to choose from. We stayed at Rica Hotel, close to Anker Brygge shown at the picture above. Both are situated at Lamholmen - a small island just a small bridge away (around 50 m) from the town. The picture was taken from the harbour.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF 70-200 F4 L at f/5.0 with a focal length of 70 mm. WIth ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/320 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted using PhotoShop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Church at Sildpollnes, Vestpollen in Lofoten

Sorry for the long delay, but now I'am back with another picture from last summer's trip to Lofoten. The above picture shows the church at Sildpollnes close to Vestpollen. Yes, it is the one from Vestpollen in Lofoten of December 16th, but zoomed in to a closer perspective. Even this picture was taken from a rest stop close to the E10 highway. From here, it is about 15 km to Svolvær.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF 70-200 F4 L at f/4 with a focal length of 200 mm. WIth ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/640 seconds. The picture has been slightly adjusted and cropped using PhotoShop Elements.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Vestpollen in Lofoten

Although winter pictures have been requested, even today’s picture is another one from last summer’s trip to Lofoten. The trip to Lofoten was a lot easier this year due to the mainland connection, which opened in November 2007. It includes several tunnels as well as a bridge across Raftsundet. This means however, that you drive to Lofoten without visiting Vesterålen, which of course is worth visiting itself.

I took the picture above from a rest stop at the E10 highway at Sundsneset close to Vestpollen in Lofoten, not far away from Laupstad. The church in the foreground lies on Sildpollnes, where you also find Sildpollnes Sjøcamp. I haven't done so myself, but it looks like a nice place stay overnight. From Sildpollnes, it is about 16 km to Svolvær.

Photo details: EOS 30D with my EF-S 17-85 mm at f/5.6 with a focal length of 73 mm. WIth ISO at 100, the shutter time was 1/125 seconds. The picture was edited in PhotoShop Elements with an adjustment layer with soft light.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

The Tjelsdund Bridge

The picture shows the Tjeldsund bridge, connecting the mainland with Hinnøya – the largest island of Norway. The bridge is part of the European highway E-10 ending in Å in Lofoton. I passed by here last July on a trip to Lofoten and stopped at the cafeteria from where I took this picture. Just across the bridge you take left to follow the E-10 to Lofoten and right to go to Harstad.

Photo details: Canon EOS 30D and the EF-S 17-85 mm lens I use most of the time as a standard lens. The focal length was 28 mm. I used Aperture priority at f/4,5 to achieve a shutter speed of 1/250 seconds. ISO settings were of course at 100. The picture is cropped and downsized.

This picture is part of my Lofoten set at flickr.

Tromsø City - birds eye perspective

Here is another picture from Tromsø, taken from Storsteinen against the city centre. The time of shooting was around 15:00, August 26th 2006. Hurtigruten "Finmarken" has just arrived at Prostneset. In the upper right you find the library and the city hall. The SAS Radison Hotel is the white tall building in the mid-right.

As you may see, the weather was really nice and sunny. It was pretty warm, too, with temperatures above 20 degrees Celcius. This is not too common that late in August in Tromsø.

This picture was taken using my Canon EOS 30D with the EOS 70-200 F4/L lens at 200mm.