Lofoten Islands Winter Workshop Report

March 17th - March 25th, 2016

In March this year I led a new winter landscape workshop to the Lofoten Islands in Norway with long time good friend and fellow landscape photographer Martyn Lucas. If you are unfamiliar with Lofoten let me assure you that The landscape of these islands is really quite something to behold. Precipitous and ominous peaks that rise straight out of the ocean loom over small fishing villages that comprise of bright red houses lining the shorelines. With a dusting of fresh snow and arctic winter light the entire scene is akin to a fairy tail location and subsequently the photographic opportunities can be truly superb.

This workshop was a for a small group of just six experienced landscape and nature photographers. We based ourselves primarily in the small town of Reine and made daily excursions to various locations around the Island for photography. Lofoten has become quite the hot spot for photography in the last few years (some are calling Lofoten the new Iceland) and although we did encounter a few other photographers during one of of our early morning sessions near town (where the above photograph was taken), we primarily had the place to to ourselves. It has been my experience in ‘hot spot’ locations such as Iceland and Lofoten that it is not too difficult to get away from other groups if you travel with someone who knows the terrain and have an experienced guide with you. Both Iceland and Lofoten have a number of iconic locations that everyone visits and photographs. However, both also have a vast number of excellent off the beaten track locations that are rarely visited and even less rarely photographed. On the whole, we preferred to spend the majority of our time in these less visited areas as the opportunity for unique photographs is greatly improved and you don’t have to fight for tripod space.

READ THE FULL REPORT

Lofoten.jpg