Lofoten Islands
This will be a winter workshop focused on photographing the rugged snow-covered mountain islands, dramatic beaches, northern lights, pristine fisherman's huts and untouched beauty of this remote and breathtaking region of the world. March is a perfect time to visit Lofoten—the milder winter temperatures make the overall experience ideal for catching the auroras over a snow-globe winterscape.
Tour Gallery
Tour Details
March 17-25, 2022 — Completed
This is an 8-night, 9-day tour. Your adventure begins with an overnight flight on Thursday, March 16, and ends with a flight on Saturday, March 25, preferably before 2 p.m.
$4,495 + applicable taxes. Register below.
Skill level
Open to all who have a sense of adventure and understanding of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras.
Group size
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
Tour Leaders
Registration
This event has passed. Thanks for your interest!
| • Deposit of $1,495 is required to reserve your spot on the tour. |
| • Balance of $3,000 is due on December 18, 2021. —> Pay balance here. |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is December 17, 2021 (see cancellation and refund policy). |
| • For more information about what the tour fee covers and does not cover, keep reading below. |
The Lofoten Islands Experience
Did we mention that Lofoten is remote? It will take you a full day to get there with at least three flight changes. There is one road, the King’s Road, that connects the archipelago. This official Norwegian Scenic Route is a wonderfully winding road that offers picturesque views around each bend and that links the pristine red and yellow rorbuer fishing villages.
We will base our tour out of Ballstad, centrally located and within one hour of most of our shoot locations. Must-see picturesque spots such as Reine, Henningsvær and Nusfjord will all be on our shoot list, but we will also slow things down to fully explore creative long exposures along the beautiful beaches of the north.
March brings longer days, milder weather, and a lot of fish! The culture and old currency of Lofoten is cod. We will gain a deeper insight into the history and heritage from the family that has owned Hattvika Lodge for several generations.
This photo tour will feature long days and nights with intense periods of photography. It’s not a workshop—there will be no formal classroom instruction or lectures. There won’t be time, as we will be photographing day and night.
This is not to say that it won’t be a learning experience, but the first and foremost goal of this trip is to provide you with a comfortable and organized opportunity to create images of the dramatic landscapes of Lofoten and—fingers crossed—the aurora. You’ll be working closely with people of varying levels of photographic experience, and we’ll all learn from each other while making friends along the way.
The trip is suited for people of all photographic levels, and the leaders will provide instruction on night and low-light photography techniques in the field. We will be available to work with you one-on-one, offering as much or as little creative and technical advice as you want.
Night photography will be a big part of the trip, whether or not we see northern lights. Whenever the weather permits, we will venture out to search for and photograph the aurora borealis. There may be time for casual sharing and review of images, especially if there is “some weather.”
What You Should Know
Participants must have at least basic photo skills, know their cameras well, and be comfortable shooting RAW in manual mode with a DSLR or high-end mirrorless camera.
The primary emphasis of the tour will be on creating images rather than learning new techniques. If you are relatively inexperienced, we will provide you with in-field instruction, and as time permits, impromptu image reviews. We’ll give you room to explore, but not leave you on your own. Each participant will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with Gabe and Tim in the field.
If you would like to attend this tour but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-trip tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Alternatively or additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-trip reads.
What You Will Learn
As this is a photo tour rather than a workshop, the emphasis is getting participants to great locations with great light, and making sure that everyone has the trip of a lifetime. It isn’t every day that you get to travel this far north!
That said, we do encourage you to think about and set goals for the trip.
What would you like to gain from this experience?
great images?
lasting memories?
new photography skills?
capturing auroras?
eating some of the freshest fish in the world?
The instructors will be available for one-on-one guidance in the field as much as time permits. You can pull us aside during quieter moments to check out your images if you’d like.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Ticket Info
Included:
eight nights of accommodations at the Hattvika Lodge
modern “rorbuer” cottages along a private wharf with spectacular harbor views
all transportation in Lofoten in two comfortable vans
private welcome dinner by a local chef on the first night and farewell dinner on the last
Not Included:
international flights to and from Leknes, Norway
all other meals
optional outdoor wood-fired hot tub and scenic sauna
alcohol
Travel
You are responsible for booking your flights to and from Lofoten. It is a very remote place and will take at least three flight legs and one full day. Check the flights from your home airport and if you have any questions, just ask.
We recommend that you plan to start your trip to Oslo on March 16. Most flights are overnight and you will arrive early on March 17. Most flights are overnight and you will arrive early on March 18. From there look at which flights will best get you to Leknes (LKN) and it will probably be two additional short flights on small planes that will bring you to one of the most beautiful and remote regions of the world, Lofoten.
Once you get to the Leknes airport, which could be the smallest one you’ve ever been to, we will be there to pick you up. You won’t have to worry about rental cars or transportation—Gabe and Tim will each have a large van to whisk you away for the rest of our time on the archipelago.
Upon your arrival we’ll get you checked in, and we’ll let you rest and relax the rest of the day. Perhaps you’ll opt for a session in the hot tub or sauna, and of course a welcome dinner!
You will want to plan your return flight for March 25, preferably before 2 p.m. Depending on where you live, there are limited flights that can get you from Leknes to your home airport in one day. Or, stay a night in Oslo, where there is the fabulous and not-that-expensive Radisson Blu hotel steps away from the terminal. Have a wonderful dinner and then catch a more convenient flight home the next day. Or spend a few nights in the capital of Norway—the hotel offers multiple shuttles to downtown Oslo for more Nordic explorations!
Food & Lodging
We will be staying at the wonderful and very accommodating Hattvika Lodge. We have eight single occupancy rooms in two four-bedroom Sørbua luxury apartments. These apartments are more like houses with generous sized bedrooms with underfloor heating, shared living room, dining room, kitchen and a large bathroom with an additional toilet. There is also a chill space on the mezzanine level with seating and skylight for additional aurora viewing! The apartments also feature a log-burning stove and are tastefully furnished in a modern Norwegian style.
We also have the Myklebustbua cottage, which is a double occupancy rorbuer that would be ideal for a couple.
Each apartment has kitchen facilities for self-catering, modern bathrooms and zones for relaxation.
Great views welcome all the guests of Hattvika Lodge, Mount Skottinden looms behind, and the wonderful water views of the harbor make this our favorite spot to stay in Lofoten. Two saunas (one looks like something out of The Hobbit) sit at the end of the pier, offering relaxing downtime after our long days and nights. We highly recommend bringing your bathing suit!
We will be bringing all of our guests to an excellent local grocery store so you can stock up on supplies to make breakfast and lunch during the week. This will allow us to best chase the light throughout the day and have (no-host) group dinners at restaurants that are convenient to our shooting locations.
Weather
The weather can be very unpredictable in the Lofoten Islands. While the Gulf Stream brings warmer temperatures for this extreme latitude, it also can bring lots of variable weather in general. We will most likely experience rain or snow every day. But like most oceanic locations, it could last for a short time or be on only one side of a mountain. This weather is excellently suited for dramatic pictures—lots of rays of light battling through clouds and spraying across the landscape.
Expect daytime temperatures to be in the 30s to 40s F, and lows at night could get down to the teens.
Recommended Attire
Layers and winter wear. Thermal long underwear and quality base layers are highly recommended. A rain/snow-proof winter jacket will offer you the best protection from any wind or weather. Rain or ski pants that can go over your jeans wouldn’t be a bad idea. Wool socks and waterproof hiking boots will keep your feet warm, and Yaktrax, IceTrekkers or Microspikes will keep them planted if we’re walking on ice. Hats and Vallerret photography gloves (made in Norway) are also highly recommended.
Exertion
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy, with a possible touch of Moderate. (See more about our classifications.)
No vigorous activity will be required during the tour, but please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. There won’t be any long hikes, but there will be long walks on uneven and snowy surfaces, and cold weather. You should be comfortable carrying your own equipment in these conditions and in the dark.
Considerations
Please read our FAQs section for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our tours and workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
Returning to The Land of Giants ...
“We visited the beaches and the romantic bleakness of these ‘end-of-the-world’ locations, where the water meets the mountains, and the beauty made them so difficult to leave.”
I love revisiting locations, and one of my favorite places in the world is Lofoten.
The first time I went was in September 2018 to scout and to share the experience with my Mom. It was magical. The mountain islands are mind-blowing and immediately transport you to some place and some time you have never quite experienced before. The small fishing villages and rorbuer houses at the base of these giants are so picturesque and only heighten that enchanting feeling.
When I returned to Lofoten in the winter of 2020, the mountains, beaches and red rorbuers were covered in snow. It was extraordinary, like being inside the most wonderful snow globe. I was fascinated with how the snow and rocky terrain added even more character to the mountains. Creating panoramas of these giants seemed to be the only way to do them justice. But then we visited the beaches and the romantic bleakness of these “end-of-the-world” locations, where the water meets the mountains, and the beauty made them so difficult to leave.
I started shooting wide shots, but became obsessed with finding the smaller moments, like the little rivers and estuaries that formed from the tide ebbing and flowing. I searched for the perfect alignment of rocks that led out to the endless horizon. I studied each rock on the beach and crouched low to photograph them as miniature landscapes. I experimented with long exposures and let the water wrap around my own personal archipelago.
Each of these beaches required at least 3 hours to explore, and my favorite day was when we spent the whole afternoon and night at the sandy Haukland and rocky Uttakleiv beaches. I didn’t want the dream to end; I wanted to wander in these inspirational locations forever.
As luck would have it, that night at Uttakleiv beach, the auroras gave us an epic show. To experience the auroras is such a jolt of excitement. I’ve been fortunate enough to witness them before, but these, with the mountains in the snow-swept distance and the waves crashing against the rocks, was a special experience to remember.
So if you are drawn to the drama of the ocean and mountains meeting at thin shores, and to exploring an archipelago from another time—I look forward to sharing what Lofoten will reveal.
