³ Sony a7R II, Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS
at 24mm. Exposure: 1.6 sec., ƒ/22, ISO 100.Hamnøy Rorbu
Lofoten Islands, Norway
Text & Photography By Tom ElenbaasL
ying above the Arctic Circle at the
68th and 69th parallels, the Lofo-
ten Islands span the waters of the
Norwegian Sea. Majestic mountain peaks
tower over icy blue fjords and emerald
green bays, creating many opportunities
for a landscape photographer.
For more than a thousand years,
fishermen have been coming to the
Lofotens by boat to catch and process
cod. A single main highway now links
the larger islands in the archipelago to
the mainland, with bridges and tunnels
stretching over and under expanses of
sea, connecting the colorful small fish-
ing villages that dot the countryside.
Being an attorney by vocation and a
photographer by avocation, I prefer to
go as part of an organized workshop
whenever I visit a location I’m not
familiar with. Traveling with profes-
sionals who know the lay of the land
and being accompanied by like-minded
individuals sharing a passion for pho-
tography helps me take full advantage
of the photographic opportunities a
place like the Lofoten Islands affords.
A couple of years ago, I had the chanceto spend a week in the Lofotens as part
of such a group.
One of the highlights of the trip was
staying in Hamnøy, the oldest (and what
some consider to be the most picturesque)
fishing village in the archipelago. Hamnøy
is located about a mile from Reine, the
commercial center of the Lofoten Islands.
But putting things into perspective, Reine
has a population of only a little over 300,
which shows just how unspoiled the Lofo-
ten Islands remain.
Built right on the shoreline and sitting
perched on stilts only a few feet above the
crashing waves, most of the old fishing
huts in Hamnøy, the Rorbu, have been
converted to guest lodging. Historically,
the Rorbu were painted with red fish-
oil paint, and while some of the other
villages in the Lofotens have adopted
different colors, such as the ochre build-
ings in Sakrisøy, the Rorbu in Hamnøy
still retain their traditional red exteri-
ors. Although they now possess modern
amenities, staying in Hamnøy was an
opportunity to get a glimpse of what life
would have been like for Norway’s cod
fisherman in the not-too-distant past.One of the iconic shots nearly every-
one who visits the Lofoten Islands
takes, and for good reason, is of the
red Rorbu of Hamnøy with the craggy
face of Festhelltinden mountain as a
backdrop. Literally walking distance
from where we were staying, a bridge
crosses the bay just outside the village
and is the perfect place to set up your
tripod. I opted for a vertical format,
using the rocks in the foreground to
anchor the image, and utilized a slow
shutter speed to capture the move-
ment of the swirling sea and cascading
waves. Unfortunately, my neutral-den-
sity filters were sitting on the kitchen
table, so I had to stop down to a much
smaller aperture than I’d normally use
to achieve the desired shutter speed.
A couple of days later, I had a chance
to do the shot over, but the conditions
weren’t the same. Despite a small
amount of diffraction from the ƒ/22
aperture, this is the shot I prefer. opSee more of Tom Elenbaas’s
photography at tomelenbaas.com.behind the shot
72 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com