I know this is not one of my best shots; everything was wrong for photography at the time I took it, the sun was high and strong and the glare was really unworkable. Yet I had to get a shot because I knew I would not get another chance to return!
I got to this place by following the highway from Fredvang, I wanted to see the fjord flowing deeper into the valley. So we set off and came to a junction, one direction, well tarmacked, heading to a small village and the other, loose stones and more track like. We took this route and maybe 20 minutes into the wilderness we spotted what looked like potential Neolithic dolmens in the distance, for me always a good indication that this was going to be a magical place. After following the fjord inland for some time we got deep into the valley and the mountains rose high on all sides.
Eventually, we stopped and decided it was time to get down to the fjord. It was a hard but not a far hike and it was well worth it, the mountains rose high and the views were fantastic, the place had a secretive and magical feel to it, It kinder made you feel like you were the first person ever to discover it. I held on to those thoughts for some time, well, actually for little over an hour as that’s when I spotted a camper van
pulling up roadside in the distance!
Also if you look over to the right, in the background of the photo, at the foot of the mountain, you can see a house, the highway came to an abrupt end just after and you were then presented with either turning around and going back or to set off on foot into forest and mountains.
Getting back to the shot, I'd set up the camera and tripod lowdown on a large flat rock to get close to the water level as I could and I waited in vain for the sun to vanish behind a cloud or a weather front to be sent to me from Thor or Odin but the Norse gods did not answer my request on this day. So after maybe an hour, I decided I would spot focus, as my Sony A7r3 has good dynamic range and this focus method would hopefully counter the extreme dynamic range of the composition, caused by the bright sun and glare off the water. Well, it did an okay job in near-impossible conditions so I'm relatively satisfied with the outcome and now this photo is an integral part of my Lofoten Islands photographic journey. And this place I know I will visit again.
Mark Palombella Hart