General Information
Join Terra Photography Expeditions to a wintery Lofoten chasing landscapes and the Northern Light!
Expedition Highlights
Experience Lofoten Islands in the middle of Arctic Winter
Chase the Northern Light
Benefit from a proven photography curriculum to quickly advance your photography
Post-processing workshops in the evenings
Enjoy amazing local specialties
Guides
Jonas Paurell
Creative Guide & Expedition Leader
Jonas is the founder of Terra Photography Expeditions. He has been a photographer for well over 20 years. He is a certified International Mountain Leader (UIMLA) that has spent a lifetime exploring the world's wild areas. Jonas will be leading the expedition.
Jonas loves working with developing photographers to strengthen their technical foundation and support them to unleach their inner creativity. Jonas achieves this through engaging lectures, educative assignments and hands-on teaching in the field.
More info here.
Itinerary
Terra Photography Expeditions is pleased to present a photography expedition that will take you to some of the most magical and beautiful places in Lofoten for an unforgettable nature and photography experience. Throughout the trip, we will be surrounded by the amazing nature that only Lofoten can provide. Sharp mountain peaks, wild sea, ridge-lines, all-day low sun and the Northern Lights are some of the attractions that will captivate you in this mystical journey!
The expedition has been carefully designed based on our personal experiences to ensure that you get optimal chances to get the photos and time-lapses that you have been dreaming about. The focus of this tour is to get inspired to create high-quality images and meet like-minded people.
Day 1 | Arrival day
The team from Terra Photography Expeditions will pick you up at Leknes (LKN) airport. We will get into our vehicle and head for the lodge where we will be staying for the expedition. The lodge is situated on one of the central Lofoten islands, which is perfect for exploring the areas of Vestvågøy and Flakstadøy. We will have some time to explore the area and have a pre-expedition briefing. In the first evening, we will have a first photography session.
Day 2 - 6 | Western Islands
Northern Norway is famous for its rapidly changing and unpredictable weather, so we will plan our outings as we wake up each day when we know what the weather gods will throw our way. For fair weather days with limited snow, we will head to remote beaches like e.g. Kvalvika beach and if the weather is unsuitable for trekking we will keep to the closer beaches like e.g. Haukland, Uttakleiv, Unstad and Skagsanden. Each day will have a strong focus on landscape photography.
Day 7 | Departure Day
The expedition will officially end at noon with transport to the airport.
Curriculum
All Terra Photography Expeditions follow a proven curriculum that aims to teach the theory behind photography in a dynamic way that directly translates into easily actionable processes in the field. As we move through nature we also go through an introduction to the skills and knowledge required to be safe in the great outdoors.
Photography Techniques Covered on the Expedition
Storytelling - Telling stories and evoking emotions within the context of landscape photography
Composition - A comprehensive introduction to the theory of composition, including the elements of art and principles of design
Process - Learning and implementing a process to achieve consistent quality in landscape photography
Focusing - A science-based method for focusing to make your images sharp
Long exposure and filters - Long exposure and the use of Neutral Density (ND) filters, especially related to moving water and clouds
Aurora photography - Explore the nighttime skies, Northern Light and landscapes to show the world at a different time
Panorama photography - exposing and merging multiple images
Multiple exposures and graduate filters - Achieving correctly exposed images in challenging conditions using graduated filters and multiple exposures (exposure bracketing)
Finding locations - Using maps, weather services and other tools to identify potential photography locations and times.
Post Processing - Using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to create stunning natural landscape images
Outdoor Skills Covered on the Expedition
We are first and foremost out to enjoy the mountains and to pursue the art of photography, however, as we are moving toward our locations there is always time to share some outdoor skills.
Planning for a day out on the hills in winter conditions
Using safety equipment and emergency transponders
Map reading
Navigation with map and compass
Relocation with map and compass
Using sighting for fast movement
Additional Information
The Agenda, Weather and Daylight Hours
The weather in the arctic circle can either be stable for weeks or can change rapidly one hour to the next, so even though we have a planned agenda, this will be open to revision on the day. Each day we will study the synoptic charts and the local maps over breakfast to plan our day. For fair weather days, we will head into the mountains and for poor weather days, we will stay low and pursue the bad weather fronts as these often provide a great opportunity for stunning photography.
Northern Light
The chances that we will experience the Northern Light, or Aurora Borealis, are very good during the time of the expedition. However, we can never guarantee this. For us to see the Northern Light we need to have both Northern Light and clear skies so we will be monitoring the situation and be ready to head out at short notice throughout the entire expedition.
Food
This expedition caters for three meals per day. We will have a fully stocked fridge and make breakfasts together in the mornings. We will also make a packed lunch and flask of hot drink to sustain us throughout the day out shooting (during the Arctic winter the daylight hours are few and the light is often perfect from blue hour to blue hour so we will not want to waste quality light sitting in a restaurant). To make up for our packed sandwiches at lunch, we will enjoy a delicious meal prepared by a chef at the Lodge at night.
Leave No Trace Policy
Terra Photography Expeditions has a strict leave no trace policy. This policy is also applied to how we share information about fragile ecosystems that we gently and respectfully visit. This means that we have withheld exact locations from the itinerary. This is because we do not want to contribute to large scale tourism. You are welcome to get in touch if you'd like to discuss the itinerary before applying to join. Thank you for your understanding.
Accommodation
During this expedition, we will be staying in well situated and well equiped apartments.
How Challenging?
This expedition has a Low Effort Rating. We can expect to be out around 7 hours per day with light trekking. Previous trekking experience is not necessary. More info about effort levels here.
Price & Details
Included:
Guided photography sessions in the field with two creative guides
Theoretical sessions
Guided treks by qualified International Mountain Leader or Mountain Guide
All accommodation during the expedition: 6 nights in a shared room
All main meals
All transport during the tour
Excluded:
Photo equipment
Outdoor clothing
Transport (i.e. flights to Leknes airport)
Insurance. All participants are required to have their own insurance appropriate for hiking in the alps, such as health, accident, mountain rescue, repatriation, cancellation, personal liability, etc.
Trail snack to eat on the go
Alcoholic beverages
Price: 3195 EUR
30% deposit due to secure your reservation, remaining 70% due 60 days before the start of the expedition.
Status
Confirmed
Logistics
Start: Leknes (LKN) airport, 12 Feb 2023 at 2 PM
End: Leknes (LKN) airport, 18 Feb 2023 at approx. 11 AM
Participants: Minimum 5, Maximum 7
Please note: the expedition needs to reach the minimum participation to go ahead. Kindly do not book your flight until we have notified that the expedition is going ahead.
We reserve the right to change the itinerary without previous notice due to weather conditions, and unforeseeable circumstances.
This tour is governed by the Terms and Conditions