We drove to Hamnøy, a small fishing village in the Lofoten archipelago, to catch some nice light from the sunrise. We arrived unexpectedly early and managed to catch the blue hour; we were met with some very rich contrasting blues not only from the sky but from the water as well.

We set up a popular spot on the bridge leading to Sakrisøy, giving us an excellent composition of the red rorbuer on the shoreline and the mountains in the backdrop. It was pretty windy, and the waves were crashing along the rocky shore, so I decided to go for a longer exposure to get the silky effect on the waves. The rich blues coming through created not only a scenic photo but quite a dramatic one at that.

When I finished my composition, I faced no big challenges in getting this shot other than timing the waves crashing against the shoreline and a small amount of snowfall, which was only a short flurry.

While the Lofoten Islands is a year-round destination, the winter season provides an insight into life in the Arctic Circle and is a landscape photographer's paradise. With frozen landscapes, mountain ranges, and the opportunity to potentially view the aurora borealis, it's no wonder this is a popular time to visit.

I shot this with my Canon 5d Mk IV with the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 III lens mounted on a Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre tripod.