Lofoten Islands Photography Workshop
Price range: £1,000.00 through £4,200.00
5th February – 12th February 2027
Description
Workshop places are available
2027 Lofoten Photo Tour Summary
Lofoten Islands photography focusing on both landscape, astrophotography and the Northern Lights, also featuring some hikes up to some of the easier peaks and trails and beaches cut off in the winter.
Location: Lofoten Islands, Norway
Price: Full price £4,200 / Deposit £1,000
Date: 5th February – 12th February 2027
Duration: 7 nights
Maximum Group Size: 6
Tutors: Tutors: Ollie Taylor
Accommodation: High quality en-suite nordic cabins
Information: Single occupancy rooms with own bathrooms
BOOK YOUR PLACE
If there are spaces left, you can book your place on this photography tour below.
Any questions? Please click here to contact Ollie Taylor.
What’s Included?
Transportation during workshop
Single Occupancy Rooms
Airport Transfers
Professional landscape photography tuition and advice throughout the workshop
Expert nightscape and landscape astrophotography tuition
Digital darkroom session
What’s Excluded?
Personal travel and equipment insurance
Travel to and from Norway
Meals and snacks
Useful Information
Exertion Level
Days and nights can be long, winter clothing is essential, a recommended equipment list is provided to the group prior to the trip.
Landsacpe Photography
Traditional landscape photography tuition and guidance is incorporated within this workshop.
Nightscape Photography
Night sky and Northen Lights tuition is delivered throughout the duration of this workshop.
Expertise
This is a workshop that caters to levels of amateur and above, you will need to know how to use manual settings on your camera and have a vague understanding of graduate filters or layer blending.
Lofoten Photography Workshop
This Lofoten Island photography workshop offers a chance to photograph the archipelago, visiting both the popular honeypot locations in the south, and a few lesser-known locations alongside photographing the Northern Lights whenever possible.
The workshop will focus on both landscape and nightscape photography over the duration. Due to new driving regulations and permits, we now work with a reputable Norwegian company that understands the demands of a photo workshop and our often crazy schedules; they provide our local driver/guide, vehicle, and accommodation and work with us on the day-to-day logistics of the tour in the Arctic winter.
Lofoten Photo Tour Information
The Lofoten Islands are the stuff of dreams, with jaw-dropping mountain peaks and ridges wrapped around the fjords that look as if they are from a fantasy epic, to unrivalled, well-maintained trails and accessible vistas in the autumn; often all complemented by the Northern lights.
This photography workshop covers multiple locations in the far southwestern part of the archipelago, visiting many iconic locations alongside lesser-frequented ones in the central Lofoten Islands.
Locations are chosen on the weather conditions at the time, with key dark sky locations used when the group can benefit from them and the Northern Lights; sunrise locations are used after cloudy nights. We will choose the best locations and update the group day by day using his experience of night and landscape photography to govern which, and when, locations are visited for either landscape or nightscape photography.
Fieldwork Equipment
Full frame, crop sensor, and micro four-thirds can be used, alongside larger format cameras; however, as technology and therefore techniques and workflows advance, it is recommended the camera body has an absolute minimum ISO of 6400 due to the low light nature of Northern Lights photography, with 12800/25600 and above preferred.
If you have any questions about fieldwork equipment for this workshop please click here to get in touch.
Camera body (spare body recommended if possible)
Wide lens (fast if possible but F4 can be used if the camera has high ISO capabilities)
Multiple lenses with a range of focal lengths
A sturdy tripod (critical in Iceland due to wind)
Remote timer or long exposure bulb control built-in on the timer
Multiple spare camera batteries
Head torch with a red mode (this is not for night vision, it makes it easier to work as a group, and stops us blinding one another)
Warm outdoor clothes and multiple thermal layers alongside base layers, rain and windproofs, a set of Gore Tex hiking boots (preferably two pairs incase one gets wet), general hiking/outdoor socks and a few pairs of winter socks for any late nights shooting Aurora, hat, gloves, neck warmer, hand warmers.
Post-Production & Planning Necessities
The group will cover short post-production and planning sessions, looking at both landscape and night sky photography images that we produce whilst on the road where possible with regards to weather.
The planning and post-production are critical elements of nightscape photography, and landscape photography, hence they have been included in our group workshops since 2014. For those that don’t use Adobe and are using other post-production software suites, it will be up to you to transfer the workflow to your chosen software suite; the second phase of the workflow requires software with layers (ie Photoshop or similar).
Lightroom (please make sure this is Lightroom Classic)
Photoshop (not essential but our nightscape workflows include layer masking)
A laptop running the above ideally with a minimum of 8GB Ram
This part of the workshop can be undertaken with no laptop and note writing, though following on a laptop is recommended.
Recommended apps and websites that will be taught and demonstrated:
Space Weather Live
Live Aurora Network
Frequently Asked Questions
Some useful information about our Lofoten photography workshops.
Why Choose our Lofoten Photo Tour?
As Ollie has plied his trade in nightscape photography since 2010, this tour will help group members with all aspects of creating professional-standard Aurora images using structured workflow techniques. The stunning Lofoten islands are also an exceptional location to improve your landscape portfolio or technique if required. Our workshops are fully insured, and adhere to Norwegian law and regulations with all the correct permits and licenses in place through our partners in the Lofoten Islands. Read more about the tutor and workshops here.
What will I learn on the Lofoten Photo Tour?
The main focus on the Lofoten Photo Tour will be for participants to learn not only how to photograph and edit the Northern Lights, but also advanced (simplified) methods of reading when the Aurora may be visible and at what latitudes. Alongside nightscape techniques, landscape photography tuition will also be delivered to group members that require assistance.
How fit do I need to be?
Winter Lofoten Tour:
The winter tour requires minimal fitness levels, and most locations are roadside with the exception of a few 10/15-minute walks which are weather dependent and optional. Endurance is required for potential long hours out at night photographing the Northern Lights.
Autumn Tour:
The autumn tour requires a reasonably high fitness level as beaches only accessible by trail are used, often equating to an 8km round trip, and depending on group fitness some of the unexposed trails may also be used. Again, cold weather and long hours standing operating camera equipment may be required to photograph the Aurora.
What are the meal arrangements on the Lofoten Photo Tour?
Lofoten is self-catering with the team using well-stocked supermarkets in Leknes and smaller ones in Ramberg and Reine. Local cafés are often used for lunch as the group pass by, and restaurants on evening and nights with unfavourable weather.
Does Ollie’s team have the necessary permits for Norway?
Since the new Norwegian taxi license driving legislation, registered taxi requirements for vehicles and adventure tourism permits required for operating photo tours in Lofoten and the wider region, Ollie’s team has worked closely with local guides and drivers in Norway to ensure the Lofoten photo workshops are fully legit. We now employ experienced and reputable guides with all the necessary permits, vehicles, and driving qualifications. This has escalated costs; however, this ensures our tours are fully insured and compliant with Norwegian law, unlike many other tours currently failing to comply and essentially operating illegally.
Do I need a visa for Norway?
All Schengen Zone countries have freedom of movement to include Norway. The UK does not need a visa at this point, though that is set to change in 2024. Nationals from most other countries will need a Schengen Visa to visit Norway.
What clothing should I bring?
Ollie currently operates Lofoten Photo Tours in both autumn and winter, both being very different but requiring similar clothes. The early autumn workshop involves more hiking with cold temperatures and night, and the mid-winter workshops are roadside but require more arctic winter-wear to deal with snow.
- Comfortable light hiking pants (autumn tour)
- Wind/waterproof proof heavier duty hiking pants (winter and autumn tour)
- Winterproof hiking or ski pants (winter tour)
- Coat/down jacket (thermal)
- Light waterproof overlayers or waterproof hiking jacket and pants (autumn tour)
- Base layers
- Multiple mid-layers, thermal fleeces or underlayers that can be layered over one another
- Thermal socks (feet always get cold first undertaking night photography)
- Hiking boots or trainers (waterproof/resistant)
- Snow boots (winter tour, though can be used to keep warm for Aurora shoots on autumn tour)
- Hat/gloves/snood/scarf
- Sunscreen
Nice to haves!
- Swimwear if you wish to use the hot tub/sauna
- Hand warmers (throw away or electronic)
- Feet warmers/battery socks
- Lightweight neck scarf/snood (dust protection)
Accommodation
The Lofoten accommodation consists of traditional rorbu cabins finished to an excellent standard in a sought-after location, close to photography spots and amenities. The cabins are provided by our partners with individual single occupancy rooms and their own bathrooms.
Please note: Post-production session duration can vary drastically in Lofoten and how many are undertaken and the length of them will ultimately be weather dependent. We offer group Zoom follow-up sessions several times a year for more detailed post-production tuition, please contact him to discuss further pre or post-workshop.
Travel Information
Transfers
Days and nights can be long, winter clothing is essential, a recommended equipment list is provided to the group prior to the trip.
Further Information
Group emails are set up once the group is fully booked, as an icebreaker, and also to serve as a Q&A platform.
Deposits are non-refundable and balances are due 120 days prior to the workshop commencing.
Please contact us for any further information required.
Workshop places are available
Book this Lofoten Photography Workshop
Dramatic mountainscapes, majestic fjords, sweeping Atlantic beaches, and the Aurora Borealis. Photograph the Lofoten islands by day and night with professional landscape and Northern Lights tuition throughout this photo tour.
Location: Lofoten Islands, Norway
Price: Full price £4,200 / Deposit £1,000
Date: 5th February – 12th February 2027
Duration: 7 nights
Maximum Group Size: 6
Tutors: Tutors: Ollie Taylor
Accommodation: High quality en-suite nordic cabins
Information: Single occupancy rooms with own bathrooms
BOOK YOUR PLACE
If there are spaces left, you can book your place on this photography tour below.
Any questions? Please click here to contact Ollie Taylor.
Additional information
| Course Payments | Deposit, Full Payment |
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