Henningsvaer Football Field in Lofoten, Norway
Henningsvaer (one of my favorite places in all of Lofoten) is a fishing village located on the islands of Heimøya and Hellandsøya. The town has a population of 510 and is replete with cafes and a large harbor for seemingly all the residents’ boats. Do yourself a favor and park in the town by the grocery store and take an hour to walk around the area.
The Henningsvær Football Stadium is perhaps one of the coolest located football stadiums you can ever imagine. The way the field contrasts with its rocky perimeter make it an awesome place to explore. And with a drone, you can really see the beauty of it all. Flanked all around the stadium are fish drying racks, great barriers for ensuring the football doesn’t end up going in the water.
In this post, you can check out my latest video of Henningsvaer, as well as some of my best shots from around this village, especially the famous football field.
Henningsvaer Football Stadium, A Brief History
Henningsvaer Stadium (Henningsvaer Stadion) has a maximum capacity of about 500 people and used for amateur football. The local sports team, Henningsvaer IL, was founded in 1927. The team needed a field to play on, however this was hard to come by as the Henningsvaer archipelago only provided small islands of rock.
Nonetheless, construction was made by leveling the bedrock on Hellandsoya Island, followed by lining the pitch with asphalt for parking. What you have is a green football pitch, cast in the middle of a rocky island, amidst hundreds of fish drying racks.
Henningsvaer Football Stadium Photos
How to get to Henningsvaer Football Stadium
Since Lofoten is located in the North part of Norway, it would serve you best to fly either into Tromsø (Airport Code: TOS) or Svolvaer (Airport Code: SVJ). Svolvaer is much closer to Henningsvaer and you can just rent a car, or a campervan like we did, and drive south down the E10 road and look for the signs that guide you to Henningsvaer.
We chose to fly into Tromsø and stay there a few days to enjoy the midnight sun and to prepare for our trip. Then we took the four hour drive to the northern tip of Lofoten, Norway, also via the E10 highway. So as you can already see, flying into this part of Norway and renting a car to drive on the E10 road will get you to this football pitch. Of course, Google Maps will help you along the way.
When to see Henningsvaer Football Stadium
The best times to see the Henningsvaer Football field with regards to seasons of the year is variable, depending on what you are looking for. The spring and summer months give you the best chances for photographing in golden hour light as you generally get more sunlight anyway, especially around the summer solstice.
Do not count out visiting Henningsvaer in the winter as well. The landscape just looks so different when compared to summer. Furthermore, if you can capture the aurora with the stadium in the foreground, this is most easily accomplished in the colder, darker, winter months.
Since the village of Henningsvaer sits on its own archipelago, you have open water to the East, South, and West of you, which means that depending on your position, you can get great shots of the football field during sunrise as well as sunset with different subjects in the background. Specifically, sunrise would allow you to capture the football field with many rocky islands in the background that make up the village archipelago.
Of course, coming at a normal time during the day is ok, I would recommend photographing the stadium in the morning more than the evening. This is because this football field now have a social media following and everyone will be flocking here with their DSLR and drone to capture it, much like myself. Do not be surprised to see many drones at a time when visiting.
Photographing Henningsvaer Football Stadium
Once arriving in Henningsvaer village, I recommend parking at the local grocery store and walking to the stadium from there. You can try to park at the football field itself as well, but I find that there are ample photographic opportunities, specifically of the harbor of Henningsvaer.
I only used my wide angle lens, 10 mm focal length, and normal lens, 24-70 mm focal length, as well as my drone for getting my shots. As far as specific locations to photograph Henningsvaer football stadium, there are many:
Henningsvaer Lighthouse (Henningsvaer Fyr) - situated on the southern part of the island, you can get great views of the mountains of Lofoten in the distance (to the North) while getting the football field in the foreground.
In a fish drying rack around the field - You can easily frame the football field while being inside one of the fish drying racks. What an interesting combination…football and dried fish. Be careful though, if there is a ton of fish on these racks, sometimes the smell is actually intolerable. We tried to walk under a rack once and only made it one meter in before turning back.
On the pitch itself - so long as part of the pitch is in the frame, you can choose whatever background you want. I would use a wide angle lens for this.
Anywhere above Henningsvaer - For those who have a drone, your possibilities are virtually limitless. The most common shots are top down, directly only the center circle of the pitch. Also, flying south of the field, while pitching your camera upwards to get the field and mountains in the background are solid. Do a quick orbit of the football field as well to see any more interesting vantage points like the numerous small rocky islands to the east of the football field.
