A Road Trip through Norway
Summertime is Road Trip time! This time I took the kids for a round trip over to Norway. It went as planned: many kilometers and lots of things to see in a rather short time. Despite it having been only a short visit the covered area was quite large. We went all the way from Rovaniemi (Fi) over Kilpisjärvi (Fi) to Trömsö (N), from there to the island of Somaroy, then from the island of Senja over Narvik and Kiruna (Swe) back to Finland.
Raptor Falls #2
The other week I posted the first image in this series and it’s time for the image which I originally envisioned. Immediately when I passed the waterfall I had the idea for vertical panoramic image. The waterfall seemed to be just perfect for this purpose. This doesn’t only look nice here and I’m sure it will make a wonderful print. I also just realized that it is much easier to present a vertical panorama on the blog than a horizontal one ;-).
Raptor Falls #1
The conditions played some tricks on me during my short visit to Norway this time and I’m still strolling somewhere along the road to Alta, Norway. In fact I have no idea whatsoever where I have been when I took this image. I notice the waterfall and quickly pull over the car to a nearby parking spot, grab my bag and tripod and head back to the waterfall. While these kind of waterfalls are very common sight along the roads, photographing them often fails due to a lack of available places to leave the car securely on the narrow roads in the mountains.
Bossoberget Falls
I arrived in Norway after many hours of driving only to find the one road which was important to me, closed due to an avalanche. Instead of waiting for the next day, when the road is supposed to be opened again, I chose to explore a totally different area. A rough description of my journey you can find in this post. It didn’t took long until I found this waterfall, caved deep into the mountain.
Sandfjordbukta
It’s only a little while ago that I missed some gorgeous light on the coastline and I returned to this beach which noticed earlier while driving along the road. On this location though, the conditions work for me. The light is soft and warm and the sky is beautifully lit by the sun which is hidden behind a layer of clouds just above the horizon. This beach is located slightly south of the city of Berlevag (Google Maps defines this location as Sandfjorden, let’s just assume this is correct), and the scenery bears some interesting views: tilted rocks, ponds and puddles reflecting the light from the sky, some green in the grass and some coastal mountains in the background, what else can one look for?
Eggum View
We’re just on the way back from the Lofoten with the direction to our home in Finland . We’re not in a hurry and we use the chance to stop now and then to explore and enjoy some of the scenery, as we did right here in Eggum. This is the way we the clouds have been most of the time for the first few days of the trip. It is amazing how low clouds can get in this area, also is it always surprising how different the conditions are around there.
Mountain Sketches
After little sun during the morning, quickly more and more clouds started to show up and it started to rain ever so slightly. The light, just soft and warm a few minutes ago disappeared in favor of a flat and grey mass above me. I was exploring an area called Signaldalen and I started to give the mountain-tops some attention when the first image of this series caught my eye.
Another Journey to the North Part 1/2 - Signaldalen
During this trip I took images all over the area up to the island of Sommaroy, near Tromsö. But the images in this post are all from the area that you can see here on the map The journey begins just after sunset and I’m leaving home off to Norway. To make the most of this short trip I planned to be at location just behind the border before sunrise to take advantage of some nice morning light on and in the mountains.
And I'm Off
It feels like forever since I had posted a similar post like this and it’s actually long overdue. Work schedules and a distance of roughly 800km to the location of my choice simply don’t play well together. But now, finally, the wait is over and I’m off to Norway again. Initially the idea was to stay in Tromsö and explore the area around there again. I have been there now a few times already I’m a little bit familiar with the area and have some rough ideas where to go to.
Persfjord: A Sunny Night At A Stormy Coast
The storm lasted the whole day but just as the forecast had predicted, at 22 o’clock the conditions finally change to the better. The wind calms down and the sun is having a first appearance and warming up not only the scenery with it’s golden light but also myself. I’m happy to be finally able to take some images and also to have my clothes drying up after a long day of rain.
The Red Rocks
This evening’s shooting started successfully a little while ago at a lighthouse a few kilometres to the north along this road. Again the weather and lighting conditions seem to change after almost every turn of the road (something that I already got used to) but slightly more confusing is the fact that now I’m struggling to find the scene that I scouted out earlier that day. For some reason it seemed to have disappeared.
Troms Rocks
We’re scouting for locations and exploring the island here in the north of Norway. Stunning views everywhere we go. It’s already in the evening but it’s summer here and the sun is still high up in the sky. Which is nice for exploring, not so much for taking pictures though. It turns out though, that just “in time” for better light, the weather also changes significantly. Not necessarily to the better though.
Lofoten Summer
It has been a long day at this moment already, and we’re still searching for the location we have noticed in the distance. Still without success, and as it will turn out, we will never find “the spot”. Along the road though, we run into a few other beautiful scenes. Such as this one. It is a wonderful and silent place, and I take my time composing a few images.
Storvatnet Reflection #1
Lofoten Islands, Norway, June 2010 The outing for tonight is almost over and we are just on our way back to the beach where we planned to stay to stay the night. The horrific conditions of the previous day are long forgotten and this night had been full of good photographic opportunities. Just on our way back we pass this beautiful and silent lake. The sun is by now high enough in the sky to throw it’s light over the mountains and wonderfully light the mountains in front of us.
Summer Swamp
It’s the end of July 2009, almost on my birthday, and by now I’m already photographing the landscapes up here on the island north of Tromsö for hours. The sun only hid below the horizon giving wonderful golden light for hours and locations to photograph were plenty along the way. I just love to photograph in this area. It is possible to photograph in the mountains and at the coast within a small area.
Tromvik Boat
It had been a long and eventful shooting this evening here on these islands north of Tromsø and it’s not over yet. We’re in a little village called Tromvik on the way back to Tromsø and the hotel room. Today’s shooting started hours ago, the light is wonderful this night and it gave me quite a few good opportunities to take photographs. Having explored the area earlier that day, we were following the route back along the marks on the map.
The Flow
After I passed the border into Norway for a few kilometers my disappointment about the fairly unfortunate conditions in the north of Finland was quickly forgotten, when I faced the drama and the beauty of the landscapes. Without any map or GPS I have driven along the road looking for compositions to jump into my eye, while trying to not get lost at the same time. I already explored a few locations along the coast of the fjord to which I planned to return later that day when I finally decided to wait at this river for the rain to end.
Tectonic Coast #2
Finmark, Norway, July 2010 By now the sun somehow has long “set” behind a layer of clouds just above the horizon and I continue to explore the coastline. I’m somehwere along the road to the small city of Berlevag, in the most northern parts of Norway. After a well deserved nap and my first few images of this evening, I again notice the frequently changing conditions in this area. Not much earlier I photographed a lighthouse a only a few kilometres from here in a lot different conditions.
Arctic Beach #2
April 2010, Tromsö, Norway Having arrived early in the morning in Tromsö, we head out in nice sunny and cloudy weather during the day. We have been here before and are little familiar with the area but our path today leads us to, at least for us, yet unexplored areas. During the course of the day the weather clouds up quite a bit. Just in time for sunset to be precise.
Malangen Mountains
Norway, April 2010. After a day’s worth of exploring the islands around Tromsö the light finally get’s this magical quality that I so enjoy here in the Scandinavian countries. We spotted this location earlier already, but first we headed to the end of this road for a panoramic image of the mountains close to the island of Sommaroy. An area I had been photographing last summer. The sky there was rather dramatic and in fact it got even more spectacular a little later, something that I noticed in the rear mirror while were already on the way to this location.
Henningsvaer Harbour
Lofoten Islands, June 2010. Upon our arrival the weather was, well, badly in need of improvement. It’s cold, it rains cats and dogs and the visibility is somewhere around 100m into every direction. We came a long way and after a good night sleep in the car we head out to get a decent coffee and something to eat. Little bit more awake we stroll along the roads exploring the area for good locations to photograph once the conditions are slightly better.
Unexpected Company
Somehow landscape photography is always full of surprises. Every now and then something unexpected happens. Most of the time it’s just the weather turning bad just an hour before the best light after having a beautiful, occasionally though, something surprisingly nice happens. In the beginning of the year it was a group of whales slowly passing by in the fjord in front of us. Last year it were seals, and this year I got unexpected company by a cute little fox.
Storfjord Rocks
By now I have passed this site along the E8 to Tromsö multiple times and yet it doesn’t seem to enough. Every time I drove along this road it turned out to be a pure visual pleasure and I found myself always stopping at different stops to take a photograph. I took this image on my first and very spontaneous trip to this country and it marked the beginning of so far five trips.
Purple Bay Rocks
A little bay, somewhere along to road to the island of Sommaroy, Norway. It’s more than a month since Midsommer now, and even by this time the sun still barely sets. It’s just below the horizon and illuminating the sky just nice for the course of hours. The sky was beautifully lit and the clouds reflected the sunlight in all shades of red and purple for already more than two hours and there’s no hurry to drive along the coast.