My second year as a landscape photographer
Lofoten july 2022
So I thought I`d make a blog post about my year as a new landscape photographer. A kind of best of post with short insights and links to other blog posts that showcase trips and photos in more depth.
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I bought my Nikon Z6 camera and other photography equipment back in june 2020. So I would say 2022 was my second proper year of my new landscape photography adventure. When I look back on photos from 2020 and 2021, it is quite obvious that I have already come a long way, but at the same time I am just beginning to learn and understanding light and composition. It is a lot of trial and error and hundreds of shots in between the best photos that I share. Anyway learning and developing is what make landscape photography so interesting and at times obsessive too. For me its also the mixture of nature experiences and photography that is important.
I do most of my photography in my local area. I have found that the right weather and light conditions can make my local landcapes great too.The trips to more epic locations are just once in a while, but love them as I get to stay closer to the nature in my tent. On these trips I usually go early in the morning so I get a sunrise and sunset the first day and another sunrise the next day before I head home. I like to call them 30 hours trips..
I wasn`t that found of the winter before, but the interest for photography has turned this around. There are few things that beats winter at its best. I will start this post with a few winter photos from my local area as I made a blog post on that back in january. Here are a few winter photos from january
I like the photo below as the main tree in the foreground seems to be some character. I see a crazy looking person with a smile, small eyes and waving arms ;)
A location that I visited several times last winter was Åstadalen, Godlidalen and the peak Tuva in Ringsaker. The area is quite close to where I live, about 30 minutes drive, and easy to reach at sunrise and sunset. The photo below is from a quite special sunset near the small peak Tuva. The light and tones was soft and at the same time very saturated that it made for some amazing mood. A night to remember for sure. Here are more photos from that night.
This is another photo from that same location, but in way different conditions. Cold and windy.
And another in the summer
This next photo is also from a ski trip. I like the minimalistic scene and the fog, almost total whiteout. I probably should have moved a bit to the left, but I barely saw the composition through the fog. The three trees to the left would work as a composition on its own too I guess.
Cloud inversions are something I havent really seen that often. The next photo is from a huge cloud inverison where I live. It was sunset turning into blue hour and every valley in the area was filled with low clouds and fog. The views above the fog was amazing.
Here is another winter night shot from the town where I live.
The first long trip of the year was two days to Rondane national park in march. I was just in the outskirts of the main mountains, but due to quite easy access to a peak I got these epic views directly towords both Rondane to the east and Jotunheimen national park to the west. I got a few memorable shots in the bag during to nights in Rondane. Check out this blog post for more from that trip
I did another trip to Rondane a bit later in april. This shot is from a sunset near Storula. The patterns and diagonals in additon to the first light on the mountain in the background make this a great photo I think.
More from this trip here
In april I did one night in tent by Valdresflyet in Jotunheimen. This was just after the road had opened after being closed all winter. The winter was not over, to say the least. The trip did not quite work out the way I hoped for and neither did the photography.
A planned hike to a peak had to be cancelled because of very cold temperatures and poor snow conditions. I did not want to take any risks all alone and that late in the evening. It as a strange feeling being surrounded by this amazing nature and still not being able to find good compositions. Well I learnt a few things on that trip for sure. Below is a night shot of the tent and its surrounding landscapes.
More from that trip here
Later in may I did to Jotunheimen, Hurrungane and Sognefjellet. I tried out my new mountain skis with a trip to Dyrhaugsryggen and Veslbreatinden. This was also two days of trial and error and a very cold night in a summer tent. I even woke up in the middle of the night on a flat madrass. ( Yes I will buy a winter tent ;)
One of the goals was to get a view of Store Ringstind. I got a few nice photos as this one below. The low clouds was hiding the peaks for long period so I had to be ready and quick too capture the peaks. The light was changing into golden hour just before I had to get started on the long way down from Dyrhaugsryggen. The mountain skis werent that suited for the late afternoon temperatures and at one point I lost control and raged down a steep mountain slope. I managed to get a grip at some point but it was a unpleasent experience and a sore back and legs. Anyway I got back to the car in time to drive across the mountain before it closed for the night. The location for the night was at the higest point of Sognefjellet at appr. 1450 masl.
On the way to the tent location I got the shot below as I am quite pleased with. Smørstabbtindan are in the background.
My next adventure was to the Stavanger region. The trip was made possible due to work related matters. I did one night in tent on a beach and one night overlooking Lysefjorden and Preikestolen. Both night were magic in their own way. I even got to visit a ancient woodland, very rare experience living in the middle of Norway with mostly pine and birch forests. The conditions werent quite right for woodland photography though. The photo below is from the sunrise overlooking Lysefjorden. Just pure magic and no words can explain that sight from that morning high above the fjord
The next photos are from the beach with a surprise visit from some deer, and more of that amazing sunrise in Lysefjorden. Open in lightbox for bigger versions
This next photo is from june, some 500 meter from my house, when a sudden weather change made some really dramatic clouds. We dont get storms clouds like this very often so I had to make to most of it
The main goal and photography event of the year was still to come. It was a long sought after trip to northern Norway and Lofoten. I had never been there before and I had always had the Lofoten islands and dramatic nature images in the back of my mind. The ony time I had been that far north was back in the army days on Andøya. Anyway it is almost imposible to choose photos from that trip so feel free to read all my four blog posts from that trip. Here is the first one
Ok, if i have too choose one i think this photography capture something about whats Lofoten is all about. Landscapes, nature, storms, sea, waves, midnight sun, rain, low clouds, huts ( rorbuer), fish and more.
As a part of the summer holiday I did a short trip over two nights to Romsdalen. It was to very differents nights with completely different weather conditions. Read more about that trip here
I really like the composition and the flow of this photograph. The small waterfall leads your eyes into the mountain in the background and the grim weather enhance the moody feel to it overall
Next up I had one night in tent in Øyerfjellet. The evening and sunset was quite uninteresting, but the surprise the next morning was amazing. It was inverions all over the surrounding landscapes beneath my campsite.
Here is another photo from the same area a bit later in september
I love Rondane and this national park is famous for its autumn colours. In the areas surrounding the mountains there are lots of mountain birches. I went there in the middle of september and got autumn colours and snow on the montain peaks. This first photo is the first morning after the night in tent. The second photo is from the sunset that same day, but in another part of Rondane
Here is a link to some photos from that trip. I will add more later
My local area has a lot of fields and I like too find compositions there. Here is one example that works I think
Tree archways are also something I like, and I revisit the same 4-5 local archways throughout the year in different conditions.
This next photo is a sunrise over my local lake Mjøsa. Just a quite random shot before work, but it got something about it I think
During one early and foggy morning shooting oak trees, I got a visit from this guy. I had to give it a try even though I dont have the right equipment to shoot wildlife. Some of the photos came out great even though I had to set the iso value really high.
In october I had to do another roundtrip/radtrip to both Jotunheimen and Grimsdalen near Rondane. I had a really magic morning in Jotunheimen and a great night in tent in Grimsdalen. The following sunrise was also quite special. Just two photos from that trip so far. I will make a own blog post about it later.
Winter came quite late this year but I already got a few really great winter photos. We have had some really great winter conditions with snow, frost and sea fog. I think the photo below looks great
Here are a collection of other recent winter photos, all of them are from my local area
I will finish off this post with this photo from just a few days ago. It was an early morning and I had to change plans because the road was full of snow. I had to find another quite random location and to my big surprise that spot happened to be just perfect in direction of the the rising sun.
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Regards Stig :)
