Troms og Finnmark

Explore #1 15/05/17

A glorious, and absolutely bitterly cold, freezing evening overlooking Tromso in Northern Norway.

Just after the sun had set for the evening and the last of the light had gone, the wait was on for the City to light up during blue hour, what was probably a 25 minute wait felt like about an hour as it was -30 degrees outside also with a wind on the mountain top making it feel even colder than that! an amazing view but not a pleasant experience stood there freezing! you can't even jump about to keep warm as other people had tripods set up nearby!

Once the lights were on I got the shots I wanted as quickly as I could without rushing, and quickly retreated inside to defrost, I couldn't even fold my tripod down properly as my hands had stopped functioning! As unwelcome as the cold was, it gives great clarity to images whilst it is setting about freezing your bones.

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Another view from my hotel window as the full moon was slowly rising over a blue hour city. Here we are looking from Tromsø island, where most of the city is, towards the mainland with Tromsø's most famous landmark, the Arctic Cathedral (1965). The church is not actually a cathedral, and the Tromsø cathedral itself is a wooden building in the centre. Behind the church is a cable car to the top of Mt. Storstein. Unfortunately it was undergoing repairs when I was there, so I will have to return. Tromsø is one of the largest cities to be found north of the Arctic Circle (approx. 75000 inh). It grew up as an Arctic trade centre and it was here that people like Roald Amundsen prepared for their trip to conquer the South Pole.

[#8 on explore 24/12/16]

Standing at the viewpoint, waiting for blue hour, there suddenly appeared an amazing display of colour in the sky just as the sun was setting and the lights went on in Tromsø.

This photo was taken about 90 minutes after Sunset in northern Norway (69° latitude). I have never seen anything quite like this. As the world started to get darker in the fading light, the snow covered peaks took on a life of their own as they started to glow in the dark. Around me everything was turning pink and it seemed as if someone was putting a big pink spotlight on those mountains.

When I first became active on Flickr I found a winterphoto which I absolutely loved. It was made by Antony Spencer: www.flickr.com/photos/antonyspencer/5413004979. I always wanted to find that place and try to take a similar photo. The first time I visited Sommarøya in 2016, I actually took a photo of this cabin without even realising it: www.flickr.com/photos/adelheids-pictures/30837369264. The big difference being a lack of snow. Winter 2018 I gave it another try. I came up with this shot, and I quite like the low winter light, but I wish there had been a LOT more snow. Last summer I was there and saw that they are now building tourist cabins right next to it, so it will never be like this anymore.

About a year ago, I posted a photo of this remarkable church made with my phone. This year I brought proper camera equipment and got this blue hour. My next version, hopefully will have real Northern Lights dancing behind it. The Aurora was visible later in the evening, above the church, but unfortunately my batteries had run out. This church was opened in 2013. The architecture reflects the Aurora Borealis and the municipality wanted something to put Alta on the map and encourage more people to visit the area to see the Northern Lights. In the basement of the church is a museum display dedicated to the history of the Northern Lights.

This pretty little village is visible from the road as you drive from North Cape to Honningsvåg.

These red little boathouses are simply so picturesque in the Winter landscape, and no place to photograph them better than on the beautiful island of Sommarøya near Tromsø.

The morning after the night before....

A few miles South of Tromso in the Arctic Circle, Norway, on a farm where I was staying for a few days. The night before had been an incredible Northern Lights display, still the best I've ever seen, but after a late night, no rest for the wicked and up for sunrise back into the deep snow again.

This scene was just at the rear of the farm, the light around these parts seems to be very different with loads of pinks and purples often visible in the early and late hours, this mornings sunrise, although nothing special was still enough to give this gorgeous lighting onto the mountains to the rear here, and pick out all the detail in the snow laden trees, with the little red hut seemingly perfectly placed to finish the scene off.

Despite being the coldest place I've ever been to, still to this day Norway is by far my favourite place I've ever been, and somewhere I really want to explore a lot more when we are able to again.

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The village of Kautokeino is located in the northernmost part of Norway. it lies within the Sapmi region, in English often referred to as Lapland. The town has some 3000 inhabitants and goes by both its Norwegian name as its Sami name Guovdageaidnu.

Mid afternoon after Sunset and I was amazed to see this pinkish winter glow.

A cold, clear Winter morning in Northern Norway, just before the sun pops over the horizon.

A crisp Winter morning near the city of Tromsø.

This photo was taken in the harbour of Tromsø at just before 1:30 pm, with golden light and the sun already making its retreat. In case you are wondering what the triangular thing is on the right; it is part of the Polaria Museum that drops diagonally into the water.

A Winter golden hour near midday on the beautiful island of Sommarøya 69° Northern Latitude.

A January blue hour of Tromsø from the top of the cable car.

My trip to Northern Norway was a gloomy one, with midsummer temperatures around 3-4°C, clouds, fog, rain and snow. All of this except for one brief moment when I was walking around Tromsø and saw the Arctic Cathedral light up as if in a heavenly spotlight. It was quite amazing to see and I actually had to tone down the photo because the church was looking completely overexposed. The Tromsdalen church was built in 1965, and it's roof consists of aluminium coated concrete panels. The architecture reminds of icebergs and also Sami tipis, and even though it is a simple parish church, not a cathedral at all, it has grown out to be the symbol of this city at 69° latitude.

Today I heard on the news that the meteorological winter starts on December 1st, so it seems like a good time to bring out the winter shots, especially when they are so much brighter than the dreary grey drabness we have around us now. Ersfjordbotn is a popular spot for photographers. I posted an earlier photo of this spot of a 2016 winter sunset. This was two years later and quite a different atmosphere. I really love that pink cloud at the end of the fjord. Earlier version: www.flickr.com/photos/adelheids-pictures/25632412312/

The photo was taken at midday, but in northern Norway in January that still means golden hour and a lot of pink light.

A clear winter day driving over the island of Kvaløya near Tromsø. There should have been more snow in February, but the clear day still gives it a cold look. I couldn't resist this view with the bright yellow boat and box in the foreground.

[#65 on explore 14/2/17]

Explore #1 13/03/17

** Selected as one of the top 15 Flickr Landscape Photos in 2017, you can see the 2017 gallery here:

www.flickr.com/photos/flickr/galleries/72157667163347739/...

First shot from the recent trip to the absolutely amazing country of Norway, after missing the Aurora in Iceland I got talking to 2 girls from Tromso who said it is so good for the Northern Lights there... a week or so passed and we decided to get a trip going....

This was shot on the first morning, 20km South of Tromso, and the only morning where a sunrise shot would be possible due to poor weather and severe snow blizzards, it was 'only' -10 this morning, quite warm considering what was to come!

Only 2 out of 4 of us got up this morning to see what we could get, we had arrived the night before and it was all in darkness so we had no idea of our surroundings at all, arrving an hour before dawn gave me a little time to scout it out and come up with my favourite shot, which is this one, the pink hued light lasted for no more that 2 minutes maybe even less and thankfully I was already set up, never seen morning light like it, welcome to Norway.............

....As for the Aurora... well it didn't happen that night.

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It is so hot here today in Norway, that I find myself dreaming of nice cold Winter days. This was one of the Winter photos taken on my Tromsø trip earlier this year.

A view of the Lyngen Alps, hidden by clouds, with in the foreground the hamlet of Djupvik.

At dawn.

This is an oldie, I don't travel to northern Norway as often as I used to. I love the wonderful clear skies that you get closer to the Arctic. Hammerfest consideres itself the world's northernmost town, with about 10000 inh, lying at 70° latitude. Hammerfest is experiencing an economic boom as a result of an LNG production facility built there in recent years.

(#6 on explore 4/9/16)

I am always drawn to red wooden buildings in the snow, so when I saw this nice red farm by the waterside and in the snow, I had to stop and photograph it. It lies just outside the city of Tromsø, taken on an extra driving loop as I was headed back to the airport and had some spare time.

Shot pretty much exactly at midnight, three shots panorama.

View from Brosmetind towards Tromvik. Panorama 3 shot stitched.

A famous view from the top of fjellheisen, stitched from 6 vertical images. Tromsø has become a real tourist magnet, especially in the Winter as it is one of the best places to observe the Aurora borealis. Earlier I posted the same view in Winter garb. www.flickr.com/photos/adelheids-pictures/38768112530

A beautiful sunny day in the Tromsø area ended with a warm Sunset at Ersfjordbotn.

Last light above Tromso, Northern Norway.

The sunset had been pretty good and there was still quite a lot of golden light left illuminating the mountain tops in the opposite direction (the sun setting behind my back as I took this), there were quite a lot of photographers around but not one of them seemed to look behind them to see the this pink / purple light that was kicking off momentarily, in fact I had the area all to myself to shoot this which up here was a rarity in the 2 hours I spent freezing awaiting the city lights to come on through blue hour, I don't really like shooting in big groups, it just isn't me, having this little spot to myself and being able to watch this for ten minutes before it vanished was a real joy.

Two days running in Norway and I'd had great pink light both days that I hadn't really experienced before, it seems extremely different from anything at home, possibly owing to the freezing conditions within the Arctic Circle, I don't know, either way it was great to watch and I still had time to capture some golden light images after this had long vanished into pale blue.

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Tromsø

This was taken just as the sun was setting at 1:30 p.m. It is amazing how the few daylight hours in January all seem to be golden, and giving such warm colours to the cold landscape. I think this will probably be my last Winter upload for the season, as things around here in the Netherlands are becoming quite Spring-like.

Last Winter I visited the beautiful area around Tromsø (69° latitiude). One of the most scenic drives is out to Sommarøya, a small island connected by a bridge. This was taken near there. In Winter time the sun only spends a few hours above the horizon. It doesn't climb high so most of the sun time is golden hour time.

The Himalayan Blue Poppy (Meconopsis betonicifolia) is the star performer of the botanical gardens in Tromsø. At almost 70° degrees latitude, they claim to be the world's northernmost botanical gardens, and during the long days Summer there is an amazing display of colourful flora to be seen.

Norway

Norway

Explore #5 - 25/03/17

The second day in Tromsø, Northern Norway, saw us heading out towards the coast and the remote Islands around Hillesøy.

The weather had taken a real turn for the worst with extremely heavy snowfall overnight, it was about -16 degrees this morning and again the snow falling heavily right from the off, it was hard to see where getting any images would be possible at all.

As we drove further South there were a few of these small dwellings dotted about and but nothing that would make a decent composition and even more so due to the snow creating a white out environment for the most part. Further along we drove past this tiny house, as we passed it was bugging me as being a potential image, so we stopped and I decided to walk back and have a go at getting something here.

There was absolutely no way to get any nearer to this house due to the depth of the snow so I opted for a longer focal length and the lens hood on to try and keep the snow off the lens, after a few attempts I settled on this composition with the mountains directly behind and centered the house as to leave no doubt as to what the subject was against the background, if you look at the image you can see the snow is still falling hard here, but the low cloud had lifted just enough to reveal the mountains on the other side of the sea. Looking back I'm so glad I made the decision to go back for this, as for many reasons this is one of my favourite images from the trip, it sums up the area for me, desolate, and unforgiving.

I don't know who lives in this little house but I hope they have a big shovel, and damn good heating!

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A blue hour photo of Tromsø, once again from a hotel window, a window of the Scandic Ishavshotell.

3 handheld shots combined