Photo tour Norway – Musk oxen, moose and landscapes
The last weekend of August I was invited by the Denmark based company Focus Nordic to give two masterclasses in Norway.
A fantastic assignment of course, but also an opportunity for me to get to know Norway for the first time.
So we only rented the rental car a few days earlier to explore the area around Dovrefjell in particular. I had a nice idea and I had a list in my head of topics I wanted to see. Musk oxen, moose and the endless landscapes with lichens were still great unknowns to me and were at the top of the list.
If you don't know an area well and are limited in your time (on balance I had 72 hours to myself), then local knowledge is indispensable. Fortunately, Floris Smeets had van Your Norwegian Nature time!
Looking back on the trip, I notice that Floris has been indispensable and that I really got the most out of my time. Apart from that, he is also a very nice guy to go on the road with!
The first morning it was like "prize shooting" with no less than 18 moose! I've never seen them like this before….. and that's how I see about 50 in a photo tour, through the area of Dovre in Norway, of just three days.
Musk oxen
After a first introduction to these moose, some of which are so close that they could almost completely fill an image, a short session at a waterfall and 1 of the many rapids.
A good moment to enjoy and get started with all the filters in the bag. A good exercise in controlling reflections and highlights with polarization and ND filters.
Floris had seen a number of musk oxen the day before, which were an hour's walk away in the hills of Dovrefjell. Seems like a piece of cake, because musk oxen don't normally seem to be much of a walker.
Unless you find a couple of which the man apparently has an excess of testosterone and the woman is not interested at all. Up to 2 times the woman ran to avoid her husband's advances. And we just follow…
Fortunately, that is not a punishment at all in this environment and I enjoy every step we take over that carpet of colored mosses, grasses and shrubs. And if you can still observe the musk oxen at the end of the day as a bonus, that is of course great!
Rondane
On the last day again a beautiful morning with beautiful encounters with moose and deer. You would almost think that the game density in Norway is even greater than in my beloved Africa. The number has certainly exceeded my wildest dreams.
After this morning a nice walk through Rondane looking for beautiful viewpoints for some landscape photography. The light was a bit harsh, but scouting locations only yields benefits in the long term. Either way, I felt like a kid left alone in a candy store. What a beautiful National Park that is!
Unfortunately also said goodbye to Floris and on the way back I was treated to a beautiful light, rain and clouds spectacle above the mountain Snøhetta. Apparently it couldn't.
Sota Saeter
The last two days were in the program of the master classes and the environment for this was super.
Sota Sæter is a fantastic location. More than 100 years ago it was originally a "seter" or summer meadow. It now consists of ten buildings around a courtyard, with a warm, sheltered atmosphere. The lodge has a simple but good kitchen, a sauna and is surrounded by a network of hiking trails.
At the entrance about 10 kilometers from the complex I had seen a nice location for a morning session. A wide rapid under a bridge with a beautiful snowy mountain peak in the background. Check!
The most notable local resident was a sparrow-hawk owl. Although he was actively hunting, he eventually managed to approach it within a few meters. Nice to see him up close.
And last but not least, I secretly hoped for a glimmer of Northern Lights at night, but the end of August is normally not a time when there are many Northern Lights to be seen. When everyone had gone to bed long and wide, I was still lonely waiting for a trace of green in the sky. Not without success fortunately! Not such a beautiful dancing sky, but my first experience with Northern Lights. And wonderful and unforgettable parting gift.
Norway…..until we meet again!
Beautifully written Mike and beautiful photos. It's still on my list to visit.
Thank you Menno,
I am obviously also very satisfied with the series. If I could have signed up somewhere in advance for these images I would have made a scribble right away 😉
The invitation from Focus Nordic was also very timely. Now that my agenda is still relatively empty, this trip was very easy to plan. If you go, then a lot of fun, but based on what I've seen of Norway worth a photo trip!
Beautiful photos Mike, and that so relatively close to home! Norway will certainly be visited by you more often.
Thank you!
In terms of distance it is indeed very little. In the morning a plane and after a ride of about 5 hours you are already in the middle of the nature of Dovrefjell. Definitely back again with Margreet 🙂
wonderful article, beautiful inspiring writing style veiled with beautiful images! So 72 hours was more than enough!
Thank you Dave! Glad to hear that this post is coming out so well.
I showed some images to the participants in Norway a few days ago and as locals they were very surprised about the diversity in those 3 days.
The conclusion there is that my hospitality background and the fact that I am a nature photographer contributes to you going days without sleep 😉
But indeed, if you can fully focus on photography you could get a very nice picture of that area in a midweek.
I really like that photo of the stream in motion Mike ? The rest is also beautiful, but that's the highlight!
Grt Chris
Hi Chris,
I totally agree with you 🙂
Although there is 1 more image that is even more special, but I will keep it under wraps for now….
It was a trip where I was very spoiled with all the diversity. Next time bring a macro lens too because that carpet of lichens also has a lot of potential!
Amazing, what a beautiful photo, Mike, I've been there too, buuuuuu
No moose and musk oxen… I thought that was a great pity.
Thank you Gonda!
Norway was also a real revelation for me. The colors, variety in landscapes, height differences and water features. I was like a kid in the candy store 🙂
The large mammals were indeed the icing on the cake, especially since I've always had a soft spot for them.
luckily Norway is easy to travel to so maybe you can go for the resit again….
Awesome my friend! Your work is absolutely beautiful!
Thank you so much Quimby! Good to hear 🙂