This post covers the second half of my February trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway. My previous post (here) featured photos from the first part of the trip, when I was based in the western end of Lofoten and many of the photographic subjects were the small islands and fishing cottages common in that area. From there I moved east, staying in Leknes and then Svolvær, which provide closer access to some of Lofoten’s beautiful beaches. I also had some better luck with the northern lights…
The Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway have become a popular location for hiking, boating and exploring in the summer and for viewing (or attempting to view) the northern lights in the winter. Even though there are some challenges traveling above the Arctic Circle in the winter, the reward is a beautiful array of islands, mountains, fjords, villages and beaches that provide a multitude of photographic opportunities. I spent about 10 days in Lofoten, splitting the time between Hamnøy for the first part of the trip and Leknes/Svolvær for the second. This post focuses on the first part of the trip and includes views around Hamnøy, Sakrisøy, and Reine as well as some nearby areas.
I made a trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway in February, with the goal of photographing the northern lights over the beautiful landscapes in the area. I decided to spend a full day in Oslo on the way there since I needed a layover anyway and had never seen the city. I arrived at the Oslo airport late in the evening and learned my first lesson: take the train to the city and not a cab. The train costs less than half as much and makes the trip in half the time. Lesson learned, I made it to my hotel, got a good night’s sleep, and had a filling breakfast before spending the day walking. My plan was to walk from the hotel to the Oslo cathedral, up Karl Johans Gate passed the Royal Palace to Vigeland Park, and then along the waterfront to the Akershus Fortress and the Opera House.
I spent 4 days backpacking in Glacier National Park in early August, along with 2 high school classmates and one of their sons. This was my first backpacking trip in Glacier and I thought I’d share some of what I experienced along with (as usual) a few photographs. Our planned route totaled about 26 miles over 4 days, visiting 3 campsites along Logging Lake and Grace Lake in the North Fork area of the park. Logging Lake is one of the least crowded areas in the park and also one of the easier hikes with no extended climbing. Both were good reasons to choose this itinerary!
I took the “long way” in July when I drove to my home in Montana so I could drive through Grand Teton and Yellowstone. I’ve been to Grand Teton a few times but never had a chance to photograph the mountains at sunrise – either because the weather was bad or because I wasn’t there first thing in the morning. On this trip I managed to get a campground reservation in the park which made it easy both to scout the area on the evening I arrived and get to my preferred location early the next day. I was also treated to some visitors while photographing the scene.
2022 was a very different photographic year for me as I actually captured far more images than usual with the vast majority taken over a two week period in early July. While I usually plan several trips for landscape photography during a year, my 2022 plans were based around my twice-delayed African safari in Botswana. You can also see that in the blog posts that I shared this year – virtually all of them were from that tip.
That said, I was able to take some images I enjoyed in California and Montana and hope that you enjoy them as well. Images are presented below in the order I captured them. I’ll also note that this is NOT a list of my ten “best” images from the year. I focus on my favorites – chosen either because I believe the image is particularly strong or because of the memories I associate with it. Best of lists have no room for memories!
The final portion of our Botswana safari took place in the Khwai Community Area and Moremi Game Reserve in the northeastern part of the Okavango delta. We spent one night in a lodge in Khwai while our campsite in Moremi was readied, and then camped there for four nights. The Okavango is an inland delta where the rivers that feed it, including the Okavango and Khwai, do not flow into an ocean but instead evaporate and simply disappear in the swampy land. Unlike the Savuti, water in Moremi was everywhere and this created a tremendous concentration of wildlife.
The Savuti is on the western edge of Chobe National Park and is known for its savannahs, grasslands and wildlife population. Our visit was during the dry season so there were limited supplies of water (primarily several large watering holes) available to the animals. We spent 3 nights camping in the Savuti and during that time saw many lions, elephants, giraffes, wildebeest, impala, and buffalo. We also had the opportunity to photograph some impressive African sunrises. The rest of this post consists of some of my favorite photos from the Savuti and are shown in the order captured.
I started my safari at Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia. In addition to being one of the world’s natural wonders, Victoria Falls is located near the conjunction of four African countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana making it a logical place to start or end visits to these nations. We were met at the airport in Zambia by our local guide, who brought us to our hotel in Livingstone to drop off our things ands get ready to visit the falls. The hotel is on the shore of the Zambezi River with a view of Zimbabwe on the other bank. Looking downstream, we could see the mist rising from Victoria Falls a few miles away.
I originally made plans to go on my first African safari in the summer of 2020. I would be traveling with my usual photography companion, Alejandro Velarde, as well as another friend, Marcell Puzsar. They had both been to Africa before and had decided that Botswana was the place we should go. I was fine with that and we made our reservations for a 12 day safari starting at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and ending up at Maun in Botswana. Doing some research, I learned that Botswana has the world’s largest elephant population, healthy populations of lions and leopards, and is home to the Okavango Delta – one of the world’s largest inland deltas and a very biodiverse habitat. Even better, the country is safe, sparsely populated, and doesn’t draw the safari crowds commonly seen in other African nations.
We decided on a camping safari (more on that below) to stay close to the wildlife while also keeping costs down. We booked with Savanna Safaris and Tours who are based in Botswana. Our itinerary included stops at Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, the Savuti, the Khwai Community area, and the Moremi Game Reserve. Of course 2020 ended up being an interesting year, resulting in several reschedules and a few changes in plans. Our tour company was completely supportive and flexible throughout and we made our trip starting at the end of June in 2022.
