Lofoten Islands Part One: Hamnøy
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.
Continue readingOne Day in Oslo
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.
Continue reading2023 Favorites
I look forward to this retrospective each year – both as a chance to look back at how I spent the year and as a chance to review some of my favorite images, often leading me to reprocess them or select different favorites from the same shoot. I won’t make any claims that these are the best images I created in 2023. I don’t believe that there is an objective “best” photograph. Selecting favorites allows me to tie them to my memories in a way that is more personal. This was a tough year for this exercise, as I have alternates for many of these photos that I like just as much. On another day I could easily have selected several different favorites. I’ll refer to some of those in my comments below.
Continue readingDark Skies in the Eastern Sierra
I made a trip to the Eastern Sierra in late October (Halloween to be exact) with the primary goal of capturing the Milky Way over the Mobius Arch and Mount Whitney. This is a popular spot for sunrise photos, as the rising sun creates a glow on the mountains and I have been there to see this at sunrise several times. I wanted to get a similar effect at moonrise: I wanted a glow on the mountains while having the sky dark enough to clearly see the stars. Few people do Milky Way photography with a nearly full moon, but I guess I am one of the few. I used an app called PhotoPills to find the best date where the stars would be behind the arch at moonrise, with the sky already fully dark after sunset. October 31 was that day.
Continue readingAutumn in Montana
Sandee and I made a short trip to our home in Western Montana in October to visit family and help get the house ready for the winter. As it happened, we arrived the day before the Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier National Park would close for the season. That left me no choice but to go for a drive! I spent a day in Glacier and then the next day Sandee and I drove to Holland Lake for a hike (with some lunch along the way). The larches were bright yellow throughout the area and I enjoyed photographing Montana’s fall colors.
Continue readingLogging Lake Backpacking
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!
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