Photoblog: a week around Bergen, Norway

As the first week of August poured down over Cape Town, I was getting just as soaked 10 000 kilometres away in a little village outside of Bergen, Norway. The more or less constant rain didn’t make for ideal photography, but when the sun did deign to shine, the views over the fjords and mountains were pretty darn spectacular. With only a few days in the country visiting friends, I took every sunny (and rainy) opportunity to try and capture the countryside on camera.

Here are a few of my favourite shots, plus my first ever attempt at time-lapse photography. (By the way, if you’re keen to get into time-lapse yourself I can highly recommend the Hahnel Giga T Pro II Wireless Timer Remote which acts as a 100 m wireless trigger and intervalometer. Available for Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus for just over R1000).

Looking East from Hordvik at about 11:30pm.

View from Hordvik harbour.

So many shades of green on one of the many rivers flowing into Sognefjord.

River crossing, near Sognefjord.

Sunset on Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway.

The few days we spent in the mountains above Øvre Årdal were cold, relaxing and damp. We talked and walked and drank vodka and I spent most of my time with camera in hand waiting for a few rays of sunshine, or braving the icy drizzle in the hope of a decent vista or two. With nothing growing above ankle height and flat grey light in all directions it was really tough to capture the grand scale of those Norwegian peaks. Depth and scale are so difficult with no points of reference.

Mountain hut near Utladalen.

Pond reflection near Utladalen.

Snow drift, Utladalen.

Hiking over last year's snow. This drift won't melt this year.

View towards Utladalen valley

With rain in my eyes I spent a lot of time looking down. Some of my favourite shots were of the little things – lichen and moss and reindeer ‘grass’ (more lichen really) which I suppose only gets to see daylight at all for these few months of the year.

Any hint of sunlight and the moss just seemed to glow.

Keeping an eye open for the little things. Like this lumo-green lichen clinging to a fractured and ancient looking boulder. .

The contrasting colours caught my eye.

Reindeer lichen may seem abundant, but grows only 3-5mm a year and is essential to the food chain. Not to be picked I was told.

The road back to Bergen winds along fjords and through tunnels. Oh so many tunnels. The longest is the Lærdal Tunnel which at 24.5km is the longest public road tunnel in the world. At a max speed of just 80km (or was it 70?) per hour it’s a long, long time underground. We’d enter a tunnel in a downpour and emerge in bright sun, only to take a brief, deep breath before plunging back into the next hole through the mountains. A picnic spot in bright sunshine was one of the highlights of the trip.

For most of the drive back, the fjords barely peaked out between the clouds and rain.

15km into the 24.5km Lærdal Tunnel. An oasis of sudden vivid light breaks the tedium.

And on the other side of the tunnel... sunshine!

When the sun does come out, the fjords are wonderful. Must come back with a boat one day!

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