Norway - Feb '20

I seem to be going to the Arctic region again and again. I don’t know whether it is the varied & amazing landscape or the beauty of winter or the experience or the people or a combination of all. It’s like the Himalayas. It is generally said that once you go to the Himalayas, it keeps calling you again and again. This time my trip was to Norway. Primary driver for this trip was to capture the much talked about – Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights. As I did in some of my other trips, I decided to spend as much time as possible so that I don’t have to go back again and with this intention I did two photo tours.

Secrets of Winter in Arctic Norway :

Travel Date : 13th Feb ‘20 to 21st Feb ‘20

Company : Lofoton Tours led by Arild Heitmann and Stian Klo

No of Participants : 6

This tour covered areas around Narvik & Evenes in Northern Norway. I flew into Oslo via Dubai and then took Norwegian Airline to Harstad / Evenes. Since the domestic departure is also from the same airport it was very convenient and hassle free. Interesting here is that there is no check in counters. It’s all through self-check-in kiosks which was very smooth. Oslo airport doesn’t have any mobile service provider shop. I picked up a local sim card MyCall from a mini mart in the airport. This has to be done before completing security for domestic flight as there is no shop after the security. The airport also has a bank, both before and after domestic security. It is advisable to carry a warm jacket, gloves and something to cover the head to take care of the freezing cold when you exit Harstad airport. The stay was at Sure Hotel by Best Western which is very close to the airport. We stayed in this hotel for most of the days.

The daily routine – Breakfast in the hotel at 630 AM, leave hotel by 7 AM or 8 AM, return to the hotel by 5 PM, dinner at 6 PM and leave again to chase the Northern Lights (subject to weather condition). Throughout the tour I had the opportunity to capture winter landscapes with fresh snowfall, remote waterfalls amidst frozen ice, vast pine forests, mountains covered with snow, colourful fjords, amazing seascapes and more than all these the amazing Aurora Borealis or The Northern Lights.

However, it wasn’t easy at all while shooting – with multiple layers, gloves & hat to protect from cold, chill winds, snow fall, walking through a foot of fresh snow and of course carrying the camera bag and tripod. In one location we had to walk quite a bit of distance with a snowshoe to capture a waterfall between frozen ice and had to go further high to capture a second waterfall. In another location we had to walk through snow for almost half hour and then a steep descent to capture another waterfall. We spent almost a day in Tungeneset beach in Senja Island. The sea is always rough with unexpected high and rough waves. I am told that many have lost their cameras or cameras fallen down in sea water due to unexpected waves. Fortunately, I managed to have my camera and kit, all in one piece. I also had an opportunity to visit a huge polar park and the Lynx, Muskox and Wolf in my album are captured from this park.

Adventure

Capturing Northern Lights is a different experience and is challenging as well. We had to go to the location and wait for long in the car before we go to the actual spot. In the night walking in deep snow with headlights, in itself is an adventure. The night temperature was around -10O Celsius and one has to constantly keep moving the feet to prevent it from becoming numb. When the light appears, you feel you are totally in a different world. When I saw it for the first time I froze and was awestruck. It’s a bliss to watch the sky lit with green colour, moving lights and the shapes changing every now and then. However, no one can predict as to how long the light will stay. The other issue is also the clouds setting in. So, one has to be really quick in getting the camera settings and the composition right. There may not be a second chance.

Time lapse video made with 50 exposures

About Northern Lights (Source : Wikipedia) :

An aurora sometimes referred to as polar lights, northern lights (aurora borealis), or southern lights (aurora Australis), is a natural light display in the Earth's sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic

Auroras are the result of disturbances in the magnetosphere (A magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are manipulated or affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a star or planet with an active interior dynamo) caused by solar wind. These disturbances are sometimes strong enough to alter the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electrons and protons, precipitate into the upper atmosphere, thermosphere / exosphere. The resulting ionisation and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light of varying colour and complexity. In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis or the northern lights. The southern counterpart, the aurora Australis or the southern lights, has features almost identical to the aurora borealis and changes simultaneously with changes in the northern auroral zone. The aurora Australis is visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.

Food especially vegetarian / vegan food is definitely a challenge and more so when you are on the road. We had regular stops in gas stations and here mostly non-vegetarian fast food is the only option. I never missed an opportunity to have coffee here as it was outstanding and more important to keep myself charged in that cold weather. In restaurants, vegetarian burger is probably the only vegan option available. I had taken enough of ready to cook food (Triguni) and I managed with this without any problem.

Hats off to Arild and Stian for their support in choosing the locations, driving to the various locations, available at all time for guidance, chasing the Northern Lights and more importantly taking care of each and every participant. It was such a pleasure to be with them.

Lofoten Winter Photo Workshop :

Travel Date : 24th Feb ‘20 to 01st Mar ‘20

Company : Iceland Photo Tours led by Alban Henderyckx

No of Participants : 7

From Evenes I took a bus to Leknes where the second leg of the tour starts. The distance between Evenes and Leknes is about 250 KM, takes about 4 Hrs and 30 minutes and costs about 460 Norwegian Kroner. There are connections with zero stop and one stop. I had to take a one stop connection (bus change in Slovaer) due to my timing. It was a very comfortable journey and with outstanding views outside.

Leknes is a very nice town with good options for shopping and eating. The stay was in Scandic Leknes Lofoten. All the shops and eating places are in a walkable distance from the hotel. Of course, walking is totally subject to weather condition – wind, slippery road etc. The hotel serves only breakfast.

I reached Leknes on 21st, three days prior to the start of the tour. Since I had spare time, I connected with a local photographer, Steven Henriksen and did a one-day tour. The group stayed in Scandic Leknes till 27th and left to Rorbu fishing cabins in Reine on 28th. The location of the fishing cabins was outstanding. The cabin I stayed had two independent rooms with a fully functional kitchen.

Fishing Village

Lofoten offers great opportunity for photographers with fishing villages, churches, seascape, mountains etc. I had the opportunity to capture some of the beautiful landscapes here. I was told that Lofoten offers better opportunity for Northern Lights. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions I could see this only once. Weather is something that is very unpredictable here and hence required lot of planning probably on a daily basis.

On my return, I flew from Leknes to Bodo and then Bodo to Oslo. The flying time from Leknes to Bodo is about 40 minutes and Bodo to Oslo is about an hour and 50 minutes. There is no direct flight from Bodo and I had to change flight in Bodo. I stayed one night in Park Inn by Radisson Oslo Airport as my connection to Mumbai was on the next day. Park Inn is about 800 meters from the airport. Interesting is that the luggage trolleys from the airport can be used to cart the luggage till the hotel and similarly the hotel has the luggage trolleys that can be used to cart the luggage back.

The places where we were in (both trips) are super expensive. For instance, a vegetarian burger with a coffee will cost around USD 27. I also found the drinks (beer, wine, whiskey etc.) very expensive. So, carrying a bottle from duty free may be a good option!! One has to keep cost factor in mind while planning a trip.

In this trip I also realised how important it is to enjoy the experience and not just photography. For instance, walking in deep snow with snowshoe is something I have never done. It was tough but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And there are many such instances. I will for sure cherish these memories for long.

Secrets of Winter in Arctic Norway album --> http://norway-feb-20.gopsview.com/

Lofoten Winter Photo Workshop --> http://website-4.gopsview.com/