Spitsbergen

Spitsbergen mountains call for B&W photography

Nikon D3X, 14-24mm, f/2,8, 1/125sek @ f/14, ISO 250

I have never been anywhere in the world with such graphic landscape as on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The strong mountain ridges stands in stunning contrast to the white soft snow cover. There are pictures everywhere. I believe I could almost stand still for an entire day, just shooting landscapes. The next day I could continue as the light is always changing up here, and the wind move the black and white around, changing the scene constantly.

I was lucky enough to run into a group of sled dogs resting in the blizzard. It was amazing to watch as the animals where sleeping, completely covered in an ever growing pile of snow. The next morning - only their furry necks would show.

Sled dogs resting, Svalbard

Nikon D3X, 70-200mm, f/2,8, 1/800sek @ f/4,5, ISO 250

It was not easy leaving the east coast of Spitsbergen, as this is a place not easy to reach, and it's also a really good place for Polar Bears. However, we discovered that at the time being there were several sightings of bears also on the west coast. It didn't take long before we started finding tracks. But would we find the bears?

Polar Bear tracks on the fjord ice, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.
Nikon D3X, 14-24mm, f/2,8, 1/250sek @ f/11, ISO 250

Arctic weather

On location on the east coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard

I have now just returned from an adventure to the far north. Spitsbergen is the biggest island of the Svalbard archipelago and is nothing less than a dream come true. As always the arctic gave us some real surprises and challenges. The plan was to go to the east coast and stay at a small cabin for the week. We packed up the snowmobile and sled and left from Longyearbyen in stunning weather and almost -30 degrees. After just a couple of minutes we ventures into a landscape of another planet. We headed east over frozen fjords and glaciers before starting the decent towards the coast. As we reached the cabin the weather changed and within minutes the arctic winter was howling on the small windows.

Due to high Polar Bear activity and bad visibility we were obliged to carry a gun even when taking a leak outside the cabin.

The next morning the wind was screaming outside, even pushing snow through the wall of the cabin. Our guide in the top bunk was almost totally snowed down. The cold and wind made it dangerous to go outside, but we managed to squeeze in a couple of photoshoots before we decided to evacuate to the west coast. Our next night was in an emergency cabin.

Calmer weather on the west coast gave some nice images of Reindeer.

To be continued…

Longyearbyen

Finally I have arrived in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. The weather is perfect with -20 degrees and shifting sun and snow. We will start our journey towards the east coast in the morning, so today we travelled around the "city" of Longyearbyen just enjoying the weather and wildlife this amazing place has to offer. I was surprised to learn that the Guesthouse 102 had a working internet connection, so I thought I would share a couple of images with you from today. The Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea) was very tolerant I we enjoyed a couple of hours working with theses beautiful birds. How do they survive?? Hopefully I have something even more exciting to share with you the next time I get online.

Please keep in mind that I am working on a 12" laptop.

Antarctic to Artic

King Penguins on Salisbury Plains, South-Georgia

Well, now I am soon on the wing again. It is kind of strange to think that just a couple of months ago I spent a three summer weeks in the Antarctic, and now I head for the freezing cold winter of the Arctic. Though I wasen't boiling hot in the Antarctic either :-) I will be travelling with my friend and colleague Ole Jørgen Liodden to the east cost of Svalbard. There we will be chasing the magic winter light found in these areas just now, staying in an old hunters hut for a week. If we are really lucky we will meet the Polar Bear as well. I'll be back in just over a week so return later and see the result.

Cheers for now.

Under the wing

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, f /2,8, 1/200 sek @ f /7,1, ISO 1000.

When coming home I realized the images I had been uploading on the blog from my laptop were not optimal for calibrated screens. I have therefore exported them again from Lightroom and uploaded new ones. I have also added a wide angle image taken as the Great Grey Owl plunges into the soft snow to catch its prey. Hope you like it?

What a bird!

Great Grey Owl catching a mouse, Finland.

Nikon D3, 300mm, 2,8, 1/1600sek @ f /2,8, ISO 800

Today was very difficult with dark weather and wind. The Great Grey Owl was not very happy to come out and almost seemed nervous as the wind was whistling in the forest. But as always - animals have to eat. Eventually it came out hunting and we got some decent shots. I was very happy to be working with the D3, pushing the ISO to get the proper shutterspeed for action. But the conditions were also good for experimenting with slower speed and movement. I was also shooting with the D3x giving me some nice portraits and images of the perching bird.

Great Grey Owl take-off, Finland.

Nikon D3, 300mm, 2,8, 1/30sek @ f /10, ISO 200

Lapinpöllö

Lapinpöllö is Finnish for Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa)

Nikon D3, 300mm, 2,8, 1/1600 sek @ f /2,8, ISO 1000

Luckily my luggage arrived during the night, so everything was ready for the next day. And what a day! Ever since I had my first meeting with the Great Grey Owl in 2002 I have been dreaming about the next time we would meet.

I am in Finnish Lapland and have been spending the entire afternoon with a beautiful female Great Grey Owl. It was amazing to observe this bird hunting in the forest clearing, diving into the snow with its long legs. Unfortunately Liodden and I are only in Finland for a couple of days before we go to Svalbard next week, but already I feel privileged to have had this experience. Hopefully there will be more tomorrow.

PS! Thanks Arnt Ove at Stavanger Foto for lending me some Nikon gear. It works ;-)

A lot of feathers - small head

Nikon D3X, 70-200mm, 2,8, 1/1250 sek @ f /9, ISO 800

Lost luggage!

I have just arrived in Finland for a couple of days with hunting Great Grey Owls. Unfortunately my luggage has not! I do have my camera gear so I will be ok, but it might get a bit cold without my long johns and fleece jacket. Hopefully my stuff will get here before we go out tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned for some owl images - I hope...

Hiding

Long-eared Owl, Asio otus, hiding in spruce tree, Rogaland.
Canon EOS-1D MKII, 500mm, f/4, 1/125 sek @ f/5,6, ISO 200

Long-eared owls are not always easy to spot while roosting in dense undergrowth next to the stem of trees. This winter some birds have been spending the days in some Norway spruce trees next to a public road. They have been observed by many, and have even made to the local newspapers. Now spring is arriving in Norway and the birds are spreading out. After a high in January with seven birds there is now only two left. Hopefully they will find somewhere to nest nearby, so that we can follow them into the summer.

I can, on the other hand, not let go of winter. The following week I will go on a short trip to northern Finland for some Great Grey Owl action, before leaving for a week on the Svalbard East coast. I'll let you know how this works out.

Choose your background

Young Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) in Flatanger, Norway

Lately I have been spending a lot of time in Adobe Lightroom, indexing my images, after a accident ereasing all my keywords. Now my main focus is the Svalbard trip in March and also developing images for my Grey Seal book, which is due in May.

While going though my archives I came across three images of a young Herring Gull from Flatanger, Norway, photographed with three different houses as background. The images in them selves are not the greatest. However, it showes the importance of keeping an eye on the background. For me, the background is as importaint as the subject itself. A badly selected background can ruin the image totally. So I just wanted to show you how different the same subject,bird, can look with three differently coloured backgrounds. Temperature, tint and exposure is fixed in all of these images, but the difference is still striking. So - background, background, background!!! It will make the picture.