Senja - Lyngen Alps, Norway
When you arrive in Tromso, Norway and the forecast is for -23 degrees, remember this is Celsius so that translates to -11 Fahrenheit, still cold, cold, cold. Fortunately the weather warmed up as we went, but what do you expect when you’re above the Arctic Circle. I traveled with a new group for this trip, ExploreLight.com, led by Peter Gordon from Dublin, Ireland, and Thor-Photography.com, led by Thorarinn Jonsson. You might remember Thor from a previous blog entry, a local guide from Iceland. The two of them work together frequently which gives the photographers more guides, usually a ratio of 6 to 1 or less. This is great if you want to consider this a workshop and learn from two of the best landscape photographers. Both of them are award winning photographers and happy to share their knowledge. I must say, the value of the trip lies in the travel companions you choose. This group is so much fun to travel with and the knowledge they share is amazing.
I came in a day early and stayed at the Comfort Hotel Express in Tromso, Norway. This is a very walkable town that is built on a harbor. There are many wonderful shops and restaurants within a short distance from this hotel, including the Hard Rock Cafe which is one of my favorite places. I love listening to the music while I eat, but for this trip, just a few souvenirs. Egon’s is one of the great restaurants with a wide variety of both lunch and dinner items on the menu.
The first official night of the trip we spent trying to catch the northern lights above the city. A little bit of driving around found us on the far side of the harbor shooting these over the city. The lights showed their colors, but they were not brilliant. It was very cold on the water, and we didn’t stay long.
The next morning we took off for the Senja region, two buses full of people, gear and luggage. To get to Senja, we had to take a ferry across the fjords. Stopping on the dock, we were able to get some amazing shots of the boat as it came back to the dock. Guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at the cold seat in the restroom. Lordy, I think I saw Jesus. Hot coffee on the ferry quickly warmed me back up. Our second shot was along a river between the mountains. I fell in love with the house along the river thinking about what it must be like to live in such a beautiful area, then I remembered, I’m a southern girl and prefer it a little bit warmer.
Our next stop was a park and the reflection of the houses in the water made for a very picturesque setting. I left my gloves in the bathroom. When will I learn. Guess the cold seat there affected more than my posterior. On to the next stop for a barn on a fjord. There are a lot of different landscapes to be found in the Lyngen area if you’re willing to hike through the snow to find them.
Spending most of the day hopping from location to location, we finally arrived at our lodging. A quaint hotel named Lyngseidet Gjestegard provided very comfortable rooms, one of those a cabin behind the hotel. The breakfasts provided were quite good. They have a lounge where you can bring your drinks and gather as well as an ample dining room. I really loved playing the grand piano. There is wifi. The front desk clerk was most helpful when needed. The best part was the fireplace in the lobby where you can thaw out. We stayed here multiple days. There is a grill and a store a block or so from the hotel. They have everything you need including gloves.
The next day was out to photograph the fjords. Snow had fallen on the river so we couldn’t get the reflections we wanted, but the locations were still great. A second stop took us to a colorful structure protruding up from the water. Referred to as minimalist stuff, this actually was very interesting. The next stop was to a park to photograph a river. Note here, if you’re standing on the bridge, the snowplow thinks you are fair game. He comes by about every 15 minutes.
The fourth day we stopped at a very pretty location with the sun hitting the peaks of the mountain. Since the days are very short at this time of year (January), you can easily get there before the sun arrives. Looking over the bridge, the colors in the water were amazing. There are several peaks you can shoot from the same location. However, the best part was late that night. We tried to shoot the northern lights from an overlook, but the wind literally tried to take us off the cliff. We changed locations and hiked Claw’s of the Dragon, a rocky path out into a fjord. Shortly after arriving, the sky blew up with the most amazing northern lights. It didn’t matter which way you looked, the lights were surrounding us in a complete 360 degrees. They were brilliant and dancing. We stayed until early in the morning.
The fifth day took us back to the previous location but during the daylight hours. It looks just as beautiful with the sun up as it did after dark. It’s an icy hike so make sure you take crampons and willing to wade through some watery slush. This is a great shot for a panorama. On to our next location, we stopped at a beach with very remarkable reflections of the mountain in the sand. Not to be outdone, I proceeded to lose a glove in the ocean when the wind whipped it out of my mouth. Guess I see if there is another pair at the next stop. One of the locations that I came across while researching Senja region is a small town on a fjord. I thought it would require a drone to get a shot, but there is an overlook where you can stand get a great shot of the town. We hit there during the blue hour and it was beautiful. This location alone had me signing up for the trip next year.
For the next few days, we stayed in a hotel in a small village on a harbor at a hotel called Mefjord Brygge. There is an elevator to the second floor, but not the third. You can buy very warm and functional gloves in their gift shop. The food and the breakfasts were very good.
First we did a lot of photographs from behind the hotel and then some of the group hiked up the large mountain behind us and shot from up on top. Our next stop was at an overlook that had a beautiful view of the water and mountains. The next stop was from a beach with a view of a village. The colors of the water were very deceiving in that you might think it was a tropical beach.
Our final day was shooting a valley and capturing the amazing colors of the sky behind the stark black and white mountains. We’d had very little snow during the trip. It was not possible to get snow laden trees when there was very little snow to be found. I typically found it falling off of logs and such that I walked on, but not much else. At times, it was icy though. We did stop and photograph some small trees, sans leaves, that were alongside the road. For minimalist fans, they weren’t bad.
On our last day, we headed back to Tromso to the same hotel. Somewhere along the way, I contracted a bug and started coughing. I wasn’t the only one feeling it, and several people ended up with the Flu B. It was much warmer in Tromso by the time we returned, closer to freezing (0 or 32). Some of us were departing and some of us stayed on for a trip to the Lofoten Islands. I flew onto Leknes the next day.