A bit too warm in Sogndal at the moment. Ok, we had snowfall and lots of snow today, but the condition of the snow could have been better.
Karsten Gefle, Oscar Hübinette and myself just finished the first day of the Sogndal Photo Contest. As the rain was pooring down from the sky this morning, we didn't stress during the breakfast. "Do you know who is sitting next to us", Karsten asked me. "No", I said. "It is Veronica Maggio, and I talked to her while making the pancakes". I bet Karsten won't forget the pancake-making in Sogndal for a long time.
As we got up to the ski resort of Hodlekve the rain had turned into snow. And it was sure dumping (too bad we had a long breakfast)! We took the lift up to the top and hiked for 30 min before we started to work with the camera. I have heard about the tree skiing in Sogndal, but I could never imagine it would be this good. Pillows, good spacing between the trees and good steepness!
What about the shooting? Well, I think it is hard shooting tree-skiing at new places. I always see the good stuff from below, and today it was too much snow to hike up. But we did find a few good magic spots. The second challenge today was the humidity and the snow. The lenses got covered with moisture all the time. My lens cloth didn't make it long...
As the day went on, the temperature got warmer. What do you do then? Well, Karsten wanted a powder shot. So he piled up wall of snow on a pillow and charged right through it. Not a very powderish feeling...
Maybe some sun in the afternoon tomorrow. Let's hope, we all are motivated to capture some good shots!
- Number of missed volcanic eruptions: 3
- Number of days on the mountain: 30
- Number of travelled hours: 73
- Number of meter with skins under my skis: 5300
Göteborg is coming to an end. Now it is time for new destinations. A photo competition in Sogndal is coming up next (leaving tomorrow morning). This is the first time ever I have entered a photo competition, and it is indeed exciting. 4 days of shooting before a jury announce the winner. 4 teams with 1 photographer and 2 skiers in each team. The theme is "Mountains and fjords". Don't know about the fjords... According to the forecast it is going to rain/snow alot! Team Svorsk consists of me as the photographer, and Karsten Gefle and Oscar Hübinette as the skiers.
Yesterday was lecture time at the Scandinavian Photo store in Malmö. I did my talk about "the hunt for the dream image". The talk is a lot about volcanoes and skiing, and I really want to go to Etna now! Just trying to find time...
And an update about my oak, check this baby out!
Last week's trip to Northern Norway reminded me what adventure photography is all about (for me at least). It is not about the deepest snow. It is not about the best snow. It is about curiosity. My ski tour up to the Smådalstindene (Lofoten) is a good example. The snow was shit, and that was a big concern for me. How am I going to capture nice images, I thought. But as we started the tour I realized I couldn't stop walking. I was so curious about the views. I wanted to experience it so much. The shitty snow conditions was soon forgotten. The higher we got, the more beautiful the views became. It was like living in a dream (Lofoten has been a winter dream for me for a long time). I have seen the inspirational images in magazines and catalogues, but being there was nothing like watching it in a magazine. Images do inspire (thanks for that...), but in the end it comes to the live experiences.
Living the dream.
I experienced a similar thing in Tromsö the other day. As we were approaching the mountain with the car, it was easy to see that the snow condition was crap once again. This ski tour offered not a very spectacular view on the way up. Luckily we had strong wind, adding a bit of spice to the tour. Always nice putting on the hood for wind protection! But as we got to the summit ridge the magic views started to appear. And the combination of the views with the frosty appearance of the rocks made this ski tour to fantastic experience. There is just something magic about the mountain/water-combination!
Maybe a bit spoiled from Lofoten when this view isn't impressing...
So, back in Göteborg. Always nice being back here - to home! Borta bra men hemma bäst. I really like the home/away-contrasts with travelling. Now it is office time, image editing, bill paying before the next trip to Sogndal (Norway again). Btw, Etna had beautiful eruption the other day. Couldn't sleep that night. Soooooooo wanna go there. I think I have to...
- Number of missed volcanic eruptions: 3
- Number of days on the mountain: 29
- Number of travelled hours: 63
- Number of meter with skins under my skis: 5300
Lofoten is a magic place! It has been a dream to come here in winter for a long time. Ok, the snow condition is pretty terrible at the moment, but the views - the views - so amazing. I turned down the surfing yesterday for a magic view day. Johan, Cenneth, the local guide Seth and myself went for a tour on the Småtindene. An app. 800m tour close to Svolvaer. The higher we got the more beautiful it got. Sharp mountains, a low sun and the ocean. What a combination! And, the day ended with a spectacular Northern light. Norway keeps on delivering.
Johan and myself on the way up Småtindene.
Green skies above Svolvaer. The shutter time was app 3 minutes. But, the sky was very green, so it was spectacular in real ife as well!
And today was pretty interesting as well. My back was a bit sore, so I skipped skiing and went on a fishing tour with the other guys. The fishing was... easy. The skipper found a spot with thousands of fish underneath us (based on the sonar). So, it was just to lower the fishing lure and wips - fish.
On the way back to Svolvaer we stopped for a bit of Sea-Eagle (is the name Sea-Eagle?) watching. Very, VERY spectacular (like everything on this magic island)!
Don't wanna mess with this Sea-Eagle.
Heading for Tromsö tonight. Hear they have good partying...
- Number of missed volcanic eruptions: 2
- Number of days on the mountain: 28
- Number of travelled hours: 52
- Number of meter with skins under my skis: 4500
I love when I am wrong! I was so sure the snow conditions in the area of Narvik was terrible, I mean so bad that it wouldn't be skiable. But luckily I was wrong. And it was Micke af Ekenstam (local skier, book writer, ex movie star, etc etc) that proved us (Myself, John, Johan and Cenneth) wrong. He showed us a really nice ski tour an hour outside Narvik. The place and mountain was Spanstind. After a four hour ski tour we reached the spectacular summit before we headed down the GOOD snow while the sun was setting in front of us.
Johan Mattsson enjoying sunset skiing on Spanstind.
It has been so super cold up here (like everywhere I guess). Shooting has been a bit cold for the fingers. But with the thin finger gloves inside my thick down gloves, things have actually worked out really well.
Just arrived in Svolvaer (Lofoten) and it is snowing outside the window. I have two choices tomorrow, either I go surfing or I go ski touring. See what happens tomorrow, it depends on the weather. Am I looking forward spending time in the +4 C water? Not really, but it would still be fun...
I have always dreamed of ski touring in Lofoten, it is a magic place. So I do hope for the sun to shine in the morning!
- Number of missed volcanic eruptions: 2
- Number of days on the mountain: 27
- Number of travelled hours: 52
- Number of meter with skins under my skis: 3700
I thought it couldn't get much better, but obviously it could. During January I have tried out the F-Stop Satori EXP camera backpack. I used to wear the Tamrac Adventurepack 10. This is a really good camera backpack as well, but this one, the F-Stop Satori EXP, is just magic. Why, well, I will show you now!
This is what I bring during a normal day of shooting. A camera body, 4 lenses, a flash, a, point and shoot, remote trigger system for the flash, extra batteries and memory cards, a remote control, walkie talkie, lens cloth, sun block, shovel, probe, monopod, skins, water, down jacket and some food.
The camera gear are packed in a separate unit, a so called ICU (Internal Camera Unit). This is very smart by F-Stop! The backpack itself is the "base unit". Then you pick and choose the size of the ICU and put it into the backpack. So, I use the medium ICU for a normal day of shooting. But if I do flash photography I change to the large ICU to fit all the stuff, but I still have the same backpack.
I put the extra batteries and memory cards, remote control, walkie talkie, lens cloth and sun block in the top compartment of the backpack.
What I really like is to have EVERYTHING fitted into the backpack. And the probe, shovel shaft and monopod fits just perfect next to the ICU in the backpack.
The down jacket, skins, water and food fits on top of the medium size ICU in the backpack. So, heavy stuff in the bottom (except for the water bottle), and the lighter stuff on the top. Perfect!
I use the outer compartment for the shovel itself. Actually it gives a bit of extra protection to the camera gear.
Why not bring the point and shoot as well? There is space for it. So, I put a smaller F-Stop pack on the hip belt where I keep the point and shoot. Easy to bring out, and easy to put back. This way I never miss a photo opportunity (I hope a least).
And this is what it looks like when the packing is done. When I want to take out the camera I just open the back of the Satori EXP and bring it out. Easy piecy! If I want to put the skis on the back pack, no probs! There are straps for it on the side.
Check out the products on F-Stop´s website. Maybe this will change your photography? I think the packing system is the most important thing when it comes to photography. A good packing system makes it easy to bring the gear to the mountains. Becuase, without the gear - no photos!
Clouds and/or fog are good descriptions for the last couple of days. And Brunni of course. It seems like January has been the Brunni month. Oscar and I have been chasing the sun, and we did succeed 2 days ago. But just for a short bit, because the cloud roof went up and down like a jojo between 1900-2100m. A bit annoying when capturing (trying to at least) images. And today I had a good day (once again on Brunni) with skiers Oscar (always), Linus Archibald and Edvard Berg. We had a really good day of shooting among the beautiful and snow covered trees.
Engelberg is ciao for now, will be back in the end of February. Next trip is Lofoten, and I am looking forward to it! Seems to be really bad snow conditions, but the last weeks solar activity seems to have boosted the Northern lights. Nice!
Edvard Berg preparing for a soft landing on today's shoot on Brunni.
The never ending fog (or cloud, depends how you wanna see it), Linus and Oscar.
Oscar waiting for the sun.
- Number of missed volcanic eruptions: 2
- Number of days on the mountain: 25
- Number of travelled hours: 30
- Number of meter with skins under my skis: 1900
Four intense days have now passed, and we have been so lucky with the weather for the Photo Clinic!
Day 1
Heavy snowfall! First we did some avalanche awareness training with Remo up at the igloo at Trübsee. At the Photo Clinic we do off-piste ski photography, so everybody MUST know how to act in case of an avalanche! After the training we did some shooting on the Titlis side, but the bad visibility made us go to the Brunni side. And it was perfect conditions for today's task - Elinchrom Quadra Flash Photography. A solid base with 30 cm of cold and fresh snow. Oscar and Remo did the modeling while Adam, Hans and Micke did the shooting. The main difference shooting with an external flash is that you only have one chance of capturing the image (due to the charging time of the flash system). Normally you shoot a lot of images during a session. I was surprised of the result, some really good images. Why am I surprised? Because it is not easy!
Avalanche training with Remo.
Flash photography on Brunni.
Day 2
Once again Brunni. Good snow but limited visibility was the reason today as well. Now it was time to try different angels and different ways of capturing the images. The snow was not as good as the day before, but hey, good enough! Remo, Oscar and Jesper did the modeling among the few trees you are allowed skiing next to at Brunni. On the day's last run we ended up at Schwand, and we caught a taxi back to the hotel Hoheneck.
Oscar not really finding the right position (pretty uncommon I must say) on the way down to Schwand.
Day 3
Clear blue sky! Today was the touring day. Remo decided to make the tour up to Schaftal. This was the first time touring for Adam, Hans and Micke, and they did a good job! This day's task was to play around with composition while heading for some back country off-piste skiing. It is important to have a reason for the composition. Why putting the shadow there, and not there? Why putting the skier there and not there? Always a thought with the image before you capture it! The snow was a bit crusty making the skiing slightly harder compared to the previous days. After the ski tour, it was time for lunch, before we headed down the Galitberg as the last run of the day.
Ski touring shooting.
Nice views and an untracked valley (except for our tracks).
Day 4
Sore legs and sore knees. Day 3 was hard, but the crew was all eager to capture some more ski images. Today's mission for everyone was to capture images while doing the whole work flow thing on their own. The snow conditions was really bad and the light was.... grey. But that's the way it is sometimes! We found a nice cliff on the Brunni side and Oscar did a bit of jumping. After lunch Engelberg (including Brunni and Titlis) disappeared into a big cloud. So, we headed down for the daily image preview at Hoheneck, but this day a bit earlier compared to the previous days.
Adam after a close up ski photography session!
If you are keen on the results, just stay tuned. They will soon be posted!
- Number of missed volcanic eruptions: 2
- Number of days on the mountain: 22
- Number of travelled hours: 30
- Number of meter with skins under my skis: 1700
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