Happy Friday everyone. I’m officially back from 8 days in the beautiful country of Norway. What an amazing place. I swear that every corner I turned while driving around Norway showed yet another postcard picturesque view. It was a photographers paradise. And what’s really crazy is that even at mid-day, the sun wasn’t too harsh, and the skies had this beautiful crisp deep blue color to them all the time.
Lots of Photos = Little Sleep
Man am I tired though! The sun sets close to 11pm and rises around 4am. But it never really gets dark there this time of year. Even though the sun does go down below the horizon, it’s not far enough to make it totally dark. So for about 4-5 hours it’s twilight. Here’s an iPhone photo taken around 2:30am and it’s about as dark as I ever saw the skies get.
Because of this schedule I didn’t get much sleep. I shot sunset just about every night which means I wasn’t getting to bed until at least 12am (usually later). Then, on most mornings I got up to shoot sunrise. But since the light was so great before sunrise (and I needed time to get into place) I found myself getting up around 2:30am. I’d shoot for about 4 hours then go back to bed around 7am for a few hours. I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity while I was there to shoot as much as possible 🙂
The Golden Hour (or 3)!
Here’s what was really cool. Because of how the sun sets in Norway this time of year, you get amazing light for like 2-3 hours. Most outdoor photographers know that when the sun is going down (or coming up) we get maybe 20-30 minutes of that magical light where the sun is really low. There, you get at least 2 hours where the light is just great. Throw some dramatic clouds into the mix and it made for some spectacular sunrises and sunsets that lasted a long time. So it was really cool to be able to go from one location to another and keep shooting, where as most places I go I’d have to pick one spot to shoot because that’s all the light I’d have. The photo below was taken at least 3 hours before sunset.
(click to see it larger)
Where’s the Rest of the Photos?
I’ll post more photos (and stories) next week when I get some time to go through them all (and rest). And I wanted to give a big thanks to all the people at IGM for having me out to Norway to teach. We had a wonderful group and I’m truly grateful for the opportunity. Have a great weekend!
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Matt, I can’t wait to see some more Norway shots… I will be there in about 2 months (6 week trip through Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark), so am hoping the light conditions will be similar to what you experienced as we catch the tail-end of summer…
Do you have any recommendations for ‘must see’ locations/regions for stunning and breathtaking scenery?
Thanks!
Jon
What great notion! Perfect light for hours instead of minutes.. Can’t wait to see the rest of the set. Looking forward to seeing your images. Rest up!
Hey Matt, trying to watch Lightroom videos on Killer Tips but older vids like 2012 all seem to be unavailable???
Great photos Matt. My iPhone photos never look like what you posted. They always seem a little noisy. How often do you register your photos with the copyright office? I’m starting a site on squarespace but I can’t afford $35 every time I shoot some photos I want to post.The KelbyTraining course on copyright was helpful but didn’t address copyright images already “published”. I’m in the process of registering my unpublished photos for the last three years now. but I have some that were posted on Flickr and I’m not sure how to handle those.
Great Norwegian photos Matt, Looks as though you’ve got some great shots to go through too! Sounds like you’ve experienced the benefits of shooting at northern latitudes – extended sunsets. My grandfather came from the village of Morvik, near Bergen and I expect to visit relatives over there someday.
Wow, Matt! Sounds like you had a Wonderful time! Boy, I can hardly wait until you post some of your photos! I know what you mean about the twilight! While in Alaska a few years ago, we had the same experience. It’s weird! In the hotel room they had these really heavy dense curtains to keep the light out. We actually took a few walks around the hotel complex and could see pretty good. Oh, you looked pretty rested on the Live Show last night! Good info. I’m going to go through the Canon course on the 7D! I can always use more info and set up stuff!
Have a Great weekend!
Dennis
Thanks Dennis – you too!