Norway

The Kingdom of Norway – land of Mountains, the Aurora Borealis, Fjords, Trolls and Vikings – occupies the western half of the Scandinavian peninsula. It faces the Atlantic, Norwegian and Arctic Oceans. Two-thirds of the population live in the far South around Oslo but our interests lay in the sparsely populated Northern, Arctic, regions which are intensely mountainous, with deep glacial fjords running East to West and the Islands off the coast (there are over 50,000 of them!) These remote communities still rely on fishing and to an extent domestic tourism in the summer. In the far North the native Sami people identify with their kindred rather than any national identity – at these latitudes Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway all merge. We were privileged to see the Sami people at work with their reindeer and to live in old fisherman’s cottages. Going that far North in February is always a challenge from a weather perspective and we certainly got our fair share of Gale Force winds, driving snow and double-digit temperatures below zero! The landscape however didn’t disappoint; in between ferocious snowstorms we were treated to moments of calm and Zen like simplistic images. We occasionally saw blue skies and the tops of the incredible witches-hat mountains which rise straight from Sea level up to the cloud-base. Picturesque fishing villages with buildings all painted either red or ochre-yellow cling to the edge of the Fjords. Winter is harsh at these latitudes, but by February the periods of daylight were getting longer and there was a hint that Spring would not be far away. We photographed around the Lyngen Alps and the Island groups of Kvaloya, Senja and Lofoten – visually stunning locations – but very difficult driving conditions. For the full portfolio be sure to click on the 'Show All' button.