Photographing Rondane, Norway. My annual photo-tour, 2024-edition.

I had fog on several locations this year. This image was captured just before sunrise, as the fog started to attain some warmer colors. Hasselblad X2D and Mamiya 105-210mm, f16, 0.3 sec, iso 64.

Last year I made a post celebrating the 10-year anniversary of my annual mid-september visit to Rondane National Park. Fall-colors usually peak in mid-september, and it is always a pleasure to photograph colorful mountain-birches with snow-covered peaks as a backdrop. This year I might have been a week too late, as peak colors definitely was over in the higher altitudes. Some trees were all naked. Down in the valleys, however, foliage was still very nice.

This is a scene I have been wanting to photography for may years, but never found the right light, the right conditions or a good composition for that matter. This year everything came together on my way up to a sunrise shoot. Hasselblad X2D with XCD 35-75mm @35mm, stitched pano of 3 exposures, 2.6 sec, f16, iso 200

This was captured a few minutes after the image above. I noticed some very nice cloud-formations building up and hoped they would have a chance of catching colors. I rushed down to this small pond where I knew a few compositions from previous visits. As the colors started to peak, the fog rolled in and made for some absolutely stunning conditions! X2D with XCD 21mm, iso 1600, 2 sec, f16.

After sunrise the same day, the dense fog decided to stick around. I wandered around for hours and searched for compositions. The reflections of this good-looking tree and soft colors of the scene made me get my feet very wet in the swamp. X2D with XCD 35-75 @75mm, 1/10 sec, f16, iso 64. Focus stacked image of 3 exposures.

I had great conditions this year! To my big surprise, the thermometer showed 22 deg C when I first arrived at 1000m altitude. That is very unusual for mid-september (or any time of year, for that matter) and basically eliminated the chances for snow-covered peaks. But the high temperatures didn’t last, and the chill brought fog! And I had an (almost) full moon that really played along on some of my compositions.

I found this wonderful pineforest 10 years ago, and have visited many times since. I have always hoped for fog here, and this year it happened. It only lasted for a few minutes but I got away with a couple of good compositions just as the directional light started to come through. X2D with XCD 35-75 @70mm, iso 100, f18, 1.1 sec.

I had four days with stunning conditions, three of them with fog at one or several locations. This trip turned out to be one of my all-time most productive up there, and I’m very happy with the results. Also, spending the evenings in company with good friends, food and wine adds to the experience. I’m already looking forward to next years trip!

On my way back to the car after a sunset session, I spotted the rising moon. The landscape was still lit by the colorful post-sunset sky thus giving a nice color-contrast to the sky. I set up my gear and captured this with my X2D and the Mamiya 105-210 telezoom at 210mm, f11, 1.5 sec exposure, iso 800.

This image might be my favorite from the whole trip. In my eyes, it looks almost unreal, but I can assure you that no AI or CGI-trickery was involved! One thing I find a bit weird is that the mountains appear to be snow-capped. They were not. But this was brought forward by using a polarizer, and I think it added to the scene and decided to keep it this way. I also have a wider pano of this scene that might be a tad better, but I’m not done processing it just yet. I’m glad I have a iphone-video from this session , as several people have already told me that this image can’t be real! X2D with XCD 35-75 @55mm, f11, iso 64, 1/25 sec.

I’ve assembled a small gallery of my best images from this year. All were captured with my Hasselblad X2D and a variety of XCD lenses. Also, my Mamiya 105-210m adapted telezoom also got to see some use.