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We're in Senja. The weather is a touch dramatic. Indeed we've had to bring out the snow chains to get the van up the laneway more than once. Temperatures are typically around -10°C at this time of year. January is pretty dark but things change quickly in February.

Those moments when the sun wrestles with the clouds are my favourite moments. That's when the magic happens.

#BlueNorway

This fjord in Senja is an absolute favourite of mine. Have seen it in all kinds of weather, but there are moments when a gentle bit of sunlight pops out between the clouds and brushes against the slopes.

I don't use a telephoto often, but they are quite useful every now and then. This shot about 100mm, with a slow shutter.

#BlueNorway

We drove over a hill and saw the coastline, partly illuminated and totally covered in powder snow. The sun is wrestling with the low cloud, and largely losing. More snow is drifting down.

For the next hour the sun came out lit up the shore and the ice. But it's the moody moment when we first arrived that I love.

#BlueNorway

One of the great challenges with working in a moody duotone series is what happens when the sun comes out?

Because that's a very common thing in the Arctic winter, and a special thing. Standing knee deep in powder snow with the sun flooding into the fjord is just magic.

#BlueNorway

One of my favourite ever aurora shoots took place just behind these cabins. On the other side is a fishing dock where working boats still drop off their catch of cod in the winter. Before you reach the boats was a nice patch of bare rocks, and a stunning view of the peak across the fjord.

The owners put up a few extra cabins on those rocks now, so it's private access only. Things change. We've taken Lofoten off our itineraries now. Too many cameras with attitude and drivers with no idea.

Broke my thread. Ooops. I meant to post my cod here...

https://photog.social/@ewen/109669036212049700

I've been lucky to know more than a few yacht owners in my time. I used to edit the magazine for Australia's Classic Yacht Association and I'd get invites with all kinds of people. Most of the lovely. Wooden boat people are nice people on the main.

So this fella in Grovfjord owns a gorgeous little restored sailing boat and we went out at -10°C. Heaven.

If I had all the money in the world I'd buy this cabin in the woods, hidden away in Norway's north.

It's half way up a hill-side, with a low flat hill behind it and a sweeping shoreline of the fjordbotn below. Imagine putting on Christmas lunch here one year with Shellie :)

#BlueNorway

I know you've heard this before, but photography is all about light. Everything starts with the light. This is one reason I love winter, because the angle of the light is lower and moments of inspiration can happen at any time of day.

#BlueNorway

Sometimes I look back on these images and the weather conditions happening at the time and wonder what the hell I was thinking to even be out there on the roads. This location was subject to avalanche closures routinely during winter. Could never run a tour into this section of the fjords, in case you got stuck there for a week!

#BlueNorway

That day we got snow falling pretty much from dawn to dusk but paused for a brief half hour and we stepped out to capture a more subtle impression of the landscape. I love the scale of softness in winter, the way snow hides all the imperfections. It even dampens the noise. There's no silence quite like a world layered in fresh snow.

#BlueNorway #SilentAsSnow

One of the things that is so critical to this particular image, is to retain detail in the snow itself. There is texture there, albeit very fine, but so important.

The first time I saw this scene I nearly drove the car off the road. I wasn't expecting it. Such a remarkable reveal, as is typical of Senja and Tromso. One moment there's nothing but a wall of snow on either side of the road, the next there's a magical fjord or a cabin by the river, or a herd of reindeer or a fishing fleet. Magical place.

#BlueNorway #SilentAsSnow

Think it might be time to wrap up this thread. Need to get my head out of the blue for a little while. So I'm returning to where it began, and that boat shed. Now you get to see the colours on display that day :)

Thanks to everyone who dropped a comment along the way, or liked and shared. Met some nice peeps this week or two!

#SilentAsSnow #Fotografering

@stevenlawson

Thanks Steven :)

@jockstewart

The angle of the light is the magic sauce :)

https://ewenbell.com/blog/The_Angle_of_Light

@ewen Och well, if your mission was to inspire then you have succeeded. I've not looked at the C menu on my humble GX9 and now I am. Thank you!

@jockstewart

Marvellous! Big hugs!

@mariyadelano

This planet never ceases to amaze me. Also, that someone put a nice road through here and the rest of us can just visit whenever we want!

@ewen it reminds me of Colorado. I'm always amazed at how easily accessible some of those mountain vistas are.

@mariyadelano

I have fond memories of Colorado and my first encounter with oversized hazelnut flavored coffee. Oh and nice scenery yes. The scenery.

@ewen the scenery there is just beautiful basically everywhere you look. This was one of my engagement photos, literally a 15 min drive from my father-in-law’s house

@mariyadelano

Lovely!

I grew up in the mountains outside of Melbourne (Australia) and I love forests and hills and open spaces and wilderness and different shades of green (and marsupials, but that's not really relevant to Colorado!).

Now I live in the middle of the city. Like right in the middle. When I got married we caught a tram to our wedding! But we need a fix of wilderness as often as possible.

Hence the obsession with Arctic winters :)

@ewen Colorado would be much more fun with some marsupials

I get it. I love both cities and nature and tend to need a balance of both as well

@mariyadelano

Hawaii feels me :)

@kerstinsailer

Covid kept me from the snow for three years. I missed it like the air.

@ewen I bet! Have you been back yet? If not, wishing you patience, and that your memories will ease the wait.
It's amazing how we only realise the crucial importance of certain things once they're no longer there.

@kerstinsailer

I'm on a plane in two weeks! I'm very lucky to have spent so much time there over the past decade. Lovely people too.

My wife and I made a cookbook based on our travels, which we released during covid. Urgh!

https://ironchefshellie.com/cabinfever/

@ewen Yay! You must be excited... Looking forward to more pictures.
The cook book looks amazing. Is there a print version, too, or just the eBook?

@kristophr

:)

@omri

:)

Some are better than others! Some are cheaper than others!

@Elchsa

Only way that cabin could be better is if it were built from actual gingerbread!

@mbhuber

Thanks Mara :)

Yes very very different for me. My brain is very elastic with pictures but words I have to work so much harder for. English was always my worst subject in school. Turns out I was dyslexic on top of all else. I worked really hard to develop my skills in writing. Still learning in fact!

@ewen really? I would never have known. I think your words take us into the photos with you into the moment/context. You have a new fan

@mbhuber

@Krisss

Thankyou!