Hebrides Yellowstone Norway

Hebrides - Beaches of Lewis and Harris and other things Yellowstone, Wyoming, in winter Norway - Sommarøy and Senja in Winter Dennis Craggs December 2022

photos were taken on a workshop with Clive Minnitt and Phil Malpas to Lewis and Harris in the Hebrides. It is Phil's favourite location of anywhere that he has been in the world and it is hard to ee with him. When I looked at the photo on the right in Lightroom, I wondered if the water colour rue. Adam Nicolson in his wonderful book 'Sea Room' about life in the Shiants, refers to the colours kentyre as being 'like the Bahamas' so I guess my eyes don't let me down. This photo also makes a erful print. The photo below is from almost the same location but in very different light.

These photos were taken on a workshop with Clive Minnitt and Phil Malpas to Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It is Phil's favourite location of anywhere that he has been in the world and it is hard to disagree with him. When I looked at the photo on the right in Lightroom, I wondered if the water colour was true. Adam Nicolson in his wonderful book 'Sea Room' about life in the Shiants, refers to the colours of Luskentyre as being 'like the Bahamas' so I guess my eyes don't let me down. This photo also makes a wonderful print. The photo below is from almost the same location but in very different light.

Na Mara sits opposite Niseaboist beach, famed for its views across the sound of Taransay. Translated Gaelic, Talla Na Mara means the 'centre by the sea'. Off the west coast of Scotland, the Isle of Lewis le of Harris form the main island in the Outer Hebrides. They may sound like two separate islands, ewis and Harris are actually two parts of the one island, with the largest town, Stornoway, on the oast. With dramatic landscapes, a unique Gaelic culture and fascinating history, this is a great place rt any Hebridean adventure and you will be blown away by wild mountains, immense white beaches, d coastlines and lunar landscapes. Yup, hardly a tree in sight and bloody cold most of the time.

Talla Na Mara sits opposite Niseaboist beach, famed for its views across the sound of Taransay. Translated from Gaelic, Talla Na Mara means the 'centre by the sea'. Off the west coast of Scotland, the Isle of Lewis and Isle of Harris form the main island in the Outer Hebrides. They may sound like two separate islands, but Lewis and Harris are actually two parts of the one island, with the largest town, Stornoway, on the east coast. With dramatic landscapes, a unique Gaelic culture and fascinating history, this is a great place to start any Hebridean adventure and you will be blown away by wild mountains, immense white beaches, rugged coastlines and lunar landscapes. Yup, hardly a tree in sight and bloody cold most of the time.

was my minimalist moment. I am finally achieving simple photos with simple compositions. The photo e right makes a nice print too. The weather is very changeable here as the wind blows through and makes the light very special for photographers who come here all year around. The Harris hotel in rt does a cracking business for them. It was still COVID time, November 2021, when we were there e made an effort at mask wearing but with the wind blowing like this, I don't suppose it made much ence. Taransay became well known following the BBC show Castaway. The show featured a group of ople marooned on the island for a year starting 1 January 2000. Here below are more photos of rns in the sand.

hoto on the right was much influenced by the great Clive Minnitt who drew my attention in his usual able, gentle and subtle style, to the S curve in the sand leading to the photographers and moved my osition about a metre to put it in the frame. He told us often how inspired he was by Charlie Waite s a master of this sort of detail and can expound for hours on it (And does endlessly). I refer to Clive Composition Consultant: he zips around with an iPhone composing magnificent shots with great I could be jealous. Those photographers did not move very far very fast, this is a 20 second ure. More photos of 'Machair' below.

hoto was taken a little further down the coast from Luskentyre at a new location on the rocks again towards Taransay. It was blowing a gale and a bit wet as well which comes out as a fine mist in a xposure. I love this long exposure technique on beaches and coastlines for the effect that it has in thing out the water crashing on the shore. It is just as well the clouds are interesting as we did not much sun. I was not keen on this image fresh out of RAW but it works up well with help from oom. Typical Hebridean weather.

and Harris is a 1,250 mile drive round-trip from Henley. It is possible to fly to Stornoway but I ed to drive as I have never been up this far through the Highlands of Scotland. I stopped for one with cousin Liz in the Lake District and a second night at the Kings House hotel in Glencoe before ng the ferry from Uig to Tarbert from whence the hotel is less than a mile.

photos with snow on the peaks of Harris were taken the day after Storm Arwen blew through and ed snow on the high mountains. Then the sky cleared and we had some busy days back on the es. This particular photo was a blend of two: one with the foreground in focus and at a faster ure to freeze the movement in the grass and another with longer exposure of the sea.

history: In the 9th Century, Norseman dominated the Isle; they eventually converted to tianity. In the early 13th Century, the Nicholson family, or MacNicols, built Castle Lewis at oway harbour. In 1844, Sir James Matheson purchased the Island and built Lews Castle between and 1857. It is the ancestral homeland of the Highland Clan MacLeod, with those individuals on s being referred to as from the Clan MacLeod of Harris or MacLeod of MacLeod, and those on Lewis referred to as from the Clan MacLeod of Lewis. Lewis is also the ancestral home of Clan Morrison.

pent a fair amount of time climbing around the sand dunes above Luskentyre beach and getting good se so doing. It was a lovely sunny day after Storm Arwen. Here below are a few more photos of the es in the sand dunes.

sure that the photo below right, was taken during Storm Arwen when the rest of the group had ated. When I had finished, I found myself alone and turned around to face a wind driven stinging 50 hail storm, requiring walking backwards to the EU funded shelter. I have to include the photo on ple. Next year I promised myself to go to a warmer place.

nother stretch of pristine white sands, big open skies and endless views of the Atlantic Ocean. The slopes gently into the aquamarine waters. The colour of the water makes for a stunning contrast to d-hued rocks at this end of the beach which stretch out into the sea. Immediately behind the beach w, grassy dunes, giving way to sandy grasslands. In other words, more of the same. Here is a photo of ardy band on a stop over.

Yet another stretch of pristine white sands, big open skies and endless views of the Atlantic Ocean. The beach slopes gently into the aquamarine waters. The colour of the water makes for a stunning contrast to the red-hued rocks at this end of the beach which stretch out into the sea. Immediately behind the beach are low, grassy dunes, giving way to sandy grasslands. In other words, more of the same. Here is a photo of our hardy band on a stop over.

thing a little different from beaches. We drove down Lewis to this lovely church. According to Dean d Munro in his 1549 work about the Western Isles, St Clement's church was built for the Chiefs of MacLeods of Harris, who lived in Dunvegan Castle in Skye, probably from about 1520. It is not dered to have been the first church on the site although there is no clear evidence of an older Celtic h. Munro described the church as a monastery but, as there is no evidence hinting to a monastic unity, this expression is believed to refer to a minister and with it to an important parish church. It a Catholic church before falling into disuse shortly after its completion in around 1560 as a quence of the reformation, but the churchyard continued to be used as a MacLeod burial site. In the century it was used as a cow byre before being restored in 1873, and in 1913, the tower was rebuilt being damaged by a lightning strike. Today, the church is under the care of Historic Scotland.

tretch of sand at Seilebost beach on the south side of Luskentyre Bay was once voted one of the top st beaches in the world. Come here on a fine, sunny day and it will not be difficult to see why. ver, come here on an early morning during the 50mph gales of Storm Arwen, and you will have ulty standing upright, never mind trying to take a 30 sec exposure on a tripod, as it takes a major to hold the tripod down and stop it blowing right over. Despite the effort, I think that there is still movement in the rocks on the beach due to the shaky tripod. The clouds and the sea of course are sed to show movement and so they do. A little bit of morning sun shows through but not much. We ot do much else this day. The weather was so wet on our last day that we ended up hovering on the taking studies of rocks before retreating to the hotel.

ur last full day, we drove up to Scalpay and walked a mile or so from the north harbour across the to this lighthouse on the east coast.

was taken a few days after Storm Arwen had passed through and dumped snow across the Highlands he weather had turned fine and we could see the whole of the Scottish mainland from north of the Skye right up to the north coast across the Minch, all covered in fresh snow. We spent some time

ghthouse was one of the original four lights commissioned by the Commissioners of the Northern , and the first in the Hebrides. These lighthouses were built by Thomas Smith. Eilean Glas light was isplayed in 1789. The original tower was replaced in 1824 by Smith's stepson, Robert Stevenson. In the light was changed to a revolving system lens. The lighthouse was an early candidate for mation and this was carried out in 1978. The fog signal was discontinued in the 1980s although the emains in place as a decoration. Light is now provided by catoptric sealed beam lamps (similar to car lights), mounted on a gearless pedestal. The lighthouse is owned and operated by the Northern house Board, and the site's other buildings are owned by North Harris Trust and Eilean Glas Trust.

and the following photos were taken on a trip to Yellowstone National Park in January 2022 with ny Spencer, organised through Lightandland. We stayed for the first four nights in West Yellowstone utside the western entrance to the park. The roads on this side of the park are closed to general during the winter months but are prepared to take snowmobiles, snow cats and other suitable es for organised tours. There were only five of us on this trip, including three Americans, which is a number to fill a bombardier snowcat (built in Québec in the 1960s and since restored) which is ped with tracks and has skis at the front to steer - but not very easily! For the second half of the trip, ere based at Gardner on the north side of the park and we were able to drive our own vehicle on the hrough the park. We were keen to find snow-covered bison and on this occasion we found this herd y working its way along and across the road. We therefore spent some time here with a long lens, all held. One of my favourite photographs of the trip and makes a nice print.

These and the following photos were taken on a trip to Yellowstone National Park in January 2022 with Antony Spencer, organised through Lightandland. We stayed for the first four nights in West Yellowstone just outside the western entrance to the park. The roads on this side of the park are closed to general traffic during the winter months but are prepared to take snowmobiles, snow cats and other suitable vehicles for organised tours. There were only five of us on this trip, including three Americans, which is a nice number to fill a bombardier snowcat (built in Québec in the 1960s and since restored) which is equipped with tracks and has skis at the front to steer - but not very easily! For the second half of the trip, we were based at Gardner on the north side of the park and we were able to drive our own vehicle on the road through the park. We were keen to find snow-covered bison and on this occasion we found this herd slowly working its way along and across the road. We therefore spent some time here with a long lens, all hand-held. One of my favourite photographs of the trip and makes a nice print.

's the difference between a buffalo and a bison? You can't wash your hands in a buffalo.

gh the terms are often used interchangeably, buffalo and bison are distinct animals. Old World “true” o (Cape buffalo and water buffalo) are native to Africa and Asia. Bison are found in North America urope. Both bison and buffalo are in the bovidae family, but the two are not closely related. How did ames get so mixed up? Historians believe that early European explorers are to blame, though the s are a bit murky. According to the National Park Service, it’s possible it stemmed from the French boeuf, meaning beef. Others posit that bison hides resembled buff coats commonly worn by military t the time, inspiring the name. Whatever the case, the misnomer stuck. Bison have large humps at shoulders and bigger heads than buffalo. They also have beards, as well as thick coats which they n the spring and early summer. Another simple way to tell a buffalo from a bison is to look at its . Cape buffalo horns resemble a handlebar moustache; they have a thick, helmet-like base and curl then back up. A water buffalo’s horns are large, long and curved in a crescent, while a bison’s horns pically sharp and shorter than the average buffalo.

once roamed North America in the tens of millions and were a critical part of Native American e: every part of the bison provided something for their way of life and native people hunted them on As Europeans settled in the west in the 1800s, the army campaigned to remove the tribes by taking their main food source: bison. Hundreds of thousands were killed by U.S. troops and market rs. By the late 1880s, the great herds were nearly gone. Some animals found protection on private es. In Yellowstone, their numbers dwindled to about two dozen. In one of the first efforts to rve a wild species, the National Park Service (NPS) set about recovering the population. In 1902, purchased 21 bison from private owners and raised them in Mammoth and then at the historic r Buffalo Ranch. Eventually, these animals began to mix with the park’s free-roaming population and 54, their numbers had grown to roughly 1,300 animals. Bison reproduce at relatively high rates so gers limited growth with frequent culling. Hundreds of animals were removed to start or ement herds on other public and tribal lands. A moratorium on culling in 1969 resulted in the ation increasing from 500 to 3,000 in 1990 and as numbers increased, they left the park in greater ers, creating challenges for people sharing that landscape, both in terms of human safety and se bison want to eat the same grass ranchers grow to feed their livestock.

also carry brucellosis, a disease that can be transmitted to livestock. In 1995, Montana sued the for allowing bison to leave the park, following which Montana and the federal government oped a plan to guide the management of bison in and around Yellowstone. As part of this plan, us agencies work to sustain a wild, wide-ranging bison population and reduce the risk of brucellosis mission from bison to cattle since when the bison population has ranged between 2,400 and 5,500 ls. There have subsequently been no cases of bison transmitting brucellosis directly to cattle. ugh Montana now allows bison to occupy some habitat adjacent to the park that was previously offlack of tolerance for wild bison in most areas outside Yellowstone continues to limit the restoration s iconic species. Large parts of their historic winter ranges are no longer available due to human opment and because states only allow limited numbers of bison in areas near the park.

of the soil within the Yellowstone Caldera is the product of hardened lava flows from the region’s nic past and is unsuitable for many types of trees. The central part of the park is characterized by upon miles of lodgepole pine, a tree which thrives in the slightly acidic soil of the caldera. The roots gepole pine extend sideways rather than deep into the ground - an advantage in the caldera where psoil is very thin and contains few nutrients. Dead lodgepole pines near some hydrothermal areas s if they are wearing white anklet socks, at one time called “bobby socks.” The dead trees soak up ineral-laden water. When the water evaporates, the minerals are left behind, turning the lower on of the trees white.

Much of the soil within the Yellowstone Caldera is the product of hardened lava flows from the region’s volcanic past and is unsuitable for many types of trees. The central part of the park is characterized by miles upon miles of lodgepole pine, a tree which thrives in the slightly acidic soil of the caldera. The roots of lodgepole pine extend sideways rather than deep into the ground - an advantage in the caldera where the topsoil is very thin and contains few nutrients. Dead lodgepole pines near some hydrothermal areas look as if they are wearing white anklet socks, at one time called “bobby socks.” The dead trees soak up the mineral-laden water. When the water evaporates, the minerals are left behind, turning the lower portion of the trees white.

nd several hundred other tourists spotted these moose close to the road at the top end of the Lamar Road above Gardner. They wanted to cross the road but were frustrated by the number of vehicles eing up along it watching them. Eventually the humans figured it out and made a break in the traffic em to cross, so they disappeared into the hills. I took this shot in a brief moment when two of the males headed off against each other but it was not a serious encounter.

wstone moose are the smallest of four subspecies of moose (Alces alces shirasi) in North America. d in forested areas and willow flats from south-eastern British Columbia to southern Colorado, they etter adapted to survival in deep snow than other ungulates in Greater Yellowstone (There are also Except during the rut, moose are usually found alone or in small family groups. This behaviour, and use of habitat where they are often well concealed, impedes accurate estimates of population size stribution. These were the only ones that we saw.

so spotted this bighorn sheep on the way back down the valley road.

photographer that comes to Yellowstone National Park takes a photograph of this tree in the en valley. I'm not entirely sure that mine is the best example but it cannot be too difficult to make an of a solitary tree .. or can it?

e added below two of the 'landscapes' that I took on this trip, captivated by the dramatic cloud tions.

d not do very much 'landscape' photography on this trip. Most of our time was spent following and ng the wildlife and our stops to photograph the landscape were opportunistic. It was a bit of an to climb in and out of the snow cat or the car and we occasionally had to use crampons so we lost st in using tripods and almost all of these photographs are hand held, often with long lenses. We ed these wispy clouds on the right some distance away on one such stop and took the opportunity photo at long-range. The photo below is actually the very first that I took on this trip when entering West Yellowstone in the early morning light.

26, as a result of predator control efforts, grey wolves (Canis lupus) were officially eliminated from wstone In the ensuing decades, our understanding of large predators and their role in healthy stems changed, and Northern Rocky Mountain wolves were eventually listed under the Endangered es Act (ESA) in 1973. With ESA listing came the goal of restoring wolves to their historic range, and 95 and 1996, following many years of public planning and input, a total of 31 wolves, captured in ta and British Columbia, were reintroduced to Yellowstone. Wolves flourished amidst Yellowstone's dant prey and expansive, protected wilderness. Wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone was part of the larger Northern Rocky Mountain wolf recovery effort. This included a simultaneous wolf oduction in central Idaho and ongoing protection for a naturally recovering population in northMontana. By 2002, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery goals were met: the Northern es were now home to 30 breeding wolf pairs, uniformly distributed throughout three Rocky tain recovery areas for three successive years. While Yellowstone's portion of the wolf population ns protected within its boundaries, a regulated hunting and trapping season now takes place ghout Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

ere a mite lucky to get this close to the wolves to capture these images (There is no crop) but, having them, we spent the best part of two days following them through the park from the West wstone entrance.

Wapiti Lake Pack featured here, was founded by 755M in 2014. In reality, 755M had been travelling d much of the Northern Range, not joining a pack or finding a mate for about 2 years. This former male of the Lamar Canyon Pack returned to the park in winter 2012 from a trip east and joined up 759F from Mollie's Pack, who later left him. After being alone for a few months, 755M was seen with collared grey female in April 2013, then later with 889F. 755M appeared to have joined Junction , but split off with 889F in 2014. The pair spent time in the Hellroaring area before 889F was sted [?] outside of the Park. Finally, in 2015, 755M settled down in Hayden Valley with an uncollared emale where they denned and had pups. Mollie's wolves joined the small pack in 2016 and 755M een in numerous places around the Northern Range. In 2017, the famous White Alpha Female's hter became alpha of Wapiti Lake pack. Both 1091F and the White Female had litters in 2017. The Wapiti group, including 1014M and the White Female, remained in the Hayden and Norris area ghout the winter. The pack denned in 2019 and produced two litters for a total of 9 pups. At the end year the pack was the largest in Yellowstone with 19 wolves. [Updated 1/2020]

ere driving back in the evening to West Yellowstone when we spotted a line of vehicles parked at de of the road. We therefore stopped to see what the action was. This eagle was perched in a tree close to the side of the road and was seemingly not bothered by the dozens of people crowding and closer to get the photo. Eventually however of course he flew away for some peace and quiet.

to check - Bald or Golden? Most people believe these two birds are closely related, but surprisingly n’t the case. Bald eagles belong to a group called “fishing eagles,” and are more closely related to Golden eagles are more closely related to hawks called “Buteos,” such as red-tailed hawks. Adult n and bald eagles have distinguishing characteristics in their colouring making it easy to identify the es. Both are large birds with dark brown bodies. The adult bald eagle has a noticeable white head ail while the golden eagle has a brown head with “golden” feathers on the back of its neck. The adult agle has a large, yellow beak, while the golden has a slightly smaller black beak. Golden eagles are ed to as booted eagles, since they are feathered all the way down their legs to the tops of their feet, the bald eagle’s feathers stop a few inches from the tops of their feet.

oyote (Canis latrans), which we saw this once on this trip, is a species of canine native to North ica. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf. It is listed as 'least concern' by the International for Conservation of Nature, due to its wide distribution and abundance throughout North America. pecies is versatile, able to adapt to and expand into environments modified by humans. It is enlarging nge by moving into urban areas in the eastern U.S. and Canada. It has 19 recognized subspecies. The ge male weighs 8 to 20 kg. Their fur color is predominantly light grey and red or fulvous persed with black and white, though it varies somewhat with geography. It is highly flexible in social ization, living either in a family unit or in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. Primarily vorous, its diet consists mainly of deer, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and ebrates, though it may also eat fruits and vegetables on occasion. Its characteristic vocalization is a made by solitary individuals. Humans are its greatest threat, followed by cougars and grey wolves. In of this, coyotes sometimes mate with grey, eastern, or red wolves, producing "coywolf" hybrids. tic studies show that most North American wolves contain some level of coyote DNA. Unlike s, which have seen their public image improve, attitudes towards the coyote remain largely ive.

moth Hot Springs is a complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine (A form of limestone) created over ands of years as hot water from geothermal vents cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons nto Mammoth each day in a solution). The hot water that feeds Mammoth comes from Norris Geyser Basin ault line that runs through limestone which is the source of the calcium carbonate. The superheated water slightly before surfacing at about 80°C. Algae living in the warm pools have tinted the travertine shades of , orange, red, and green. This is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth is built upon an old terrace formation. There was some concern when construction began in 1891 on the te that the hollow ground would not support the weight of the buildings. This area has been thermally active veral thousand years.

prings are the most common hydrothermal features in Yellowstone. Beginning as precipitation, the of a hot spring seeps through the bedrock underlying Yellowstone and becomes superheated at . An open plumbing system allows the hot water to rise back to the surface unimpeded. Convection nts constantly circulate the water, preventing it from getting hot enough to trigger an eruption. At fierce, boiling waters within a hot spring can explode, shooting water into the air, acting much like a r. Many of the bright colours found in Yellowstone's hydrothermal basins come from thermophiles: -organisms that thrive in hot temperatures. So many individual micro-organisms are grouped her, trillions, that they appear as masses of colour. Different types of thermophiles live at different eratures within a hot spring and cannot tolerate much cooler or warmer conditions. Yellowstone's ater systems often show distinct gradations of living, vibrant colours where the temperature limit of roup of microbes is reached, only to be replaced by a different set of thermophiles. It was not ularly cold during our visit, only down to about -9°C, but by the end, I was looking forward to going rip to a warmer place. That's why my next trip is to North Norway. We departed for home from man airport in Montana via Seattle.

rch 2022, I flew to Oslo and then to Tromsø to join Mark McColl and Lee Frost on a workshop based mmarøy and Senja, well up in the Arctic Circle in North Norway. It was not as cold as it might have dropping only to about -6°C, and indeed on the last day it rained and was much warmer. This was a group of about 14 people most of whom have travelled a lot with Lee Frost so I felt a bit left out. ay, it was an interesting trip and this photo on the right was one of my favourite photos so I have ed it first in this collection. Like many of the photos in this collection, it certainly reflects the cold. ade a number of visits to this particular beach.

ade a number of early morning visits to this location very near to the hotel on Sommarøy, the first on our Norwegian expedition. I quote a Guardian article from 2019: "The 350 residents of Sommarøy land of the midnight sun are hoping to free themselves from the tyranny of the clock by declaring the small egian island the world’s first time-free zone. “All over the world, people are characterised by stress and ssion” said Kjell Ove Hveding “In many cases this can be linked to the feeling of being trapped by the clock. ll be a time-free zone where everyone can live their lives to the fullest … Our goal is to provide full flexibility, If you want to cut the lawn at 4am, then you can do it.” The islanders, whose main sources of income are m and fishing, are calling for formal opening hours to be abolished and people to be allowed to “do what we when we want” ... although children will still have to go to school, Hveding said. Sommarøy spends mber to January in darkness, but in summer residents know that when the sun rises on 18 May, it will not ain until 26 July. “It’s constant daylight,” Hveding said on the campaign’s Facebook page. “If you want to your house at 2am, it’s OK. If we want to take a swim at 4am, we will.” The residents added: “Here we enjoy minute of the midnight sun, and yes, a coffee with friends on the beach at 2am is a normal thing.” I have llowed this story up to see how it worked out.

g away from Sommarøy to Senja, our second and main hotel location, we passed along this fjord. There was nd and the water was incredibly calm, giving some opportunities for wonderful reflections including on the his particularly dizzying example that looks like a gigantic eye. It would make an interesting jigsaw puzzle. It ken with a bit of a long lens, hand held, so I kept a fast shutter speed. We spent some time and then drove another stop. Here below is another photo from this area.

marked the location of this barn on the map, rightly or wrongly in absence of GPS on the camera, as somewhere near Bakkejord on the road from Sommarøy to Senja, a long drive of several hours upted by photo opportunities such as this.

ertainly had changeable weather on this trip as you would expect of North Norway, but the snow the composition more interesting. There is a nice piece of artwork too on the side of the barn. A fast er speed has helped to freeze the snow fall just about right.

aid a couple of dawn visits (following an early 5:15am start in the dark) to this location at a viewing off the roadside on the pass over to Straumsbotn. There was a bouncy modern viewing platform ooking the fjord on which it was difficult to use a tripod. On the second visit, we had this wonderful dawn light for a brief period after sunrise, nicely reflected in the fjord. Then back to the hotel for a breakfast and a brief chill out before another adventure. It made for a lot of driving for Mark and

ne occasion, we continued the drive above Bergsbotn towards Straumsbotn and stopped near a n lake after the exit to the Skalandtunellen. We spent a lot of time here up to our thighs in the snow We could have done with some snowshoes. This is one of my favourite images, another attempt at a e composition. All of these images are hand held as it is too difficult to manage a tripod in the deep

was a very productive location for photos so here are some more. We managed to climb around the e in the snow drifts without breaking any legs in the process. It was a dull but really quite warm day ome rain so there was water on top of the ice on the lake which made a nice image.

ordfjorden is the fjord that you see from the view point at Bergsbotn and we stopped here on our ack from one of our early morning visits there. This is the view back towards the Bergsbotn view Not much to say really. It is taken with a wide angle lens that I do not often use. Here below are the p photos' that show us at work.

a windy, hail stormy type of day when we stopped at this location. It was a bit of a walk from the down to the beach entailing the occasional descent to crotch level in the deep snow. There were houses here, presumably second homes as no one was in residence. It might be a nice place in er but, at this time of year, it is a bit wild. I took these photos on the right in 'portrait' on a 3:2 ratio. oes not work in Instagram and, any way, I think a 5:4 ratio is better but I cannot crop these as the osition would not work.

photos were taken at the same location as those on the previous page but this time I have cropped mage to a 5:4 ratio although it's just a bit tight on the rocks. There is absolutely nothing to add from on this place except that the fjord is 16km long. As you will have noticed I do like these long ures especially when there is a bit of wind blowing. Here below is another. It's a wee bit moody.

were the fourteen of us zipping around Senja in two minibuses from location to location around the s of fjords that make up the island; I lost my sense of direction but Mark and Lee seemed to know way around, Mark taking the lead. Mark seemed to know alot of locations around here and on a er of occasions, we stopped in unlikely places and found subjects such as these old houses and We had to navigate deep snow in the process and avoid leaving footprints to spoil each others osition. This was really too many people for comfort on one trip.

sited this location several times during the afternoon, evening and at night. It is a very popular spot hotographers, particularly this view towards the Okshornan mountains, also known as the "Devils ". The area lies on the tip of the promontory that separates the Steinsfjord and the Ersfjord. A way built in Siberian larch leads out over the rocks to provide these views but at this time of year, we ed to wear crampons on the ice.

eturned here for an evening shoot. There is a reflecting pool created by the water washed up from a at high tide which makes a great composition for a photo. The problem is that there are fourteen and only space for about six in the best locations at the edge of the reflecting pools. Mark and Lee there quickly with their own cameras in the best places taking their own photos which irritates me d as their priority must be to spend time with their clients. Nor do I think I will be going with Mark ee again any time soon at it has left me in a bit of a mood! This is the best photo that I took of the tions, so then, absent any other spot for my tripod in the scrum, I packed up and went for a walk. The t light was pretty good, though.

ere back at Tungeneset at about 11:00pm after dinner, about 15 minutes drive from the hotel. The ern lights looked promising and so it turned out. I took some photos but because I was using a wide ure the foreground of a number of the photos was out of focus and I really should have done a focus Never mind, as one workshop leader once told me: "That's a photograph only fit for Facebook". he was probably right but I will not go travelling with him again. Auroras display dynamic patterns of nt lights that appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers covering the entire sky. They are sult of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by the solar wind. These disturbances alter the tories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electrons and ns, precipitate into the upper atmosphere. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric tuents emit light of varying colour and complexity. The form of the aurora, occurring within bands d both polar regions, is also dependent on the amount of acceleration imparted to the precipitating les. We see greens and reds here.

e not located this photograph on the map as I do not have GPS on my new Canon R5. It was a ver on one of the drives around Senja and we did not get any tour notes. Anyway, it was a grand old with lovely wood textures although I had to clone out a modern padlock on the door as it was out of ng.

was another pit stop on a drive between locations in Senja. We spent a lot of time here in the snow again up to our waist (I exaggerate but not by much) taking photographs of this old house from angle, side and front, close and far. I did not use a tripod, it was not very practicable to do so in the drifts, so I bumped up the ISO and used the lens stabiliser. I worked it up in Lightroom to bring out colour.

is Craggs