Tag Archive for: snow

Lofoten Islands Winter Photo Gallery

Lofoten islands winter photo gallery: click here.

In early January I traveled north into the Norwegian arctic in search of the polar night.  At 68 degrees north, I was unfortunately too low and too late for a true polar night, finding only the ‘polar twilight.’  Twilight would begin around 9:30 AM and last until around 3:00, all other hours of the day I would consider to be night and stars were visible.  It was actually far brighter than I was expecting when the sky was clear, the day being essentially a 4 hour long sunrise/sunset all merged into one before the night’s darkness arrived again.  Needless to say, I got a lot of reading done.

Since there are no tourists to the islands at this time of year and no hostels are open I was left to sleep in my (tiny) rental car as best as I could.  Which wasn’t very good.  Only having a 0˚ C sleeping bag and temps down to -7-8˚ C ensured for some cold nights.  I felt like some contortionist trying to fit inside the car to sleep.  I could fold the back seats down, but there was no possible way for me to get even somewhat comfortable.  Better than an airplane seat, yes, but the cold and my lack of a proper sleeping bag would mean that if I didn’t maintain good blood flow to my feet, they would become super cold.  On one of the nights it snowed so much that I could hardly get out of my parking area in the morning.  Only twice did I get the car stuck in the snow.  Once having to track down some dude in a tractor and ask him for a tow.  His comment, “You’re not the first one today.”  Second time a car full of the young guys came along after about an hour and helped push the car out.  I tried to be more cautious after that but still managed a few close calls.

I was fortunate enough for one day of good weather.  The remaining days I would classify a somewhere between bad and ‘I wish I had a warm house to sit in and some decent food to eat and not be stuck in this freezing car being rocked about by the wind and buried under snow.’

Å I lofoten, Lofoten islands, Norway. Winter travel photography

Brecon Beacons Winter Photo Gallery

Pen Y Fan at dawn winter snow, Brecon Beacons, Wales

Brecon Beacons December 2009 photo gallery

I’ve uploaded about 40 new photos so far from the mountains after the snow in December.  I made a few trips up Corn Du and Pen Y Fan and once up Fan Fawr.  Recently added photos appear at the top of the gallery, which I’ll still be adding to during the next weeks as I get more photos processed.  There’s also a few old photos from 2006, you can tell which ones they are as there’s no snow.

Fan Fawr with winter snow, Brecon Beacons national park, Wales

Corn Du – Brecon Beacons

Panoramic landscape photography: Corn Du hidden in clouds, Brecon Beacons, Wales

View from Pen Y Fan of Corn Du partially hidden in Clouds, Brecon Beacons, Wales.  December 21, 2009

Super cold and lots of snow, but the winds were calm. The clouds were slowly blowing over the summits creating total whiteouts with occasional moments of visibility. Would have been easy to get lost if I wasn’t familiar with the area.

Brecon Beacons Winter

We’ve had a fair bit of snow here in the south of Wales (and the UK as a whole, causing quite a bit of chaos) over the last week (snowing right now as well).  My current location is right on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park, so it’s been nice to get up into the hills over the last days.  On Sunday and Monday I was up on Pen Y Fan and Corn Du.  Tuesday was a wonderful day up on Fan Fawr and this morning (Wednesday) was a dawn patrol run up Pen Y Fan and Corn Du again in hopes of a nice sunrise, which never materialized.

Brecon beacons national park winter snow december 2009 Panoramic landscape photo

Panoramic image of view from Pen Y Fan looking towards Cribyn.  Sunday was a day of 50-60  mph winds blasting across the summits and ridges throwing snow everywhere.  A layer of clouds sat about 200 meters above the mountains forming a constantly changing show of light and shadow.  A constant struggle to keep the lens free from spindrift – actually better to keep the lens hood off, as it would create some weird wind vortex that would bring more snow.

Brecon beacons national park winter snow december 2009.  Pen Y Fan in clouds

Pen Y Fan concealed behind clouds as seen from Corn Du.  Monday was a much calmer day with slow moving clouds forming over the summits and then clearing again.

Justadtind

Justadtind, The prominent mountain toward the left of both photos.

Justadtind and mountains of Vestvagoy rise from sea fjord, viewed from near Stamsund, Lofoten islands, Norway

Justadtind and mountains of Vestvagoy rise from sea fjord, viewed from near Stamsund, Lofoten islands, Norway

Storm over Göll Massif

Somewhere beneath the clouds should be Hohes Brett and the southern part of the Göll Massif as seen from Jenner.  I hope to have time to do a multi day through hike over this area in the summer or autumn.

German panoramic stock photo: Winter storm over mountains of Berchtesgaden national park, Bavaria, Germany

3 shot vertical pano with Nikon 85mm tilt-shift lens

Königsee + Snow

While it’s nice to take photos of snow, it’s not so nice to take pictures in snow. Saturday, from the other week down in Berchtesgaden. Didn’t shoot much, as you can see, the visibility wasn’t all that good…

Germany travel stock photo: Winter snowstorm over waters of Koenigsee, Berchtesgaden national park, Germany

Germany travel stock photo: Winter snowstorm over Koenigsee, Berchtesgaden national park, Germany

Schneibsteinhaus – Berchtesgaden

tilt-shift panoramic photography: schneibsteinhaus in winter, Berchtesgaden national park, Germany

Tilt-shift panoramic of Schneibsteinhaus in Berchtesgaden national park as seen from Jenner.

River

Germany travel stock panoramic photo: Snow covered rocks along river, Berchtesgaden, Bavaria

One of those moment’s where you go to take a “quick photo” while the girlfriend waits in the car.  Not paying attention to time, you think you’ve been gone about 10 minutes when you walk back to the car only to be told you’ve been gone for 45 minutes…

Germany travel stock photo: Snow covered rocks along river, Berchtesgaden, Bavaria