Norway & More - What is more?

I am glad you asked, or in this case I am glad you scrolled a bit further! In this "More" section I will be addressing the technicalities of some of my pictures, explaining how they were taken and why I did things the way I did.

& More?

Joh. Sunde. Manufaktur*for*retning

I came across this beautiful lettering on a business facade in Flekkefjord, Norway. In English, the whole lettering would translate to "Joh. Sunde. Manufacturing Business", but what caught my eye the most was the artistry, the texture, the colors, and the contrast in the lettering. So, I photographed it FOR you, FOR someone, FOR anyone you'd like to gift it to, on a greeting card.

Lindesnes Fyr

Our human eyes are simply amazing, they contain photoreceptor cells called "cones" and "rods." Cones are responsible for color vision and need a higher amount of light to function, while rods handle achromatic vision (vision without color) and respond in lower light conditions, like at dusk and dawn. We have about 20 times more rods than cones, and that's the incredible magic of our eyes that allows us to see in reasonably low light at night or, say, at 10:30 PM, in August.

But as you might have guessed, the awesomeness of our vision comes with one limitation: color. We basically lose our perception of color in low light. Think about it: At night, everything mostly turns gray, colors lose their saturation, and only light sources like a lamp or candle, or objects illuminated by strong light, show colors. Digital sensors, however, don't have that color limitation. They can capture colors just fine if enough time is given for proper exposure.

So, for this picture, not only did I ride my bike from the campsite to the lighthouse, but I also brought a tripod along with me to allow my camera enough time to capture the beautiful blue sky (grey to our human eyes at this time of day) in contrast with the strong red colors of the Fyr. This is a picture that will illuminate each "Norway" Calendar.

Cars... Cars... Cars...

A necessary evil? Egoistic machines? Sources of love and dedication? A money pit? A man's second child? A weapon on wheels? Well, I don’t judge your opinion on cars or what you think of them. I’m not here to share my personal opinion on cars either, as this isn’t the place for that. However, I do think that a street full of cars often ruins our photographic endeavors. So what do you do when you spot a nice pair of houses, front-lit with a beautiful mountainous background? Well, you try to hide the cars! Luckily, there was a pipe in front of my subject, and I positioned it just right to hide all the cars behind it.

Now, if there had been only beautiful, artistic cars from the 1960s or older, I wouldn’t have bothered with the pipe. But my wish would have been a street without cars altogether. In any case, this "addition" (or subtraction) to the frame widens the subject and, in my opinion, makes the photograph a tad more interesting.

Red on grey canvas

Norway, a country where even the bike racks seem to scream, "Summer is short, so let's show our colors while we can!" I found these freshly painted bike racks in Bergen while hiking atop one of the famous mountains that surround the city. It was the perfect opportunity to capture how the arches develop in depth throughout the picture. Their vibrant colors and symmetry draw our eyes deeper into the scene. The yellow "spot" in the top right corner serves as a subtle "distraction," leading the eye away from the vibrant colors. With f/8 and my Lens set to 210mm resulted in just the right depth of field to make the top of the first arch be in focus.

Candid of a Goat

At the top of the hike, you're surprised by a couple of goats eager to enjoy the sweat on your skin as if you were a walking lollipop. So, what do you do? Set your camera to 28mm, switch to aperture priority with the trusty "Reporter" aperture of f/8 (set it and forget it), and start clicking away single-handed at the goats! Use your other hand to make sure the goat doesn’t lick your lens. I still smile when I look at this picture, maybe because I remember how happy and relaxed these goats seemed to be.

Frame in a Frame of a Fjord

The frame is carefully cropped, leaving the viewer dreaming about a boathouse at the edge of the fjord and a beautifully colored house nearby, surrounded by a dense forest. Where does your imagination take you when looking at this picture? Mine takes me to peaceful isolation, where nature and quality of life converge.