Ice is one of the things that define the Arctic. Unfortunately the amount of ice in the Arctic is decreasing for each year that passes, and the rate which it is disappearing is self nurturing. Photographing ice can be interesting and fun, and as sad as it is – as a result of the heated Arctic, icebergs from glaciers floating around in the fjords of Svalbard is more common and ice photographing has become easier. It is sad to realize that it might just be some decades before all the ice is gone. The walrus is another icon of the Arctic, and it is becoming a more frequent sight along the shores of Svalbard. Sometimes they are very curious, as the ones that approached our boat in anchorage position during fieldwork and held us in company during our dinner. They can be a bit too curious for comfort sometimes – especially for our small zodiac boats, and we literally had to push them away with a paddle. December is quite challenging for a wildlife photographer from the north, but this darker period of the year also produces some of the most magic light settings on offer – so as always - it’s just to be out there at the right moment! Because thats what nature photography is all about – catching moments!

08 November 2009

Here are some images from my Arctic fieldwork this summer. I spent a night together with some harbour seals. These seals are quite rare on Svalbard, and contrary to the mainland, there is no hunting on them here. They are therefore very cooperative, and possible to get lots of nice photos of. It is actually a bit sad to think about how many fantastic nature experiences people misses all over the world, just because a strong hunting pressure on the species has made them very shy. On the mainland Norway its difficult to get within 100 meters from a harbour seal – at Svalbard – they swim straight towards you and check you out from a few meters distance! I am still working with trying to include landscape in my shots – something I hope the wideangle shots will help me to manage. This time, I even try to show you how it might feel to be attacked by a polarbear…..

11 October 2009

More images from the spring. Since last time, I have been busy doing seabird counts on open sea. During the dark hours of the night I spent lots of time in front of the computer editing the summer’s work. One of the most special things you can experience in the Scandinavian nature is the great snipe lek. Maybe not so famous as the capercaillie and the black grouse, but that’s because these birds are very rare and very few people know where to find it. Usually only nocturnal lekking, but on my local spot, the birds starts unusually early and come out already before sunset. Something which make you get the full range of the nice evening light. Another of my favourites in the bird world, is the hawk owl. I am usually very careful and rarely do nest photography, but this spring I have been working a lot with hawk owls and followed two families from early spring to the end of breeding. Its nice to see that they stopped taking notice of me just a few minutes after putting up my hide, and in my mind extremely little disturbance was made to the birds while making these stunning family life shots. Altogether, this update shows you three very characteristic species from the Norwegian mountains, from spectacular colours in the bluethroat via the mystery of great snipe to the brutality of the hawk owl feeding its young with small thrushes.

10th September 2009

Even though its autumn, I show you some of the work I did during spring. As I mentioned last time – this spring I finally had time to catch up with some species I haven’t had time to do justice earlier. One of the most characteristic species in the Norwegian mountains is the bluethroat. It arrives to breeding sites in mid May, and this is the first year I had a few days available to visit this colourful bird. Every year, we see more and more cranes, and new breeding sites are discovered every year. In a time where most of the world’s species struggle to keep population size up, it is very nice to see an exception in the rule. Even though the cranes are increasing in numbers – it doesn’t mean that it getting less shy of people. Close ups are still needed in my archive. June and July was again spent in the high Arctic doing research fieldwork on seabirds without time or possibility to access internet. The last days has been intensive work in front of the pc to edit and promote my images – so hopefully the next update will follow shortly with some news from my wonderful arctic summer.

4th May 2009

Even though Ive been out almost every day, not too much quality photography has been done. Been a bit busy with finding myself a new home, and I finally settled down in a nice place with possibilities for shooting some waterbirds from the garden. Highlights the last month was a short birding trip to the Arabian desert (United Arab Emirates) where we had some good birding with rare birds like the crab plover showing well. Back home. A very pleasant surprise was that, despite a terribly bad rodent year in Southern Norway, two Great grey owls is hunting not far from my hometown. This owl is my absolute favourite bird species in the world, and I hope my images manage to do justice to this fantastic bird. Hopefully I manage to be more active with the camera and do better, so the next update will come shortly. After some north easterly cold wind, spring has now finally arrived in Norway and one should really spend every single minute outside - not in front of the computer! Have a nice trip :-)

28th February 2009

Since last time, I have been busy both with my own photography, and to use my expert local knowledge of Norwegian wildlife for guiding a large tv-production about Nordic nature. I've also had several publications of my own images both internationally and in Norway. In other words things are going well business wise, and I will return to my former base in Trondheim to do more local stuff. I also look forward to hook up with old friends. New images have also been produced with finally catching up with long-eared owls on a day roost. As usual for this species, they are not often sitting out in the open during daytime. Therefore I also show you a flight shot I took years ago, which actually was one of the very first images I shot digitally and which is helping me to get my "Nordic owl collection" more complete. Another visit to the eagle hide one day, made me get the opportunity to photograph three species of birds of prey in just 1,5 hours! Last but not least, I finally resolved the secret of an extremely shy kingfisher, which is something of a local rarity where I live. Using my hide, I spent 4 hours with this exotic bird while it was fishing just a few meters in front of me. Light conditions were not ideal unfortunately, but lots of fun anyway!

28th January 2009

Here is a long overdue update in the most challenging period for a photographer living in the north. Light is a very limited resource these days, and as a consequence, I tried doing some "movement" photography of hawks and eagles with high iso and shutterspeed as slow as 1/15 second. I must be honest, even though this type of photography has been done a million times and chances of getting very interesting images are very slim, there is a huge thrill sitting in front of a white-tailed eagle feeding calmly just 5 meters away from you. Two fighting northern goshawks one evening, makes you feel privileged to get a peak into every day life of these extremely shy birds. It makes the waiting well worth the effort. Some people claim that this type of photography can be compared with photographing in zoos or captive birds. The birds visiting these hides are however free to fly whenever they want, and some days they don't even visit the bait. This is their natural way of living - searching for carcasses in their territory. As far as I am concerned - the only difference about these birds compared to other wild birds of prey is that with the aid of a hide and bait, we actually get a chance to witness their natural behaviour at close range without disturbing them.