Friday 11 October 2019

Today I had the scariest shoot I’ve ever had. I’d seen a particular location I wanted to try and photograph some time ago and I found it this morning. The light wasn’t perfect (is it ever!) but I thought it would be worth a picture.  There was one small problem. To get the right angle requires the photographer to set up the camera on the edge of a 1000+ feet high cliff. Anyway carrying my full photo rucksack and tripod I made my way to the point I needed to be.  That was fine until I discovered that I suffer from vertigo quite badly. I have never moved so slowly and deliberately in my life. I was on all fours because I just couldn’t bring myself to stand up. So it took me about 15 minutes to just get into position and set the tripod up then attach the camera with the appropriate lens. 

All in all, it took me around 30 minutes to get the image I wanted. I was glad to get back to a safe place, even if I did have to crawl. I hope you like the photograph. I’m very pleased with it, but I’ll be staying away from cliffs in future.

I went into Geiranger to try one of CafeOle’s superb home baked cinnamon buns again because I reckoned I deserved it, but when I got there just after 10am the cafe was still closed so I went back up above the village and took the pathway down the side of the Storesfossen waterfall and got some photos. The pathway takes you back down into Geiranger so once again I called round to the CafeOle that I was happy to see was now open!

As I walked through the door the owner greeted me with a smile and asked me which of her freshly baked cinnamon buns I would like? I chose one and got myself a coffee and after a chat I went and sat by the window to watch the passers by outside. 

It didn’t take long to finish my delicious treat and I said my goodbyes to the owner and left to return to the Silver Fox. 

I drove over the mountains south along route 63 eventually joining the E15.

In the mountains I’d noticed icicles on the rock face creating really interesting patterns at the side of the road. I decided to turn around and go and photograph them, well it had to be safer than 1000′ cliffs!

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I joined the E15 and headed towards Stryn and as I dropped into the valley and lower ground, once again I was overwhelmed by the colour of the birch trees that lined the road and the mountain sides. They were so vivid. Stunning.

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I continued and pulled into a rest area at Stryn with good facilities and set up the van for the night. I was tired, having driven quite a way from Geiranger. Tea time, a bit of editing and blogging and time for bed!