2017: Dovrefjell and Forollhogna
This time I packed my bags to go to Norway !
Arrangements were made to photograph the Muskoxen in Dovrefjell and the wild Reindeer in Forollhogna.
The guide for this trip was Floris Smeets who is a very driven and experienced person, he did great job so cheers Floris !
A few hours after my arrival I could stretch my legs in Rondane, this is a lovely place to photograph landscapes.
It was in my opinion, a wonderful introduction to the beauty of the Norwegian nature.
Arrangements were made to photograph the Muskoxen in Dovrefjell and the wild Reindeer in Forollhogna.
The guide for this trip was Floris Smeets who is a very driven and experienced person, he did great job so cheers Floris !
A few hours after my arrival I could stretch my legs in Rondane, this is a lovely place to photograph landscapes.
It was in my opinion, a wonderful introduction to the beauty of the Norwegian nature.
After our visit to Rondane we continued our journey towards Dovrefjell where we would spend our next three days.
There are about three hondred Muskoxen in Dovrefjell which covers an area of 1700 square kilometres.
So, what you need in order to find them are a good guide, a pair of binoculars, good hiking boots and a decent physique.
Hiking in Dovrefjell in order to find a Muskox, will take you through beautiful scenery, especially when everything is dyed
in stunning Autumn colours.
During our stay we were lucky to find a family of Muskoxen in misty conditions, they were feeding and resting close to a ridge.
These were perfect conditions and create a mystical mood.
There are about three hondred Muskoxen in Dovrefjell which covers an area of 1700 square kilometres.
So, what you need in order to find them are a good guide, a pair of binoculars, good hiking boots and a decent physique.
Hiking in Dovrefjell in order to find a Muskox, will take you through beautiful scenery, especially when everything is dyed
in stunning Autumn colours.
During our stay we were lucky to find a family of Muskoxen in misty conditions, they were feeding and resting close to a ridge.
These were perfect conditions and create a mystical mood.
After spending some days in Dovrefjell we drove to Forollhogna National Park in order to photograph the rut of wild Reindeer.
This takes us from the taiga to the tundra, a huge part of Forollhogna is covered in reindeer moss. This national park is very open and
hilly, so no need to say you also have to grab for your comfy hiking boots and some camouflage clothing because these reindeer can act very shy when they encounter a human being.
Spotting them was not the easiest thing in the world, but once again thanks to Floris' keen eyesight and knowledge we managed.
Guess the images speak for themselves.
This takes us from the taiga to the tundra, a huge part of Forollhogna is covered in reindeer moss. This national park is very open and
hilly, so no need to say you also have to grab for your comfy hiking boots and some camouflage clothing because these reindeer can act very shy when they encounter a human being.
Spotting them was not the easiest thing in the world, but once again thanks to Floris' keen eyesight and knowledge we managed.
Guess the images speak for themselves.
I would like to end this trip report by thanking Floris Smeets who did a great job on spotting the animal and was a great host aswell.
Besides Floris I also would like to thank Gertjan Onvlee, who was my fellow photographer during that week. Thanks for the great times and laughs !
Cheers guys !!!
Besides Floris I also would like to thank Gertjan Onvlee, who was my fellow photographer during that week. Thanks for the great times and laughs !
Cheers guys !!!
2015: Great grey owls in finnish lapland
I would like to start of with a huge thank you to Finnature for inviting me over this time.
After having spent a very nice week in the Kuusamo region last year, I still wanted to go back in order to photograph the Great Grey Owl.
This bird is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful animals on earth !
Once I received Finnature's newsletter with the promising news of hunting Great Greys and when I got the days off at work I decided to take part on their photography workshop at the first week of March.
I didn't have to wait that long to see my first Great Grey Owl. The first individuel was hunting very actively and ended up sitting on the snow only
a few metres in front of me !
This experience only whetted my appetite for more … and there was plenty more to come.
The next day we found a tame Great Grey on the edge of a field, it was sitting on a branch near the tree trunk, almost invisible to spot with the naked eye
even a pair of binoculars didn't do the job. Their camouflage is so good.
It was Bart who found it with his FLIR (a thermal imaging camera), thanks mate !
This bird was not scared of a bunch photographers aiming their big lenses on it, we all walked away with a set of great pictures.
During the rest of the week we also visited a Hawk Owl, Dipper and Siberian Jay site and we even photographed in Hannu Hautala's garden.
Since I had already been there I knew what to expect and had some pictures in mind which I was dead set on getting.
I'm fond of taking pictures which show the animal in its typical habitat, so those were the type of shots I went for.
On the final day, our guide Antti Vierrima received a text message from Antti Peuna (another Finnature guide) the latter one had found a co-operative Great Grey, this bird had already taken two voles. This sounded like music to our ears so off we went.
This Great Grey Owl put on a fantastic show, it was the icing on our already fat cake.
All of this took place during the last two hours of our last day ! It was like watching a BBC documentary live in the field.
What a week ! Great experience ! Tons of great pictures !
Thanks to Antti for your patience and guidance.
Thanks to Marco, Weng, Tony, Mike and Bart for the good times !
btw: Mike, I was knackered at the end of the week, it was cold and walking through the snow was quite a workout. It didn't feel like a holiday at all, nevertheless it was a succesful trip though ;-)
And Mike, if you ever need assistance to make a decent trail in the snow to photograph Snowy Owls ... count me in then !
Some useful links:
www.finnature.com
www.mikedeverell.com
www.roelofmolenaar.nl
After having spent a very nice week in the Kuusamo region last year, I still wanted to go back in order to photograph the Great Grey Owl.
This bird is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful animals on earth !
Once I received Finnature's newsletter with the promising news of hunting Great Greys and when I got the days off at work I decided to take part on their photography workshop at the first week of March.
I didn't have to wait that long to see my first Great Grey Owl. The first individuel was hunting very actively and ended up sitting on the snow only
a few metres in front of me !
This experience only whetted my appetite for more … and there was plenty more to come.
The next day we found a tame Great Grey on the edge of a field, it was sitting on a branch near the tree trunk, almost invisible to spot with the naked eye
even a pair of binoculars didn't do the job. Their camouflage is so good.
It was Bart who found it with his FLIR (a thermal imaging camera), thanks mate !
This bird was not scared of a bunch photographers aiming their big lenses on it, we all walked away with a set of great pictures.
During the rest of the week we also visited a Hawk Owl, Dipper and Siberian Jay site and we even photographed in Hannu Hautala's garden.
Since I had already been there I knew what to expect and had some pictures in mind which I was dead set on getting.
I'm fond of taking pictures which show the animal in its typical habitat, so those were the type of shots I went for.
On the final day, our guide Antti Vierrima received a text message from Antti Peuna (another Finnature guide) the latter one had found a co-operative Great Grey, this bird had already taken two voles. This sounded like music to our ears so off we went.
This Great Grey Owl put on a fantastic show, it was the icing on our already fat cake.
All of this took place during the last two hours of our last day ! It was like watching a BBC documentary live in the field.
What a week ! Great experience ! Tons of great pictures !
Thanks to Antti for your patience and guidance.
Thanks to Marco, Weng, Tony, Mike and Bart for the good times !
btw: Mike, I was knackered at the end of the week, it was cold and walking through the snow was quite a workout. It didn't feel like a holiday at all, nevertheless it was a succesful trip though ;-)
And Mike, if you ever need assistance to make a decent trail in the snow to photograph Snowy Owls ... count me in then !
Some useful links:
www.finnature.com
www.mikedeverell.com
www.roelofmolenaar.nl
2014: Birding in Finnish Lapland
Last February 2014, my interest took me to Finland once again.
This trip however was a birding trip; I wanted to see and photograph the Great Grey Owl in its snow covered environment.
Unfortunelaty, due to the mild winter the Great Greys were not forced to hunt in the open fields.
They turned back into the huge forests, called "No Man's Land".
This unbroken chain of forests stretches out over more than 11000 kilometres around our planet and contain a third of all the trees on earth,
together they make up the taiga..
Luckily, I was able to photograph other birds like, Dippers, Siberian Jays, Yellowhammers and a Hawk Owl.
I would like to thank the people of Finnature; Leena, the two Antti's and the two Olli's for all the arrangements, guidance and for the customer service afterwards as well ! A huge THANK YOU !!!
But I would also like to thank Thomas Gröbel and Micheal Löhmann for the good times and laughs ! Take care guys.
More information can be found on http://www.finnature.com/
This trip however was a birding trip; I wanted to see and photograph the Great Grey Owl in its snow covered environment.
Unfortunelaty, due to the mild winter the Great Greys were not forced to hunt in the open fields.
They turned back into the huge forests, called "No Man's Land".
This unbroken chain of forests stretches out over more than 11000 kilometres around our planet and contain a third of all the trees on earth,
together they make up the taiga..
Luckily, I was able to photograph other birds like, Dippers, Siberian Jays, Yellowhammers and a Hawk Owl.
I would like to thank the people of Finnature; Leena, the two Antti's and the two Olli's for all the arrangements, guidance and for the customer service afterwards as well ! A huge THANK YOU !!!
But I would also like to thank Thomas Gröbel and Micheal Löhmann for the good times and laughs ! Take care guys.
More information can be found on http://www.finnature.com/
2012: Five days in a swedish boreal forest (conny lundstrom's hide)
In December 2012, I went to the North of Sweden to Conny Lundstrom's.
My main goal was to photograph the Golden Eagle and other singing birds in harsh winter conditions.
I spent 5 days in a comfy hide which was nice and warm thanks to a wood-burning stove which was also a great toaster by the way.
The outside temperatures were between -8 and -25 degrees celsius..
I really like those cold winter conditions, it gives an extra touch to your images and shows the extreme conditions the animals have to cope with.
More information can be found on http://www.connylundstrom.com/en/
My main goal was to photograph the Golden Eagle and other singing birds in harsh winter conditions.
I spent 5 days in a comfy hide which was nice and warm thanks to a wood-burning stove which was also a great toaster by the way.
The outside temperatures were between -8 and -25 degrees celsius..
I really like those cold winter conditions, it gives an extra touch to your images and shows the extreme conditions the animals have to cope with.
More information can be found on http://www.connylundstrom.com/en/
2010: Finland - Seven nights in the Finnish Taiga.
Finland 2010, That is when I made my first photo trip to one of the Scandinavian countries.
Finland has some fantastic regions to photograph the European Brown Bear, I chose to go to Martinselkonen.
This is in the East of Finland very close to the Russian border.
I spent 7 nights in varies hides on three different locations; you have the pond, forest and swamp site.
I shot all pictures with full frame cameras on a 300 and 500mm tele photo lens.
Further information can be found on: http://www.martinselkonen.fi/index.php?id=1&la=en
Finland has some fantastic regions to photograph the European Brown Bear, I chose to go to Martinselkonen.
This is in the East of Finland very close to the Russian border.
I spent 7 nights in varies hides on three different locations; you have the pond, forest and swamp site.
I shot all pictures with full frame cameras on a 300 and 500mm tele photo lens.
Further information can be found on: http://www.martinselkonen.fi/index.php?id=1&la=en
This video has been made by a good friend of mine, Bart Goossens, who was my partner in crime during this trip.
Many thanks for this great video Bart !!!
Many thanks for this great video Bart !!!