ANGELA B. PAN

If you haven’t already, check out the travel guide I created for Norway. It basically lays out everything that we did on the trip including all our stops, hotels, and things I would have done differently. I loved our trip so much that I really felt the need to share all this information with future travelers. So if you know anyone who is planning a trip or wants to go, please share it with them. I know there are things I probably forgot to mention so if you have any questions about anything, please let me know. Otherwise, I envision myself updating the guide as I edit more images or if I can remember some details that I think are important.

This image was taken on Day 5 during “sunset”. I say “sunset” because we really didn’t see much sun while in Norway. It just so happened to be around the sunset time but it was raining. Andrew and I were a bit lost in finding a hiking trail so we decided just to just take some pictures around the Romsdalsfjorden. We pulled over near what looked like some office buildings but found this beautiful dock instead. I immediately hopped out of the car when Andrew said that he would sit this one out. I told him “10 minutes, tops” as I ran over to this scene. I took captured several images but was not happy with them. I felt like there needed to be some kind of foreground element. I ran back to the car and asked Andrew to come up. Being the amazing photo husband he is, he parked the car and came out to stand in the rain. I think adding the human element really made this image stand out. Thanks to him for standing there- but don’t feel bad. He knew what he was getting into when he married me 🙂 HAHA

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/250 ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

As you can tell by now, it’s really rainy in Norway or at least while we were visiting. Way more than I had expected. But in some ways it was a good thing and it definietly did not prevent us from doing anything we would have normally done. I think the clouds and rain brought a certain moodiness to all these images and I’m really liking it. For example, this image that I captured at “sunset” in Sognefjord in Flåm, Norway.

Sognefjord was our first fjord experience while in Norway and I was super pumped to drive up to Stegastein to see it. Stegastein, is this beautiful outlook area where I expected to see tons of people. You drive up this really windy road with the famous Norwegian hairpin turns and at every corner was a beautiful viewpoint. To my huge surprise when we finally reached the top, Andrew and I were the only ones there! No bus full of people or anything. Literally the only car in the entire parking lot. I think all the rain, fog and drizzle chased everyone out. Honestly, there was a moment there where I thought we were in the wrong place because there was no one there. The other people must have found the real Stegastein or something better? Because how could no one be here? *Confused face emoji*

Anyways, it was beautiful and larger than life. It was really cool to see this up high perspective because being down by the water you would have never imagined there were so many layers to it. It may be difficult to see but there’s actually several waterfalls in this image too. I think there’s at least 4 captured. Can you see them?

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 1/320 sec at ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

While exploring the top of Mt Fløyen, Andrew and I ran into some furry friends! If you know me, I get really excited when I see animals especially if I was not expecting to see them at all. I definietly didn’t expect to see goats on the top of a mountain so I was double-ly excited when there were at least 10 of them.

They mostly kept to themselves eating the grass all around the ground so I kneeled down to switch lenses to try to capture them in their own environment. I looked up and I saw this perspective. Granted taking picture of a goat butt isn’t the most glamourous situation but I thought that the framing was really cool. I love how it’s almost like they’re touching but in reality they’re a couple of feet away from each other.

At one point, one of the goats must have thought Andrew was their keeper because he kept on following him around. It was actually kinda funny and a little scary because of those horns. But then when their actual keeper showed up and they all “ran” (as fast as I’ve seen a goat run) to their shelter to eat.

It must have put them in a good mood because after that they were all over the mountain. Some were even knocking horns with each other. I couldn’t really tell if they were playing or actually fighting. Either way, I’m glad me or Andrew weren’t anywhere near them while they were doing that. LOL. So thank you goats for providing even more entertainment while on top of Mt. Fløyen. Not only the views were spectacular but it made the trip even more memorable.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/320 ISO 1250 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

One of the first things we did when we arrived in Norway was head over to the Fløibanen funicular in Bergen. Luckily our hotel was really close by and it was only a 10 minute walk to the station. I was happy to see that we were able to purchase either one way tickets or round trip tickets. Andrew and I decided to do the one way because neither one of us wanted to hike up the mountain but we thought it would be cool to see the views walking down.

Well, it was stunning to stay the least. It was raining on our way up which wasn’t too bad since we were covered by the tram but once we arrived to the top of Mt Fløyen I didn’t even notice the rain anymore. We spent some time walking around the 180 degree semi circle which provided amazing views of Bergen and the surrounding area.

While we were walking down the mountain, the rain was off and on but mostly on. We stood under some trees hoping that the rain would pass quickly but it didn’t. So we just kept it moving. But during the times when the rain was off, the sunlight would come through the clouds and it would create this gorgeous light on the buildings below us. It was like the whole world was glowing. So if you’re ever in Bergen, I’d highly recommend the Fløibanen funicular. It’s a great ride up and an easy walk down. I just hope it won’t be raining like it was when we went.

Quick tip: While walking down Mt Fløyen, I noticed that any scenic view had a bench right by it. It’s like a little sign saying sit down, relax and enjoy the scenery. But it wasn’t just in Bergen that they had that. It was all over Norway. So if you ever had a doubt you would see something nice, look for a bench!

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 1/2000 ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

One of our goals for the trip was to get in a little hiking in while we were in Norway. After our camping adventures in Lake Tahoe, Andrew and I were looking for beautiful scenery but not too strenuous of a hike. Well Ramestreken was half of that. It was one of the best views we saw the entire trip, but the hike was probably one of the hardest I had ever done.

For the most part, our trip was very rainy. It wasn’t consistent rain but it rained everyday. However  the weather gods were in our favor when we woke up on one of the last days of our trip to an amazingly beautiful, sunny morning (it rained in the afternoon). It was meant to be that we planned this hike on one of the best days that we were there because I don’t think it would have been possible to do it in the rain. The whole thing is 550 meters (.35 miles) which doesn’t seem like a long hike at all but it’s straight uphill the entire way! If it were raining it would have been way too muddy and slushy everywhere to even hike up. Some of it was paved, but for the most part you’re walking on tree trunks and dirt. In the image you can see a little piece of the decline. This was when we had already reached the top and we were headed down. This part of the hike had steps which made it a little easier but Andrew isn’t that far ahead of me when I took this image. Seriously, the most vertical hike I’ve ever experienced! We have definietly broken in our hiking shoes this summer.

But the strenuous hike was totally worth the views. I’ll post more about it later but it’s absolutely breathtaking. Highly recommended if you’re willing to test your endurance.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/1000 ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Driving in Norway was an experience all in itself. Initially everything about it seemed pretty normal to me. They drive on the right side of the road, car works the same as they do in America, etc. No big deal. But actually driving in Norway is super different. First road signs are so hard to see. In the cities, Bergen and Ålesund, they were just little signs on the side of a building. I may be getting older but they are so small that you really had to be the first person at the stoplight to see them. Otherwise, we were just guessing if we were turning on the right street or not.

Second, there aren’t many stop lights but there are so many roundabouts. I guess this is there way of making turns easier but we also noticed that not a lot of people don’t use turn signals at these roundabouts either. I swear at one point there was like 3 in a row within 2 miles of each other.

Third, Norway is a very mountainous country. Well, at least on the west coast. So driving up and down these mountains can be a little difficult, especially when you have hairpin turns like this! I showed this image to my brother and he was saying how there’s a lot of car advertisements who film on this road, but I will have to say that this isn’t the only road that’s like there. The whole country is full of them! This is probably just the easiest to capture on camera. While we were driving into Geiranger it was so foggy I could barely see 10 feet ahead of me. It was an experience that would be hard to forget.

My camera settings for this image is F10 at 1/80th of a second at ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.