ANGELA B. PAN

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.

Before leaving Geiranger, Andrew and I decided to go on a 30 minute hike. It wasn’t too far from the cabin where we were staying and an excellent way to get some physical activity in before we got back on the road to our next destination. What started off as just a normal hike along a mountain ended up being one of my favorite memories of the entire trip.

The beginning of the hike started off pretty flat, but that wasn’t going to last long. I could see about half a mile ahead of us, we were about to go up a little hill and turn the corner as soon as we got to the top. So we started our hike with that view just ahead of us. It hadn’t even been 10 minutes into when I saw two ears and a little head pop up from around the corner. OMG was that an alpaca? I turned around to Andrew to see if he saw what I was seeing and he was! Then all of the sudden 2 more heads popped up and I screamed “THERE’S EVEN MORE OF THEM!” I could not contain my excitement. I think in the end there was about 5 or 6 of them. I had my long lens on and captured a few images from a distance but immediately switched to my wide angle. There was no way I was not going to walk closer to them. Can you imagine see a group of alpacas with the Norwegian mountains and fjords as the backdrop? Holy crap my mind was blown.

The rest of the hike was great. More about that later but seriously these alpacas were so cool to see. I’m still smiling ear to ear just thinking about it.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/3200th of a second at ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Have you ever gone on a trip for a week and it seems like you’ve been gone for a month? That’s what I’m feeling now but in the best way possible. I think it feels like we were gone for so long because everyday Andrew and I were in Norway there was something thing new and exciting to do and see. To be honest, I didn’t know much about the country before I left. Now I can’t wait to go back. We only got to see a little portion of the massive country and there’s so much more I need to experience and photograph.

This image was taken on one of our last stops on our road trip around Norway in Ålesund. It was one of our first views of the city and had to immediately pull over. The water was pristine and the reflection was amazing. Andrew and I walked all around this water when we decided we wanted to cross the bridge to see what the view looked like from the other side. I tend to walk slow in general but if I have a camera in my hand, I walk even slower. Andrew, on the hand, walks fast. So it’s not uncommon for him to walk about 10 feet ahead of me whenever we’re going somewhere. I love how it worked out though. The scale of this 6 foot guy compared to this massive mountain makes him look so tiny. Next time I just have to get him to wear a more colorful jacket or something. We both tend to wear dark colors all the time.

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 1/4000th of a second at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

PS If you’re interested in learning more about how I planned the road trip, all our stops, and things I would do again, let me know! I think it would be fun to write a guide to share all my experiences. Plus this was one of the best trips ever and I think a lot of people would enjoy it.

Speaking of Aruba….

For some reason when we flew back from Aruba we had a layover in Newark airport. I’m not sure how that happened but either way, I called window seat! This was my first time ever flying into New York or New Jersey. Usually when we go on the weekends, we’ll just drive. It’s so much easier and were not on anyone’s schedule. Were free as birds to come and go as we please.

As we were landing, I looked out the window and I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped. I was NOT expecting this view. It literally took my breath away. I love seeing familiar scenes from different points of views. So I grabbed my camera as fast as I could and started shooting.

It was in the middle of the day so the lighting wasn’t the best. The buildings looked kind of faded from the sunlight so I as I begun editing this image I thought that converting it into a black and white image would be better. What do you think? It totally reminds me of Jason Peterson’s work, who I love. He has definietly been my favorite black and white photographer and artist for the past few years now. So I was super happy with this when it all came together.

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/640th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens handheld.

In other news, Andrew and I just got back from Norway last night. I’m spending the day working on my images and I can’t wait to share them with you! Norway has got to be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I already want to go back to see more of the country, especially the Lofoten Islands and other places up north.

A little travel flashback to last year in Maine. This was my first time in Maine and loved it. As soon as you stepped off the plane you could just tell that the air was different. I believe the word that I’m looking for is clean…

And I loved how close and convient Portland Head Light was to everything. I don’t remember exactly but it was like a 15-20 minute drive from our hotel and an even easier walk from the parking lot to this vantage point. But if I had my way, I would spend more time in Maine again this fall, especially in Portland. We only got to spend one night there but it was the cutest little town. I definietly did not get to see enough of it. Don’t even get me started on the lobster rolls. I’m pretty sure I had at least one every day that I was there 🙂

But if you have been keeping up with my current travel updates on Instagram stories, you’ll know that Andrew and I are on a ferry back to Bergen before we make the trek back home to Virginia. Planning this trip was fun but it depended a lot on this ferry. It was the only way Andrew and I would have been able to road trip around Norway without having to make a complete circle driving around. This was definietly the easiest and fastest way to do it. Hopefully the fun-ist way to do it too. I was super excited to see the sunrise from the water.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 8 seconds and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens. I did not use a tripod for this image, instead I just held my breath and balanced my camera on top of a rock and hoped it turned out well.

Always looking for new framing ideas, this one was taken right after I finished eating breakfast on the Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino’s private island. Luckily my camera goes everywhere I go while traveling. But the private island is great. It’s just a quick boat ride from our hotel and you could literally spend the whole day here. Theres a great restaurant where they serve you wayyy too much bread and on the other side of the island you can play and interact with flamingos.

Almost immediately after we got off the boat onto the private island, it started to downpour rain. We ran to shelter and figured we would wait it out by eating breakfest. Thank goodness for Caribbean weather because the rain did not last long at all. By the time we ordered our food, the rain had basically stopped. I walked closer to the edge of the restaurant to capture this view. You would never have known that it was raining just by looking at it.

And that hammock looks so inviting.

My girlfriends and I ended up spending all morning here taking a million and one pictures. Sad to see another summer go but summer 2018 was a BLAST. I’m so glad I was able to spend some time out in the sun and on the beach. I feel like it’s been a while since I had taken such a relaxing vacation where most of the day was spent not doing anything at all. So if you’re looking for a great place to visit with great weather, I’d highly recommend Aruba.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/5000th of a second and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens handheld. Shhhh… I didn’t even bring a tripod on this trip 🙂 That’s just how relaxing it was.