End of Lofoten Photo Safari
Today was the last day of my little photo-safari trip with a group of 4 to the Lofoten Islands.
These shots were made during last March and December’s trips. March’s trip had a lot of dramatic snow storms, while December’s trip was calm and serene. This February was a mixture of both, and I felt that I captured a lot more scenes that weren’t presented to me during my last two trips.
We had a terrific time, and the weather really played ball – ranging from still reflections in the Reinevågen fjord over a couple of mornings, to blizzards where we were still out shooting in the most veiled light. It seems, that just about any kind of light here, is good light.
I’d like to say a big thank you to Lilian at the guesthouse ‘det gamle hotellet’ in Reine for our stay. Lilian is an excellent host. Good company which I’m sure everyone on the trip will attest to, as well as a great cook too. Each day we had a really nice breakfast and found all our packed lunches for the day ready to go before we’d even got up from the table.
So I’d like to thank Celena from Australia, Mike from England, Peter from Switzerland and Steve from Canada for coming along on this trip – some of them made some pretty big journeys to join me here. They were very good company, and I had a really nice time too running the trip and showing them some of my favourite locations in Lofoten.
What I really like about your images – both in this set and in your book – is that there is a sense of calm in them. The scenes are peaceful, serene, even when there is inherent tension or chaos in the scene (such as with those rocks and storm clouds in the third image here or the tightrope walker in the book). Very nice.
Comment by Ken — 18 February, 2012 @ 5:18 pm
I am just back from a truly excellent trip with Bruce and other participants to the Lofoten islands. This trip has been my third trip with Bruce, and my first with him outside of Scotland.
These islands are a magical place, with towering mountains rising sharply from the sea, water-swept beaches, ever-changing weather, and dramatic skies. A remote and rugged land, Lofoten in winter makes for a special place to explore and photograph nature.
My trip to Lofoten was my favourite that I have yet taken with Bruce. This is due not only to the special location and its photographic opportunities, but also to Bruce’s gentle and caring manner with his students, and the personalized accommodations and great food served by Lilian at her guest house in Reine.
Comment by Steve N — 19 February, 2012 @ 1:59 pm
I’ll second all Steve’s positive comments above: speaking as someone who’s travelled extensively, Lofoten is a remarkable landscape unlike anything I’ve seen before.
The trip logistics worked very well indeed, with a mixture of spontaneous location choice and an overall plan of the places to go during the week. All of this photographic opportunity was supported very well by Lillian’s excellent hospitality and food and some great conversations and general chat during the day and in the evening.
I recommend Lofoten as a winter photographic destination, and Bruce’s safari, very highly indeed.
Mike
Comment by MikeDGreen — 19 February, 2012 @ 5:33 pm
Steve, Mike, thanks so much for the feedback. I hope your comments encourage others to get in contact with Lilian and her guesthouse in Lofoten – she’s open in the summer months and the place, as you know – is quite unique.
I had a great time too. My ‘workshops’ are very demanding, and I don’t often get to shoot images myself, so it was a very relaxing week for me to do the safari and focus more on getting you guys to good locations for shooting, and do some shooting myself – I felt more engaged in the general chit chat because I was shooting and being part of the trip, rather than being a step back. So I must thank you all for that.
Lofoten is an amazing place, and I felt I made a lot of images this week in very different light and unusual conditions than the other trips I’ve made out here. It just goes to show that a place can take a lot of visits before you feel you’ve exhausted all possibilities.
Thanks once again for coming along, and for taking the mickey out of my Scottishness.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 19 February, 2012 @ 6:13 pm
Dear Ken,
Thanks so much for the very kind comments about my photographs, and your enjoyment of my book. So glad you like the tightrope walker too – she’s one of my favourite images – such a surprising thing to see, and to capture too.
Good wishes to you.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 19 February, 2012 @ 6:29 pm
Hello Bruce – thanks for another outstanding photo course, this time in the shape of a “safari” meaning we were let off the chain and sent out to photograph all day, largely omitting theory sessions and critiques, which was fine because all participants were advanced photographers. Thanks to your personal connections and knowledge of the area, we had excellent accomodation, transportation and – above all – access to many great locations to shoot, which made for a very dense and productive week yielding many photographs. The quickly changing weather offered everything from snowshowers to sunshine, so we caught many interesting moods and landscapes, Aurora borealis included. I had a great time in the company of my fellow photographers and heartily recommend Bruce’s photo courses and safaris to every aspiring photographer.
Comment by pboehi — 20 February, 2012 @ 8:24 am
Hi Peter,
Many thanks for contributing to this post about your experiences of the trip. I was keen to call these trips ’sarafis’, because they focus less on technique than my usual workshops, but give people more time each day to make photos. Perhaps ‘photo holiday’ is a better description, I don’t know.
But so glad that you enjoyed the trip. It was a lot of fun for me also, and so nice to do my first lofoten trip with such a nice group, and one where I knew most of the participants beforehand.
I look forward to seeing everyone’s images over the coming weeks. I’m still in Lofoten right now, and will be home on Tuesday. My internet connection is not so great, so it makes viewing anything pretty difficult right now.
Thanks once again for coming!
Comment by Bruce Percy — 20 February, 2012 @ 9:24 am
Hi Bruce,
I would just like to second all of Peter’s, Stephen’s and Mike’s positive comments. This is my first trip with you and its been one of the best photographic trips I have taken so far. Thank you for your patience, constructive comments and sharing your knowledge; I also really enjoyed the critique session that we had whilst waiting for the weather to clear – learnt alot about composition from you that session. I look forward to visit Scotland to do one of your other workshops :)
The one other thing that I really enjoyed about the Safari was the small group size and that everyone got along and was great company.
Lofoten is an amazing place with lots of incredible locations to shoot of which you seem to have an intimate knowledge of. The light and landscapes were just amazing!! Seeing the Aurora Borealis on Tues night was a bonus as well – have been “chasing” it in Tromso for the last four nights, and have seen nothing of its equal yet.
Accommodation and food was fantastic as well.
I had a really great time and would heartily recommend Bruce’s Safari in Lofoten.
Comment by celena — 23 February, 2012 @ 1:55 pm
Thanks Celena,
I’m literally just in the door, got the heating switched off (have loft insulation now!. Thanks for your kind comments. Come on a workshop some time – you’ll learn loads :-)
Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Comment by Bruce Percy — 23 February, 2012 @ 1:58 pm