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Author: Hanneke

I started my first blog when I left the Netherlands (my home country) for an internship in Alaska in 2004, to keep my friends and family updated on my adventures over there. Little did I know it would be more than 13 years before I'd move back to the Netherlands! I spent a year in Toulouse (France) before starting a PhD in meteorology at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK) in 2005. That's when I started this current blog, first in Dutch but I soon switched to English. I really enjoyed life in the UK, and was actually planning to stay there after my PhD, but "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" and I ended up moving to Tromsø in Northern Norway in 2009. Tromsø is a photographer's dream, surrounded by spectacular mountains, with the light ever changing from the midnight sun in summer to the dark days compensated by aurora-filled nights in winter. I learnt Norwegian and got a job as a weather forecaster - I got thrown in at the deep end, doing radio interviews and speaking with fishermen with way-too-strong dialects straight from the beginning, before I was anywhere near fluent in Norwegian :D I survived though, and slowly started to do some research on the side. I got more and more involved in research projects and in August 2015 I moved 2000 km south, to Oslo where I started working 100% as a researcher. A year after moving to Oslo, I met Michiel at a music festival in Brussels :) and we started to travel very frequently between Oslo and Rotterdam, where he lives. You can't do that forever though, and I soon realized I found the perfect "excuse" to finally move back home, something I had been considering many times before. So since July 2017, I'm living in Rotterdam! I'm actually taking some time off before finding a new job, and I'm looking forward to lots of adventures in the near future - so stay tuned!
Brosmetinden Panorama's

Brosmetinden Panorama's

Last Saturday the weather was very nice, and I was keen to go out and take photos. I had a late start, so I decided on an easy mountain: Brosmetinden near Rekvik, 525 m high but you can start from the parking lot on the highest point of the road which is at 280 m 🙂 From the parking lot, the view of Storstolpan in the sun was quite spectacular! I took me about 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach the top, at some point I was worried I wouldn’t make it before sunset 😉 but I still couldn’t stop myself from taking photos along the way.

Storstolpan in the sun - spectacular! Looking back, the setting sun was painting the mountains yellow

I reached the top just in time, the colours were amazingly rich and the snow turned pink 🙂 Beautiful! I stopped at the first peak, and carefully moved around the edge – it drops down straight to sea level on that side. For the first time ever I had brought my tripod and filters to the top, and it was well worth it.

The sunset seen from the top of Brosmetinden - everything turned pink! Looking the other way, towards the second top of Brosmetinden with Sørtinden (724m) behind it, and way down the village of Tromvik

The last sun painted the mountain tops pink, and after it was gone the it turned the clouds pink and purple…

The last sun on the mountain peaks, Storstolpan on the right and I believe Hollanderen to the left The colours in the sky turned even richer after the sun had set

One last look towards Tromvik and Ramnafjellet (another mountain on my “wish list”), before it was time to go down again.

Looking towards Tromvik and Ramnafjellet

I made it back to the car before it really got dark. What a perfect little trip! 🙂

Aurora over Hamna

Aurora over Hamna

Last Friday I was invited for very tasty snert at Eelke and Roy’s. It was a clear night, and the aurora forecast was looking good, so I brought my camera and tripod along – just in case 😉 And yes, after dinner the auroras were dancing and we decided to go for a walk near their house. The first photo was taken from a nearby (frozen) lake, the snow was so deep there that we didn’t venture very far! The second photo is taken from a nice lookout over Hamna, a neighbourhood in Tromsø.

Aurora over a frozen lake Aurora over Hamna, Tromsø

I also took this panorama (consisting of 2 images) of the impressive northern lights over Hamna…

A panorama of the northern lights over Hamna, Tromsø

After a while, the activity decreased and we went back for a nice cup of hot chocolate 🙂

Aurora & Bioluminescent Organisms

Aurora & Bioluminescent Organisms

Last Wednesday we had a very clear night in Tromsø, and I was hoping the northern lights would show up. The activity was very low though, so when it got late at night I gave up hope. But just before midnight, they showed up after all. I jumped in the car and drove to a nearby small lighthouse. A very nice foreground for photos, next time I have to bring someone who can climb the ladder and stand on top! I tried with the self-timer, but climbing the icy ladders with my big Arctic boots – and in a hurry – was just a bit too scary.

After a while, I suddenly noticed glimpse of blue lights in the water. Bioluminescent organisms! My knowledge of biology is very poor, so I have no idea whether this is plankton or something else, but it’s so pretty. I have seen it once before in Tromsø, but I didn’t manage to get a picture of it then.

A glimpse of the sunset through the snow showers A very colourful sky - this is one of the first image of the time lapse

It was magical to have the northern lights dancing above, and little blue lights below 🙂

A glimpse of the sunset through the snow showers A very colourful sky - this is one of the first image of the time lapse

The aurora wasn’t very spectacular, but every now and then it flared up a bit…

A glimpse of the sunset through the snow showers A very colourful sky - this is one of the first image of the time lapse

After an hour at the beach, the lights got weaker and I got colder, and it was time to go home 🙂