"A man is a very small thing, and the night is very large and full of wonders." -Lord Dunzany

Everyday Life

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Evensong for the Fjord

I am crazy busy!

Therefore I have a question for your readers: Would you rather have me post photos without all the texts and explanations (which takes a lot of time to write), rather than no photo at all?

Here is one from yesterday! Please enjoy! And you make med extremely happy every time you hit the Like-button!

Evensong for The Fjord

Evensong for The Fjord – this is how dark it gets here in the Arctic Region of Narvik right now. Photo taken on May 19. 2013 at 11:34 pm


Preparing for the 17th of May

I’ve met some nice people today. Especially Senior Advisor at Apple in Ireland Samantha and Netflix-supporter Audrey from Denver, Colorado, USA. Such nice people to speak/chat with. They make you feel right at home. Service minded and professionals and really astute at their field of work. It makes me no less than happy to meet people like that, so hello to Samantha and Audrey and a big thank you for all your kind help and great service!

The day today has otherwise stressing. It is the day before our constitution day – May 17. – so, along with a long list with pressing tasks on my to-do-list, we’ve shopped for tomorrow in the absolute frenzy today.

Just popped out to draw some fresh air and shoot a quick shot of the current weather today, but back to the last piece of work that needs wrapping up!

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Night-time Sun Rise

The Midnight Sun is almost here in Narvik – a arctic city well above The Arctic Circle. Now the sun barely dips below the horizon now. I shot this photo after a hard night working on the Århus Kræmmermarked® homepage way south, in Denmark, actually. I have to constantly update this page these days, since we are in the middle of the four days of market, working for free and earning a lot of money for our Lions Clubs aid projects. Anyway, time to get to bed. Just wanted to share this photo with you!

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Young Female Moose

Young Female Moose trimming the tree buds in between the houses

Young Female Moose trimming the tree buds in between the houses today


Shooting Moose

That's close enough mate! Neighbor taking a close-up of the local moose

That’s close enough mate! Neighbor taking a close-up of the local moose

This young Moose (Alces alces) female is wandering around in the area, mostly trimming the wild tree buds – but occasionally also helping herself to some of the more exotic and delicious shrubs in the gardens around here. And she isn’t very much afraid. In fact, one of the neighbors came driving home today, but she wouldn’t move, so he had to park down by the road and take a detour to get up to his house. The other neighbor wanted to take a close up, and walked near enough for her to raise her leg in warning that he was close enough. One shouldn’t be afraid of these animals – but they demand to be respected and kept at a distance. A kick from the fore legs can easily be deadly. Usually they don’t attack, unless you startle them, come between a cow and her calves or are perceived as a challenge from one of the bulls during mating season.

The Norwegian female Moose is usually between 180 and 210 centimeters tall (shoulder height) and weighs between 200 and 400 kg. The bull is about 190 and 220 centimeters and weighs 200 to 600 kg.

Their fantastic ability to digest cellulose through an intricate system of bowl enzymes has been studied so that the same enzymes could be used to produce sustainable biofuels from wood.


Very Early Morning Light

The Midnight Sun is just around the corner. I shot this photo at 3:37 am (+1 DST) last night. The sun briefly dips below the horizon now – before it rises again. Soon it will be shining through the living room windows at midnight.

The Midnight Sun is not far away now

The Midnight Sun is not far away now


Sleepless in Narvik

I suffer from insomnia due to chronic pain. That is most times a disadvantage – but not always. Walking around at night trying to concentrate the pain away mentally sometimes make me grab my camera to find a moment of Photo Zen… A couple of nights ago I captured this photo of Narvik and the newly installed light-show on the new hotel downtown. I posted it in the local Facebook-group Narvik før og nå (Narvik in the past and now, loosely translated). It gained a quite surprising and enormous popularity, so I thought that would be a good cherry picked candidate for my blog. Here it is! Enjoy!

Sleepless in Narvik - The newly installed light show on the new hotel downtown reflects in the harbor basin.

Sleepless in Narvik – The newly installed light show on the new hotel downtown reflects in the harbor basin.


The waneing sun

The days are rapidly getting shorter. Geographically the sun should disappear on November 22. But because of the mountains, the sun disappears a few days earlier. Geographically the sun reappears the February 6., but again because of the mountains the actual observation of the sun is a few days later.

In between these dates it is dark here. Around Christmas it is just a faint dusky light around noon, the rest of the 22 hours of the day it is dark. Pitch dark – as in the middle of the night. It is the dark season. But this time of year makes it even more cozy with lights, especially candle lights. AND it is the season of Northern Lights! During summer, the midnight sun lights up the sky day and night, thus drowning the faint light from the Northern Light. In the winter-time it is the other way around!

Even now the sun is setting early. This photo of reflections in the snow-covered mountains from sunset was taken 15:58 today.

Reflections from the sunset on snow covered mountains today

Reflections from the sunset on snow-covered mountains today


Winter is here!

Winter is here. I defied my crippling back pain and went out to shoot a few photos. Enjoy!

Snow showers coming in the Ofoten Fjord - Eibhlin of Panama is being loaded at pier 5

Snow showers coming in the Ofoten Fjord – Eibhlin of Panama is being loaded at pier 5

A tiny waterfall on Ankenes freezing up

A tiny waterfall on Ankenes freezing up

Beisfjord and the mountain Beisfjordtøtta farthest away in between the snow showers

Beisfjord and the mountain Beisfjordtøtta farthest away in between the snow showers

The alpine slope on Ankenes needs a little bit more snow to be in service

The alpine slope on Ankenes needs a little bit more snow to be in service

 

 

 


Northern Lights Alert

…well it isn’t – Northern Lights Alert, that is.. But as you can see from this image shot and hour ago, the conditions are clear, and even though the statistics for aurora tonight (se graphic to the right) isn’t way up in the red end of the scale – I’m hoping to see and maybe shoot a photo of the first aurora this fall.

Clear skies tonight - hoping for aurora

Clear skies tonight – hoping for aurora


Silent Night by the Fjord

Shot this composite last night. The growth of forest here on Ankenes is tremendous, but not many seems to care. Thus just popping out to get a shot of the beautiful scenery gets harder and harder due to obstruction of trees.

Anyway, was about to go to bed, when very calm water in Narvik harbor basin lured me with its beautiful reflections to set up my tripod and take a few shots. Unfortunately, a lot of the view is now totally obscured by the trees growing ever bigger around here.

Panorama of a calm Narvik Harbor Basin (please, click on the picture to see the full size)

Panorama of a calm Narvik Harbor Basin (please, click on the picture to see the full size)


This nights tranquility by the Ofoten Fjord

This nights tranquility by the Ofoten Fjord

This nights tranquility by the Ofoten Fjord


Evensong by the Fjord

Jeg har plassert min blogg i Narviknorske bloggkart!