Roadtrip in the summer - Day 2

The day started at around 6 a.m. for me. The sun had barely begun to appear over the distant mountaintops at Halne. But the light was magical, but not yet good for photography, as my position gave little to any good vistas. I quickly packed the car and got in to drive to Dyranut Fjellstove for some coffee, as I had forgotten to bring alcohol fuel for my camping stove. As I drove further west along riksvei 7, the light got better and better. At Dyranut I got the chance for some good shots of some landscapes with some grazing horses in.

At Dyranut I finally got hold of a cup of coffee. Oh the joy! What a wonder a cup of coffee does in the morning.

After the stop at Dyranut, the trip went further along riksvei 7 to Vøringsfossen for some more shots. Along the road one had the chance to really enjoy the landscape in the morning light. As I came to the top of Vøringsfossen by the Fossli Hotel, the last light of morning was still giving its last rays.

Further along the road

Stunning landscape and a mighty vista. Måbødalen and Vøringsfossen is a grand view that one should experience. From Fossli hotel I travelled further down the valley to Eidfjord and further on to Odda. The morning light was gone, and even though the sky was clouded the light was too harsh. Well, well, it made little difference as the majestic Hardangerfjord and its landscape is drug for the eyes. Just breathtaking! The fruit orchards along the fjord were in full blossom. Fruit stands along the road selling their own crop.

The road took me further to Odda at the head of Sørfjorden. As I drove toward the 11,1 km long tunnel that connects Odda with Kvinnherad municipality, it struck me that this place must have been the inspiration for the Tiedemand and Gude painting “Bridal procession in Hardanger“, the famous norwegian national romantic painting. It was the green waters of Odda and the mountains that got me the idea.

The old barony at Rosendal

From Odda, the trip went to the pearl of Kvinnherad; Rosendal and especially the barony of Rosenthal. An old 17 th. century manor house with a renaissance garden squeezed in between the mountainside of the fjord. The barony of Rosenthal is today a museum that shows life at the little castle on the hillside in fjord.

I had visited Rosendal, the barony and Kvinnherad church last summer. On that trip I captured some images but I didn’t quite get the images that I wanted. This year I got some shots from both the garden at barony (the depicted spot is my personal favourite), the mountain around the barony, and the old church that worked better.

The road home

As I didn’t want to take the road with the ferries, I decided I would drive back to Haukeli on the E134 and take the road through Setesdal and cross over to Tonstad in Sirdal and then home.

The E134 took me through Røldal and Haukelifjell (mountain plateau). I thought I could get a second go at some shots I captured last summer in Røldal and Haukelifjell. Well, the shots in Rødal turned out bad. Both the single exposure with ND-grad and the HDR did not pan out. Since I went there more on a whim I hadn’t planned for where the light would fall. So I paid the price for lack of planning. Ok, so one can’t get lucky all the time. The vistas were nice for the eyes though. Well, where the lack of planning and failing light in Røldal made it a little bummer, Haukelifjell made it all good again. Yielding some really dramatic vistas with dramatic clouds over them.

So that was my road trip this summer. Although road trip was short (only 2 days), it was really inspiring for me. I found many places and locations I want to return to, especially in the autumn season.

All pictures are shot with Nikon D200, Tamron SP lenses.

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