Cruising a fjord in Norway
Visiting a fjord in Norway used to be on my bucket list, but I finally crossed it off! Don't you love crossing things off that list? It feels so good!
You know, there are some things that seem so far off from reality that you never really expect to do them. These are things we dump onto a "maybe, someday" list and usually forget about them, while we busy ourselves with everyday life, or more easily-reached bucket list material.
Visiting a fjord in Norway was definitely one of those things for me.
It's not that I thought I would never get there, or that it's too far away. It is far from Texas, but I've been to Copenhagen 3 times now, and geographically-speaking it isn't that much further. Actually, it's not really very far from Scotland, and I've been there a few times too. It's just that it seems like it's much further for some reason. Perhaps because it's just not a "common" European country, at least to me. It seems a little more "exotic", so to speak. You can't just "pop over there" like you can with other European countries, or make a quick visit while en route elsewhere. You pretty much have to make it your destination.
Nonetheless, the opportunity came up and I jumped on it. As I shared here in a couple of previous posts, I got out in the town I was staying in to explore, and made the grueling but super-rewarding hike up to the top of Pulpit Rock. All that was left was for me to take a boat cruise through a fjord. And I did that too!
I had checked the day before, and knew there was a cruise I could get a ticket on for the next day. It was a 3 hour endeavor, but I was willing to dedicate the whole day to it if I had to (and luckily had the free time to do so). I knew it would be stunningly beautiful. Plus, the upside was that the day was going to be somewhat overcast, as opposed to the bright sunshine of the day before. I call that upside because I much prefer overcast skies, especially when I am out with the camera. I find them way better to photograph, and a little drama in the sky is always interesting.
So the cruise headed out into the reasonably nearby fjord named Lysefjord, which is just majestic. I was in heaven. It got a little cold and windy while we were out there, but I couldn't care less. I was so happy. I stayed out on the deck and fired away the whole time, even when it dropped a little rain on me. Thankfully, that part didn't last.
I even drank some glacial runoff!
Yep, the boat pulled up close to a waterfall which was cascading into the fjord from up above, and one of the shipmates filled up a shiny-looking aluminum bucket with water. It was crystal clear and looked like just about the cleanest water I have ever seen. They poured it into cups for anyone that wanted some - it was cold and awesome! I loved it!
And while many of my recent posts have been HDR photos, all of these today are single exposures. There's just no way to get 3 good shots from a moving boat in choppy water. Regardless, thanks to the magic of Aurora HDR Pro, I love the results I got with each of these shots. Truthfully, my Sony camera does such a great job capturing so many details that there are times when a single exposure is enough - and on an excursion like this one, a single exposure will just have to do.
In fact, I now use Aurora as my preferred editor for all my images, single exposure or HDR. I created a video on YouTube of one of these photos, showing how I adjusted the single exposure in Aurora. You can find that below, or just click here.
Well, that pretty much sums up how I spent half a day in Norway. It was fabulous, beautiful, inspirational and amazing. I wish every day could be like that! The town I stayed in is called Stavanger, and it's a GREAT little spot and a wonderful base for checking out all these southern Norway attractions, like Pulpit Rock and Lysefjord. If you can get there, do so and you will be VERY glad that you did! Thanks for stopping by today!
