Blog has been moved

I must say I am impressed with the layout and possibilities you have when blogging here at WordPress. However, my main reason to blog, is to share and get feedback on my pictures. The Image Carousel is in practice the only way to present your pictures. You could of course disable it, but then the contemplator would have to open each image separately. The Image Carousel, also known as Photo Carousel or Image Gallery, unfortunately lower the image quality. This is more pronounced in landscapes than close-ups, and you see the difference when you compare the Full Size view to the view directly from the Image Carousel. For me, when showing off my pictures is why I am blogging, this is unacceptable. Therefore I have moved my Blog to

http://bwephoto.blogspot.no/

I hope that WordPress will look into this issue, cause as I said, everything else is great. Can not be that difficult – Facebook has a similar viewer which seems to work OK.

– Bjarte

Ustaoset

Ustaoset is a small place along ‘Bergensbanen’, a railroad between Bergen and Oslo in the mountains of Norway. The station is 991 meters above sea level. Of course you can get there by car as well, taking RV7 across ‘Hardangervidda’. At Ustaoset there is a cluster of approx. 900 cabins, hotels and lodges. You will find great hiking possibilities in the summer, and in the winter you can enjoy cross country skiing. If you go 10 minutes by car, you find one of Norway’s most popular ski resorts, Geilo. During the winter, they have shuttle busses to trasport ski-tourists between Ustaoset and Geilo.

For some reason, when watching the image gallery with the Photo Carousel, the photos are not as sharp as when watched in full size.

Gordon Setters

This is Nemi. She is a young Gordon Setter and a very active dog.

The Gordon Setter is a member of the setter family, including both the Irish Setter and the English Setter. Setter breeds are often used for hunting. The original purpose of the breed was to hunt gamebirds. The Gordons are the heaviest of the setter breeds, with males reaching 68cm at the withers and can weigh up to 36kg. Gordons were bred to run, and require 60 to 80 minutes of vigorous exercise daily. They are said to be fearless, willing, intelligent and capable. Because of their hunting instincts, Gordons should not be allowed to roam freely if unsupervised.

Blueberries

The wild blueberries are finished for this year, but I still get lots of blueberries from my American Blueberry  bushes in my garden. The main differences between the wild berries and the garden berries, are that the garden berries are bigger, and they are not blue inside. Some say they are not so tasty, but this year I can tell you they are very sweet.
If you have kids, this is a sure winner.

All photos are taken handheld with Canon 7D and EF100mm f/2.8 Macro

Seagulls

Seagulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns (the Sternidae family). Despite he name “Seagull”, you can find many species of gulls living, feeding and nesting inland. Seagulls are common around the oceans almost all over the world.

A lot of people see the seagulls as noisy and annoying scavengers. Yes, they do make some noise, they shit everywhere, and when it comes to food, they are ravenous and can be quite pushing, but they serve a task. They are an important part of natures sanitation service, and scavenge up great numbers of dead animals and organic litter which could pose a health threat to humans.

The gulls are uniform in shape, but they vary in size and colours. They are elegant birds, and they are excellent flyers. Seagulls can float motionless on wind currents for a long time. They have a very good vision, and can see fish below the water, even from great altitudes. Seagulls eat just about anything, from human organic disposals, to live marine animals.

Common Blue Damselfly

You can find the Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) in all of Europe, except in Iceland. It is often mistaken for the Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella), but the latter does not have the mushroom shaped spot connecting the second and third element of the thorax.

Adult damselflies live for an average of 20 days, and during this period they must breed. When they mate, the male clasps the female by her neck, while she bends her body back to his mating organs. This position is called a ‘mating wheel’. The mating can last up to 20 minutes. The female lay their eggs both above and below the waterline. After hatching, the damselflies will live as larvaes, sometimes for as long as three years, before emerging to a flying insect.

The photos below are shot hand-held with either the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 Mk II IS, or the 100mm Macro IS

70-200mm

70-200mm

70-200mm

100mm macro

100mm macro

100mm macro

100mm macro

100mm macro

100mm macro

The Fallow Deer

The Fallow Deer (Dama Dama) is more of a herd animal than other deers. In the spring and summer, they prefer open landscape with good access to grass. During the autumn and winter, they often pull into the woods. They also use a greater degree of eyesight to orientate themselves, and are less dependent on sense of smell and hearing. This probably has to do with the fact that they often travel in open terrain, where vision is the most important sense. The Fallow Deer can recognise motionless human beings. It is not fond of swimming.

The Fallow Deer eats mainly grass and leaves from deciduous trees in summer, and nuts, berries and bark in winter. They graze mostly in forest clearings with lush vegetation. They have fairly regular meals, usually early in the morning and in the evening and they graze mostly in flocks. After eating, it is common that the herd pulls back into the denser vegetation. The night is spent cud-chewing and rest. It is quite rare to see a Fallow Deer drink water, as they ususally get their needs covered through the food they eat, like dewy grass.

The Fallow Deer does not naturally exist in Norway where I am from, so these pictures are taken during my summer vacation in Denmark.

Flowers, flowers, flowers

We are starting to get some temperatures that seem like summer. Late spring, pre-summer is a nice time of the year. Green grass and leaves, and colourful flowers. Here are some of my flower pictures. Unfortunately I do not know some of their names. If you do, leave  a reply and let me know.

Tulips, and some I don’t know

Tulips

Cherry blossom

Western Skunk Cabbage

Orchid, Phalaenopsis, 14 macro shots, focus stacked

Rose

Hortensia

Grape Hyacinth

Colours of the Sky

It is kind of a clichè – I know, pictures of the sunset. Still, I think most people find them beautiful.  But why does the sky turn orange?

Molecules and small particles in the atmosphere change the direction of light rays, causing them to scatter, which affects the colour of the light. The wavelength of the light, and the size and  amount of molecules the light has to pass through, determines the colour. The short wavelength colours blue and violet are scattered in the air much more than other colours, hence the sky appears blue. However, at sunset and sunrise, the sun is low on the horizon, and the light has to pass through more air, which also means more molecules to scatter the light. The result is that the blue and violet light is scattered out of your sight, while the other colours with longer wavelength brakes through the atmosphere and find their way to your eyes. This is why sunsets may appear yellow, orange and/or red.

Here are some other colourful pictures

Colourful Sky

Photo Walkabout in Bergen

A couple of weeks back, a local photo shop – Japan Photo – arranged a Photo Walkabout in Bergen. We started at Nøstet, and walked towards Nordnes. We walked back through town, and ended up at the train station.

Later we could edit the pictures to our liking, and submit them to participate in a photo contest. Unfortunately, I did not get among the top three.

You will find the rest of the pictures from the walkabout  in the gallery section – Japhan Photo Walkabout.