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Gaute Lorentsen
@gautelorentsen
Best of the week 29 at #nomadict 2021
When my girlfriend and I were visiting Vesterålen, in northern Norway, we knew we wanted to climb a mountain during the midnight sun. We were unsure which one to choose; some locals recommended a popular route, but we suspected that the sun was going to be blocked by a nearby mountain. We scoured the internet and found an obscure travel blog with a single picture from a mountain top that had an incredible view.
"We gambled on that one picture and decided to hike that mountain."
It turned out to be the best decision we could have made. The view from the top was sublime, and we had perfect conditions with the midnight sun in the sky. We had a 360-degree view of sweeping landscapes and innumerable mountain peaks bathing in the glow of the sunbeams.
The day prior to the hike was spent exploring the Vesterålen islands with grey, overcast weather. The weather cleared up just in time for the hike and was pretty much perfect until the morning. It was my first time seeing the midnight sun, so the moment we reached the top of the mountain was truly breath-taking. As the hike took us up from a valley behind the back of the mountain, we had no idea what to expect. The feeling of reaching the top and experiencing that view was indescribable.
"The sort of moment we live to experience, and to capture for others to experience too. That’s the beauty of photography."
I wanted to capture the rays of sunlight and the glowing sky amongst the mountains and keep the picture as true as possible to the feeling I had standing there. If you look closely, you can spot me and my girlfriend. I like to include people in my pictures to give the landscape the sense of scale it deserves, and to let the viewer imagine what it must feel like to be standing there.
As with most of the drone pictures I take, this one is a panoramic HDR. The dynamic range of the drone isn’t the greatest, and when shooting from the sky the contrast between the shadows and the highlights is often very significant. As you can see in the picture, the sun is very bright and the ground very dark. The HDR enables me to save some of those details. Stitching a pano-shot is a good trick to make the drone shots stand out and give them a unique wider look.
"With the editing, I wanted to emphasize the rays of light peeking through the mountains."
I wanted to achieve a contrast between the light from the sun and the darker foreground, making sure our silhouettes are clearly visible. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to editing. There have been times before where I’ve scrapped all of my work and restarted the whole editing process because there was something I didn’t like about the picture. I would say that I edit my pictures heavily; not to look unrealistic but enough to get the look I envisaged. Every photo goes through a lengthy process of editing, first in Lightroom to get it approximately to where I want, then to Photoshop to tweak the colors, light and contrast.
Besides doing photography as a passion and as a freelancer I’m also a full-time software engineering student, so my days are kept pretty busy. As a freelancer, I’m doing real estate shoots regularly and have a contract with a firm that gives me jobs. It’s a secure and great source of income. However, one thing I have realized in the past year is how important it is to take time off. Taking a moment each day to focus on something you love, something other than work or school, has been crucial to avoid burnout and maintain my mental health and wellbeing. Photographing anywhere in nature, going to the gym for a few hours or watching a movie really helps me unwind.
"In addition, giving myself the time to work on what I love helps me grow and achieve goals."
I have been increasingly focussed on selling and licensing my work. I have launched my own printing shop, and gotten some sales there, and had some companies reach out to me to license my pictures. It’s always a confidence boost to see someone requesting your work.
Aside from this, I’ve used the summer to travel around Norway, getting back to nature and making content I’m passionate about. I live a few hours from some of the most amazing landscapes you could imagine, and I want to get better at making the time to explore. It’s not the most common to say, but it’s important to deliberately add the things that make you happy to your schedule – whatever it may be. It’s those moments that make a huge difference in how you experience your days.
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