PHOTO PROJECT · THE STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
I have visited the photography spots around this mountain lake many times. I know the paths along the shore, the familiar viewpoints and some of the smaller places among the rocks. Yet I never come home with quite the same photographs. On this autumn day, parts of the shoreline were already in shadow while warm light still reached the mountainsides. The wind kept the water restless.
The water never quite settled. In some photographs I wanted to keep that movement; in others I used longer exposures to soften it. The result is a series of different views of the same place, ranging from wide landscapes to close observations of wood, stone and branches.
Where the Light Falls
The light shifted between bright ridges and dark valleys. For a few minutes, an otherwise unremarkable rock face would become the subject, while the surrounding landscape faded into shadow. I kept having to decide where to point the camera. The lake offered no ready-made compositions.
The Film Behind the Project
In this film, I return to a mountain lake I have photographed many times and show how the wind, changing light and decisions on location shaped the photographs.
The Photographic Challenges
A Mountain Lake in Motion
Wind across the water made the clear reflections I had hoped for difficult to find. Instead I worked with different shutter speeds: shorter exposures to retain the liveliness of the surface, and longer ones to smooth its movement. Each approach reveals something different about the same lake.
Balancing Light and Shadow
The sunlit mountains were much brighter than the shoreline. Those deep shadow areas were part of what interested me. I wanted the bright slopes to guide the eye without losing every trace of detail in the stone and darker areas. Not every part of a photograph needs equal attention.
Giving the Foreground Its Place
A weathered tree trunk, an old metal hook, the branches of a pine: details easily overlooked against such an immense backdrop. In several images I made them the starting point of the composition. In one photograph, the tree itself is sharp while the mountains behind it remain soft.
The Photographs
Eight photographs of a mountain lake in autumn, showing familiar locations in new light, between wind and stillness, wide views and small discoveries along the shore.
More Photography Projects
For a very different view of quiet water, explore my project Still Mountain Lake.
© Pictures of Norway · All photographs and image rights remain with Pictures of Norway.