RagnhildM
FollowAsperitas clouds billowing over the mountains in Lofoten islands
Asperitas clouds billowing over the mountains in Lofoten islands
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on a mountain hike near my home in Lofoten islands, north of Norway. My fiancé and I had friends visiting from the south of Norway and which never had been in Lofoten before. So this mountain hike was to show them the spectacular views of the islands, and we sure got a view..Time
We started walking up the mountain hillside early evening, and the weather was grey and drizzly. Foggy clouds were low covering the mountains so we couldn´t see the tops or the sky from below. When we reached the top and passed through the foggy cloud cover, the most spectacular view awaited us - The whole sky was covered by these bizarre clouds. I have never seen anything like this before. There was no rain, no wind, no sounds - just this mesmerizing mass of weird clouds slowly billowing across the sky. It felt like we´ve entered the Twilight zone - that we accidently had stepped back to the beginning of Time. But it was 8 p.m the 26th of July 2006. Later I learned that these clouds just recently have been given a name - Undulatus Asperatus – which means roughened sea.. They are very rare and probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so we were at the right place at the right time. The view I thought I would show them really exceeded any expectations.Lighting
As these clouds covered the whole sky in all directions, the light was different in any angle. Since these clouds were kind of spooky and made me feel like I was in the Twilight zone, I wanted to try to capture that image. By zooming in and getting only this frame, I managed to get rid of too much polluting light from the sides and getting only the true colours and shapes as they appeared over the mountain peaks.Equipment
Being an amateur I don´t have any fancy equipment so this was shot with my old Olympus digital camera, Mju 410. No flash or other equipment involved.Inspiration
As this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment I took a ton of photos in all angles to document this as I knew that this was a very rare weather phenomenon. So with this particular photo I feel I managed to capture that “spooky twilight look” of it. I wanted later viewers to see exactly how strange and spooky these clouds were, with the weird forms and shapes and odd layer of the deep blue colour billowing just above the mountain peaks.Editing
Since this was taken with an old pocket digital camera the resolution and quality was very poor because of the jpeg compression. It had a lot of noise and speckles and got a bit too dark. Had to give it a round in Photoshop removing noise and speckles manually by zooming in 4-500% and using the Healing brush tool and/ or Clone stamp on each speckle, and adjust the light and contrast just a little to enhance the details in the clouds.In my camera bag
I only have a digital pocket camera (still), though a little newer model now with better optics and resolution. But it´s always with me since it´s small and easy to carry along. But I wish for a better camera anytime soon..Feedback
I never plan ahead so I only capture what I find interesting, strange, beautiful in the moment. The beauty and surprises of nature is all around us - so if it´s not in front of your camera - look up!