Musk-ox, moose, reindeer and autumn landscapes

Visit some of Norway's most beautiful mountain areas in the period that the autumn colors are peaking and the first snow will arrive. Here you will photograph the impressive musk-oxen, the elegant moose, the playful Siberian jays and stunning landscapes. You will hike deep into the mountains in order to get the beautiful reindeer in front of the lens. 

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Please note: This tour requires a good level of fitness in order to be able to participate. Each day we will walk between 5 and 20 km through the mountains, depending on where the animals will be at the time. You need to be able to cover these distances while carrying your photo equipment plus food and drinks for the day.

 

During the 25 Sept. - 2 Oct. we will focus more on the musk-oxen, moose, Siberian jay and landscapes, but less on the reindeer. This means that we have to do a lot less hiking (probably up to 12 - 15km per day). 

 

Musk-ox

Dovrefjell National park is a beautiful but also harsh area and is the home of the impressive musk-ox. Currently there are about 300 musk-oxen living in the mountains of the National Park. In order to photograph them, we have to hike into the mountains and stay out whole days. Musk-oxen are not very active animals. By spending whole days with the animals, we will maximize our photo chances. Next to the musk-ox, it is possible to photograph astonishing landscapes and there is a chance to see moose, lemming, golden eagle, reindeer and with a lot of luck, the illusive arctic fox. 

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Moose

In the surroundings of Dovrefjell there is a healthy population of moose. They are mainly active during the twilight hours. The chance to photograph these giants is the best during the early mornings. Moose are shy animals, but can be photographed from the car and the side of the roads. Our accommodation in Dovrefjell is situated right in one of the moose hot spots, so we don't need to drive far. The landscape is dominated by open birch forests, which create an astonishing colorful setting to photograph these animals in.  

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Reindeer

Reindeer are shy animals with a large home ranges. This makes searching for and photographing  them a challenge. Especially the wild reindeer extremely difficult to find and photograph. As soon as an human has been noticed, the animals will quickly move away, covering several miles in just a matter of a few minutes. The wild reindeer are protected in Norway and it is not allowed to disturb them. Because they are so shy and therefore will be disturbed by our presence, we sadly cannot guide anyone to wild reindeer. Luckily there are also mountain areas with large free-ranging herds of semidomesticated reindeer. These reindeer are just as beautiful as the wild reindeer. And luckily these reindeer are also less shy. They are certainly not tame and we still have to be very careful with approaching the animals once we have found them. Be prepared for hours of sneaking and waiting in order to get in position to photograph these absolute stunning animals. ​

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Siberian jay

We have a great location for photographing the Siberian jay. Here the birds are used to the people and used to be fed. The location is in a beautiful old pine forest and it is easy to reach by car. During the tours we will visit this location two or three times. The birds will give good opportunities for taking flights shots, birds in environment and also close up portraits. 

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Landscapes

During the whole trip we will be surrounded by beautiful landscapes. We can stop whenever we want to do some landscape photography. In addition, we will travel at least twice to Rondane National Park especially for photographing landscapes. 

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Difference between the two tours

During the first tour, the autumn colors will be peaking. During the second tour, the colors will make space for the first snow. During the first tour we will focus more on the musk-oxen, moose, Siberian jay and landscapes than on reindeer. During the tour starting on the 3rd of October, landscape photography will play a much smaller role and we will focus much more on the wildlife. The chances for photographing wildlife are the same for the two tours. 

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Itinerary 

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• Day 1. You will be picked up at airport Oslo Gardermoen. A 4 hour drive will bring you to the boarder of Dovrefjell National Park. Depending on the time of arrival, we will make a stop at the east side of Rondane National Park for the first true autumn mountain landscapes. In the evening we will arrive at the accommodation for the coming 4 nights. 

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• Day 2, 3 and 4. Shortly before sunrise we will head out by car to look for moose in the surroundings of the accommodation. Around this time of the year there are large numbers of moose in this area which can be photographed from the car. If the group wants, we can also head out for landscapes at sunrise instead. After the morning photography sessions, we have breakfast in our accommodation. Afterwards we head out into the mountains for the musk-oxen. We will have several options for how and where to photograph the musk-oxen. The options will be discussed from day to day and the group can decide to which animals we will go. 

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• Day 5, 6 and 7. We will move to a different mountain area and look for reindeer. We have to get up early mornings and hike into the mountains in order to photograph reindeer. The terrain is not that steep, but the distances can be long. Be prepared to walk 5-20km per day. Because reindeer can cover large distances per day, it is not sure that we will be able to photograph them each day. They can appear just as fast as they can disappear. Some patience is needed.

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• Day 8. If there still is some time, we can look for moose in the early morning. After that it is time to travel back to Oslo Gardermoen airport. 

 

Fill in the booking form.

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Or contact us for inquiries for other dates and other questions.