Hydnefossen - The Jewel of Hemsedal
During the Covid pandemic, my son had a few months of homeschooling. In Arts and Crafts they got an assignment where they were supposed to recreate a classic piece of art from things they could find in their home, and then send in a photo of what they had created.
After some brainstorming and searching online, my son went up to the attic and rummaged through our substantial collection of old Lego. After about an hour, he returned with a bunch of bearded Lego figures, and started putting together a scene looking very similar to Leonardo Da Vinci´s “The Last Supper”. We then put together a background and took it all down to my studio, where we took this photo.
We loved the result so much that we ordered a 2 meter wide print and hung it on the wall by our dining table. We have had guests come for dinner that have bursted out “wow, that looks expensive!” when they have first seen the print. The funny thing is that when my son first turned in the picture to his Arts and Crafts teacher, she flunked him. She thought it was a lego set.
About an hours drive from our cabin you can find the mighty waterfall Hydnefossen. It has a free fall of 155 meters, before it continues down the steep mountain side. This beautiful waterfall is visible for everyone driving Highway 52 trough Hemsedal.
When I say “can find” I mean that literaly, because it is not always there. I know this because I went there to take pictures four times before there was any waterfall to photograph. The two first times the weather had been so dry, that there was no water in the fall. The third time it was shrouded in thick fog. These continued failed attempts made me hell bent on getting some results out of this cursed place.
The day I took these pictures it was supposed to be sunny and clear. I drove up to Hydnefossen well before sunrise to set up my Sony A7 RIII and get my drone ready. I had two pictures in mind. One from ground, with some nice cabins in the foreground and the waterfall behind. The other with my drone.
When I got there it had been raining, but the weather was OK. And as expected, the sun turned out, and I was happy with myself for my brilliant planning. And then… To my horror the sun warmed up the ground and vapourized the water that fell the day before. Before I knew it the entire vally was covered in thick fog.
The next 2 hours I was staring into the great white mist. Then the fog finally started to lift somewhat. I got out my drone to at least get some film, and took some of my favourite clips of the year. The fog liftet even more, so I changed battery on the drone, and continued to film while I was flying through the fog. At the same time I continued pressing the shutter on my Sony. I was not really paying attention to what was happening in front of the camera, but I could see that the cabins, the waterfall and the lifting fog made a nice scene.
After about 30 minutes of frantic activity, I hade about 50 exposures from my Sony, several minutes of cool film and a few panorama photos from my drone. Even though the conditions did not turn out as exected, I was very happy with the results.
