In late November I have spent a weekend near Hoher Meißner, a mountain roughly in the center of Germany. The area is rural with lots of forests which was great to capture the autumnal colors which were just about to fade. On the higher hills the leaves had already been stripped by the wind. Thus, I mostly kept to the forests. Two small lakes provided nice reflections.
The first four images were shot with overcast skies. The flat light can really be beneficial for the colors of the vegetation.
Following the video on last year’s autumnal backpacking trip in Lapland I finally managed to upload some of the images from that trip.
From Jäkkvik I followed Kungsleden south and then continued pathless to the west – touching the the small Pieljekaise National Park. The pathless section from the small Sami settlement Tjállas up to the pass near Gujkkultjårro was strenuous with lots of brush and wet areas.
Except for the first two days I mostly encountered very changeable weather, rain, strong wind and low temperatures. Apart from two Sami persons I met nobody until shortly before the pass road 95 (“Silvervägen”). I was quite surprised about that as there is a marked trail from Ruonekjåhka. Sometimes it is quite overgrown and swampy in places. It is a beautiful area; I especially liked the section near Gujjávrre. But also before, there are beautiful views along the way.
After crossing the pass road I continued along the trail via Jurun and the small lake Jurunjávree, to beautiful Ikkesjávrre which has one of the largest sand beaches in Lapland’s mountains to Mávasjávrre and the Sami settlement Mavas. For crossing Mávasjávrre I used a packraft as there was no boat service provided in 2022 (I don’t know how it will be in the following years). I camped at the northern lakeshore and was surprised with the northern lights during the night – probably nature’s birthday present as I had just turned one year older.
The marked trail (which I lost in places as it is sometimes hard to see and follow) from Mavas leads to the large and beautiful lake Pieskehaure. Again, I was lucky and got a display of the aurora when camped above Pieskehaure.
Continue reading Arjeplogsfjäll and Sulitjelma – my itinerary and the images
When I published the videos from my last backpacking trip in Lapland, I got asked several times how it was possible to film myself in the boat showing the entire boat. People first suspected a drone, but no, this wasn’t it.
Corresponding video sections to the images above on YouTube: #1, #2, #3
I used a small a 360° camera. I mounted the camera onto a trekking pole (mine allows detaching the handle, revealing a tripod thread), extended it, and attached it to the boat’s bow on top of my backpack. You can see the construction in the following image:
You can also see, that the boat is very front-heavy due to my backpack which isn’t the lightest ;-). But why can’t we see the trekking pole in the finished video? Well, the pole is exactly between the two lenses of the 360° camera and thus in a “blind angle” and removed from the stitched image. When you come home, you can freely choose the framing of the recorded spherical video.
The approach is basically a hands-free option to record documentary footage or take photos when you are on a tiny boat (or elsewhere). My camera even accepts voice commands which makes starting and stopping recording easy. The disadvantage is, however, that due to reframing you lose a lot of resolution, the stitching seam might be visible in places and perspective seems a bit distorted due to the ultrawide angle of view.
In early autumn last year I was on a cross-border backpacking trip in Swedish and Norwegian Lapland which was almost 3 weeks in length. I more footage than I usually do and thus decided to publish the film about this trip in two parts. It really was a unique and beautiful experience. I only met few human beings and was often alone for days.
For the first time carried a small packraft as an experiment. Crossing Mávasjávrre wouldn’t have been possible without it as there was no boat service this year. And it was also fun :-)! The route of the trip is listed below.
Part 1: Jäkkvik – Tjállas – Guijaure – Lomtjärnen – Silvervägen – Ikkesjávrre – Mavas
Part 2: Mavas – Pieskehaure – Ny Sulitjelma – Sorjushytta – Stáddájåhkå – Pieskehaure – Vaimok – Tarradalen – Kvikkjokk
In time I’ll eventually publish also images of this trip.