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 and stunning landscapes. You will hike deep into the mountains in order to get the very shy wild 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 and landscapes, but less on the reindeer. This means that we have to do a lot less hiking. 

 

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 some 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. 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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Wild reindeer

Wild reindeer are extremely shy animals with incredible large home ranges. This makes searching for and photographing  them extremely difficult. 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. Luckily the guide has got years of experience with wild reindeer and will get you within good photographing distances from the animals without disturbing the animals. Be prepared for hours of sneaking and waiting in order to get in position to photograph these absolute stunning animals. 

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The tours take place during the rutting season of the reindeer. This is by far the best period to photograph them. Not only because the animals look their best with their huge antlers and darker colored fur, but mainly because we will be able to get within photo distances since the animals are distracted by each other. 

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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. The chances for photographing the 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 wild reindeer. We have to get up early mornings and hike into the mountains in order to photograph wild reindeer. The terrain is not that steep, but the distances can be long. Be prepared to walk 5-20km per day. Because wild 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.