Eleven-Years Ago (23-January-2007) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2007 Family Winter Vacation. Day 3: Bergen then Embarkation on the Northbound Hurtigruten MS Kong Harald Norwegian Coastal Voyage.

The sky was clear and there was new snow on the ground when we woke in Bergen. The locals said that it had been raining for the last 50 days. I think many took the day off to enjoy the sun and snow. The Hurtigruten MS Kong Harald would not be departing until later that night, so we had the day to visit Bergen. As part of our travel package, we had a one day Bergen Card for transportation and various attractions. After spending some time outside around the Bergen harbor and Bergen Fish Market, we took the Fløibarnen Funicular to the top of Mount Fløyen. We also visited the art museum to see some of Edvard Munch’s paintings. Finally, as it started to get dark we made our way to the Hurtigruten terminal. I’ve included a fisheye view of my cabin and the stateroom at the front of the ship. As we learned later in the voyage, rooms near the front (or rear) of the ship move the most in heavy seas. Since then I always try to get a cabin near the middle of a ship for any voyage that may experience heavy seas.

Bergan Harbor Panorama. Composite of 3 images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 12-24 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/4, 1/15 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bergan Harbor Panorama. Composite of 3 images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 12-24 mm f/4 lens (ISO 800, 24 mm, f/4, 1/15 sec). (David J Mathre)


Eleven-Years Ago (22-January-2007) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2007 Family Winter Vacation. Day 2: Railroad from Oslo to Bergen.

On Day 2 we herded the group and all of the luggage to the train station using public transportation. We then boarded the Bergen Railway high-speed train from Oslo to Bergen. All of these images were taken while on the train. The train stops at the highest point on the line at Finse (1222 meters above sea level). When we got to Bergen there was a bit of a glitch. The hotel where we all were supposed to be staying didn’t have any records of our reservation. The hotel knew they had a problem with 20+ folks with luggage sitting in the lobby. After several hours of discussions and phone calls rooms were found for everyone. By then it was too late to see much of Bergen.

Train Spotting: Euro Shuttle SKD-226.31 Engine viewed while traveling from Oslo to Bergen. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. (David J Mathre)
Train Spotting: Euro Shuttle SKD-226.31 Engine viewed while traveling from Oslo to Bergen. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. (David J Mathre)


Two-Years Ago (21-January-2016) — Pacific Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 16: Crossing the Pacific Ocean.

“Charlie’s Angels” or “The Sunrise and Breakfast Club Photography Group” portrait taken while waiting for the sun to rise. The dawn colors are gone, and it is still 27 minutes until the sun is up. I normally don’t do people pictures, so they took me out of my comfort zone during the voyage to include people in my images. Composite of two images taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 500, 90 mm, f/4.4, 1/200 sec). You might ask, why is it a composite image? Rookie mistake doing people pictures. One image they all have their eyes open, but I cut off the feet. The other image they don’t all have their eyes open, but I did have the feet. There still are some artifacts from merging the images that need to be fixed.

Sunrise and Breakfast Club. Composite of 2 images taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 500, 90 mm, f/4.4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sunrise and Breakfast Club. Composite of 2 images taken with a Leica T camera and 55-135 mm lens (ISO 500, 90 mm, f/4.4, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)



Individual Images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Eleven-Years Ago (21-January-2007) — Norway

Gone to See Norway 2007 Family Winter Vacation. Day 1: Oslo.

Revisiting a family trip to Norway in 2007. Some of images have been posted before, and some are new. The trip started in Oslo. I flew in from New Jersey, and the rest of the family flew in from Florida. All together, I think there were 22-24 of us in the group. On this first day, we toured Oslo. At the end of the day we had pizza with Arnie. It took a fisheye lens to get the whole group in one image. During this trip, I was using a Nikon D2xs camera with 7 lenses (10.5 mm fisheye, 12-24 mm, 28-70 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 80-400 mm, and 85 mm). Before I learned to travel light…

Family in Norway, Winter in Oslo Norway (David J Mathre)
Family in Norway, Winter in Oslo Norway (David J Mathre)


Two-Years Ago (20-January-2016) — Pacific Ocean

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 15: Crossing the Pacific Ocean From Hawaii to Japan.

Every day the sunrise at sea is different. It was a windy day, and we were traveling into the wind so the aft decks were safe. At the end of the day, after the sun set there were unique blue colors near the horizon caused by the earth’s shadow with pastel pinks above that are called the “Belt of Venus”.  I have seen this before while camping in the mountains, but didn’t know the cause. I really wanted to see if I could capture the colors in an image since they are so subtle.



Individual images in the slide show are available here.