Shooting Wedding Photos on the ‘Little Troll Tongue’ in Norway
I did it. The photo I have had in my mind for almost two years was finally taken, and I’m proud of the result. Liv Johanne and Rune became (what I believe to be) the first couple to get their wedding photos taken at Himakånå, Norway.
I was first made aware of Himakånå two years ago when a friend of mine posted a picture of the place on Facebook. The picture was not the best in terms of photographic quality, but the landscape struck me as one of the most epic places I had seen in a long time. I immediately decided that I should go there to try and capture my most eye-catching photo ever.
I came up with a basic idea of taking the photo in springtime/early summer, to be able to show Himakånå and the surrounding scenery at its best, with the green valleys below and illuminated by the warm evening sun. But to make the photo stand out even more, I came up with the idea of adding an element of surprise: a wedding photo of a couple on top of the rock formation.
Time went by, and recently photos of this place have been popping up in social media, and it has been given massive national media coverage. If I wanted to be able to take this shot and to be the first to do it, I had to act fast.
So I recently put up a request on my photo page on Facebook in search of a newlywed couple to join me on this adventure — to take wedding photos at a cliff — all free of charge for the couple.
Liv Johanne and Rune replied on my request, and after talking with them online for a while, we set a date for the shot. Two days before the shot, I hiked up myself to explore the lighting conditions and to find the best moment to take the photos. After deciding on the time, I arranged with the couple to meet me in the parking lot in time for us to get there for the perfect conditions.
The day of the photo shoot, we met for the first time in person in the parking lot at the base of the mountain, and together we hiked up to Himakånå. It turned out that they both made for great hiking partners, and it felt like going on a trip with old friends rather than strangers. A charming, adventures couple, more than willing to go the extra mile to make this photo shoot a success.
The hike is a bit less challenging than its big brother Trolltunga, as it only takes about 1 hour of walking to get there, but the slopes up are steep! When we reached the top, we waited for the sun to be in the correct position so that we could capture beautiful shots of the couple high above the epic scenery of the valley and lake below.
The whole thing was done in less than an hour.
About the author: Kristian Jørgensen is a Norwegian hobby photographer. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of his work on his Facebook and Instagram.
