2022 was a fantastic year for me in terms of improving my photography and exploring Scandinavia! I was lucky to visit many amazing locations and was able to grow myself as photographer substantially! It was hard to decide which trips inspired me the most on my photography journey 2022, but I finally found my 3 absolute highlights from last year.

Swedish Lapland in winter

Although I have been to Swedish Lapland in winter before, experiencing this winter wonderland is always magical and such a great inspiration for me as landscape photographer! Last year I got the chance to visit the National Parks Stora Sjöfallet and Abisko in their winter dress! These areas were established as national parks already in 1909 as first of their kind in Europe in to order to protect and preserve their natural environment. Both national parks are also part of the Laponian area, which is one of Sweden’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Stora Sjöfallet as well as Abisko offer unique landscapes with breathtaking views and both have their own story to tell.

Lapland is an amazing location both for hiking and landscape photography! When winter is approaching, snow and ice are turning the landscape into a winter wonderland. Rivers, lakes and waterfalls slowly begin to freeze. Snow is covering this vast landscape with a white blanket. It seems the times stops ticking in this magical frozen world.

Stora Sjöfallet means “the Great Lake Falls” in Swedish and its name refers to the waterfall that connects the two rivers Kårtjejaure and Langas. The waterfall was also the reason why Stora Sjöfallet was established as national park in the first place. The Sámi, the indigenous people of Swedish Lapland, call the area of the park Stuor Muorkke, which means “the Land between two Lakes”.

Stora Sjöfallet is easily accessable by car and you can follow the road through the park all the way to Ritsem, a valley deep in the mountains. On the day I visited the national park it was mainly cloudy/snowy with very limited sight. I was almost about to turn around when suddenly the sky cleared up and the sun came out for a couple of minutes. Although just a short period of time, these minutes were magical! The light was warm and soft, perfect for capturing the beautiful landscapes of Stora Sjöfallet National Park.

Abisko was established as national park to protect the natural canyon called Abiskojåkka in which glacial water from the mountains rushes through and end up in one of the biggest (and coldest) Swedish lakes, Torneträsk.

One of the highlights of the trip to Abisko with my girlfriend in late winter 2022 was the view from the Aurora Sky Station. We didn’t even plan to go up there and we only went up because the trail that we wanted to hike was closed. So we took the chairlift up on the mountain station and it was breathtaking! From the Sky Station you have fantastic views in all directions - the mountain range on the other side of the frozen lake Torneträsk, the village of Abisko and the highway that wriggles its way through the valley. Above all, you have an amazing view on Lapporten - “The Lapponian Gate”. Lapporten is a U-shaped valley and one of the most familiar natural sights of Swedish Lapland. The valley is bounded to the southwest of the mountain Nissuntjårro and in the northeast of Tjuonatjåkka.

Besides Aurora Sky Station, another highlight on this winter trip was to chase the Northern Lights! Whenever I experience this natural phenomenon, called “Aurora Borealis”, it is just such a magical moment! It feels like something not from this world, how the Northern Lights are dancing in different shapes, colors and vividness at the night sky - sometimes they appear in neon green, sometimes in yellow, pink or red. Sometimes they look like an explosion of light (like on the first photo below) and sometimes like layers of waves.

The Northern Lights are truly something that everyone should experience!

Summer on the Lofoten Islands

The Lofoten Islands is another one of my personal highlights for landscape photography in 2022.

Lofoten is an archipelago located far above the Arctic Circle, in the very north of Norway. And it offers everything that you could wish for when you love nature and photography! Spectacular coastlines that are towered by majestic mountain peaks. White sand beaches with crystal clear, turquoise water that makes you feel like being in the Caribbean (the water temperature is a bit lower though). Picturesque fishing villages with the typical red-colored fishing huts, called “Rorbuer” in Norwegian. And deep majestic fjords that wind their way through the scenic landscape of Northern Norway.

The Lofoten Islands is truly a paradise for photographers and outdoor enthusiasts! Me and my girlfriend visited this magnificent archipelago during summer and got the chance to experience the Midnight Sun. It is that time of the year in the very North when the sun never sets. The moment the sun reaches the horizon, it will bounce back and start rising again - this was such a cool experience! As photographer I love to shoot during golden hour, which is usually the time just before sunset. When the Midnight Sun is shining, this period is stretched up to 6 hours - a lot of time to take stunning photos!

Another aspect that makes the Lofoten so special for photography is the fast changing weather. One moment the sun can shine, the next moment you see first clouds arising and it starts raining, and minutes or sometimes seconds after the sun will come out again. This unforeseeable weather gives a dramatic touch and a fantastic contrast in the landscapes between light and shadow.

The combination between beautiful golden light during night, dramatic landscapes and rapidly changing weather was without doubt an unforgettable experience for me as photographer and nature lover!

Autumn at the Swedish High Coast

I am highly fascinated by the Swedish High Coast, an area with unique landscape that stretches from Härnösand in the south to Örnsköldsvik in the north. I have been to the High Coast during summer before, but last year it was the first time that I visited this fascinating area in late autumn. And it was so worth it!

The High Coast of Sweden (in Swedish "Höga Kusten") is surprisingly rather unknown, although it is listed as UNESCO World Heritage for being the world's highest coastline at more than 280 meters above sea level. The coastline was formed by gigantic, kilometer-thick glaciers of the Ice Age millions of years ago! When the glaciers retreated, the mainland, which had been compacted by the weight of the glaciers, was lifted up from the ground again. And the region is still rising approx. 8 mm per year!

Due to the big difference in altitude, the High Coast of Sweden offers stunning views from its granite cliffs - overlooking the scenic landscape consisting of deep woods, river valleys and the islands of the archipelago of this coastal region in the northern part of the Baltic Sea. When autumn approaches, it is like the landscape would be painted by an explosion of colors ranging from yellow to orange, red and gold!

Autumn can also be moody when the nights are getting colder and the morning fog is crawling through the valleys. When I visited the High Coast last autumn, it was exactly that kind of moody weather that I experienced. The mornings were dominated by thick fog that was slowly clearing up though. It was a very mystical atmosphere at many places I visited on this trip and it was very inspiring for me!

One of the main attractions for outdoor enthusiasts at the Swedish High Coast is Skuleskogen National Park. It offers fantastic hiking trails leading through primeval forest, over the rocky coastlines to the top of soaring peaks and down again through deep valleys.

For me the highlight of the National Park is its 200m long canyon, called Slåttdalsskrevan (1st photo below). Unbelievable that this impressive canyon was created 1200 million (!!!) years ago by molten magma from the earth’s core. Several ice ages, the sea and the land uplift process have helped to create the canyon.

That was the last one of my photography highlights in 2022. I am extremely grateful to had the chance to experience those trips and I am looking forward to new adventures in 2023!

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the places I mentioned in this post or anything else related to photography. I am always happy to help!

Thank you for reading this article and supporting my photography journey!

Cheers, Julien