Half of my life I have been doing this thing. Some days all my pictures are shitty. Other days I am a creative genius. It usually depends on whether I am hungry or not. Yes.

So 20 years ago, on October 9th, I picked up a tiny compact camera, which came together with a computer my family had bought. I think I played Doom 3 on that machine (the computer, not the camera). I saw a double rainbow and took a shot from the balcony. That view, eh. I shared it to my friends on a heavy metal forum and they sent me to Deviantart. And there I went and stayed for a while.

And after a while I was no longer going on vacations, but on photo trips to not-touristy-places. And I have experienced a bunch of cool stuff! Like a friendly dog who (yes, who), was super worried about me because the waves were too big, and I had to carry the same dog through a rocky path when the water had swallowed the trail we used earlier. See, the dog was too old.

So today, to celebrate a little, I chose to upload a handful of photos, which are most meaningful to me personally, from all these years. You can see them below. Funny, however, is when looking at them it looks like I came back to the more intimate nature photography I started with so many years ago (stop being old, mang!).

There are gaps between the years, and a few of those years I didn’t even photograph anything. But I never stopped thinking about it and my eyes were always looking for motifs, be it sunsets or lines and patterns in nature.

Really grateful for this thing that came into my life seemingly randomly.

First one (2004)

The double rainbow that started it all.

Autumn's Ink (2004)

Man I was good with titles! Just two weeks into my photography journey I got this one, and I still love it after all this time.

Gollum's World (2005)

First controlled shutter speed! Might still be my favourite thing to do is to extend it as long as possible.

Never titled (2005)

Taken on a little trip together with my mother. A very nice memory, but also I was really into foggy waters.

Late Summer (2005)

I skipped karate training for this one :)

Northern Coast (2006)

I was, and still am extremely happy to photograph the coast. Still remember this early spring sunset.

Some Calm Stuff (2009)

A windy long exposure and some minimalism. I used physical filters for this and they cast this unhealthy purple colour, but I really liked it!

Logz In Teh Waterfall (2009)

This was around the time internet speak got popular and because Reddit came along probably. I remember this one so well, because I got dizzy and nauseous when I arrived to photograph it, and I considered going home. But then something in me said, FUCK IT! and I ignored all the discomfort. While photographing this waterfall it all simply just went away.

Unexpected Foray (2016)

The first more complicated photo I took and processed after learning a bunch of photo-developing techniques.

Urza's Saga (2017)

I was so satisfied with how the waves and the stones replicate each others' patterns (to some extent anyway).

Devourer of a Thousand Worlds (2017)

My favourite aurora photo. It is too dark, too noisy, things are unfocussed in the foreground, yet...I love it most of all. Maybe because it captures that magical chaos that goes down when you get a storm like this.

Deep Mountain Resonance (2017)

For once I was patient enough to spend an hour or so to find the best composition possible, and it turned out to be my most successful photo of all time.

Haze (2018)

I simply loved how even the Sun made a pattern that moved in the same direction as the rest of the landscape.

Fall's Bride

I never stopped doing really long exposure experiments precisely because of things like these clouds.

Springscape (2019)

Taken earlier, but developed in 2019, this felt like a shift where I wanted to move from colourful "pretty" shots into something that I felt more in tune with.

Opposing Lines (2022)

Back to start? Somewhere in the recent years, I was doing another landscape shot, and it felt no longer fun. So I started zooming in, pointing the camera downwards, and looking for things, which used to capture my attention 20 years ago..

Let it be born. Let’s go.

Here is my first entry of annals, though I am not sure if I can call them that, now that they are month based and not yearly. Mannals? No.

Here is a photo I took in September. I usually don’t come back to spots I have noted as interesting, but this one I discovered during August. And it it caught my eye. What will it look like when autumn approaches and the leaves get colours? I am personally very fond of this one.

This post, as I saw it, was going to be full of content. But, as I spend my days taking care of my kids, I barely get time for anything else. The smallest one is sleeping right now and I am trying to finish this before she wakes up. I am in the middle of, what-you-call-it? Pop’s permission? I have no idea, but I translated it from Norwegian. It means I am taking care of her till she gets old enough for kinder garten.

Here is another photo from mid September, I believe. I am continuing to explore more abstract water reflections. This was a windy day. The light was also good. From a nearby lake.

Posting on social media still makes no sense. I dream of a different internet, a replica of one we have, but without AI and without bots. As few algorithms as possible. I might have found something, called Mastodon, which is so far giving me an old school community feeling. Another place I have grown very fond of is Landscape Photographers Worldwide on Discord.

Anyway, here is another September photo, the last one for the time being. I always wanted to make one of these. The wind blew these little amigos neatly, and I discovered it had a really nice side-light when viewing it on my computer later.

I give credit where credit is due, writing monthly posts about whatever is going on, was inspired by reading Alexander Kunz’ monthly end notes: https://www.alex-kunz.com/september-2024-end-notes/ . You don’t know me Alexander, but you go man!

September marks the beginning of darkness. To get in tune with the dark, the cold, the deadly, I re-watch the black metal documentary “Helvete - historien om norsk black metal". This time, the darkest part of the story, seemed to me more sad than last time when I watched it. Maybe because I by now have two kids of my own and can see it from a different perspective. In any case, Dead, you are forever an inspiration.

Here ends my September.

20th Birthday (as photographer)