We sometimes took chances and ignored the danger, but luckily things always turned out right
Orsolya & Erlend Haarberg
Over the past 12 months, the husband-and-wife photography team of Orsolya (Orsi) and Erlend Haarberg have exhibited across Europe, showing images from their stunning new book, Laponia.
Laponia is about one of Europe’s largest and remotest wilderness areas. Theirs is a partnership of complementary interests and styles: Orsi’s love of landscape and Erlend’s patient pursuit of local wildlife find common ground in the locations they choose to explore and photograph. The sheer breadth and variety of images produced, is ample evidence of how two different photographic perspectives can be better than one. But when it comes to deciding where to pitch the tent, it can usually helps if there isn’t any difference of opinion…
How and when did you meet? Orsi:
We met in 2004, when we both attended a nature photo festival in Norway. I had just arrived in Norway – Iam originally from Hungary – for an eight month PhD research scholarship, but I already had a strong passion for nature photography. I was dreaming about experiencing and photographing mountain wildlife while staying in Norway. So I asked Erlend if I could join him on one of his trips, when I was finished with my research work, eight months later. He said okay, but didn’t wait until I finished and invited me to his cabin, the one that’s his base for hare photography, two months after the festival.
Erlend: The first trip we had together almost became our last! We had agreed to set out for a one-week hiking trip with focus on photographing reindeers. This was in an area where I have had many great experiences and I was eager to show her. But the trip did not go to plan – there was a lot of walking with heavy backpacks, without finding any animals.
For a landscape photographer like Orsi, the area was not very exciting and the weather did not show off its best side. The first day ended with a fierce quarrel about where we should place the tent. Not exactly a good start for our relationship, but adversity makes you strong, as they say. After this turbulent trip, we got to know each other, good and bad, and today we both laugh at the problems we had back on our first trip.
Orsi, what did you enjoy about Erlend’s photography back when you first saw his work?
I liked how Erlend captures intimacy in wildlife portraits. He either tracks down animals that ignore his presence, or remains unnoticed in his hide, waiting patiently for an interesting situation where the animal in focus is totally relaxed. His dedication and enormous patience are essential ingredients in capturing such beautiful and intimate images. Erlend, what did you first like about Orsi’s photographs? When I met Orsi for the first time, she was at the beginning of her photographic career. Already I noticed her great passion and good eye for composition and detail. In addition, she doesn’t do anything by halves: when she sees the potential in a photo subject, she has unlimited patience to wait for the right conditions.
Her perfectionism in every aspect of image making, from the planning phase, field work, to post-image processing. It made me much more aware of my own approach to my photographic work.
Which came first, your love of nature or photography? Orsi:
Love of nature. I think it ought to be this way. Also, returning to the same locations while photographing nature and witnessing the destruction caused by human expansion makes me care even more about it.
Erlend: I was introduced to nature very early by my parents, either on weekend trips, summer holidays spent by the sea, or long stays in the family’s mountain cabin. My interest in observing every moving thing in nature became an obsession, one that consumed all my free time in my early childhood. I started to use camera a bit later, but still very young.
When did you know you wanted to devote your life to photography? Orsi:
Before I met Erlend, I hadn’t even considered making a living from landscape photography. Living in Hungary, it just seemed to be impossible. However, during my PhD studies, I was literally living for my passion. I was working hard in the university to earn some free weeks for my hobby. When I met Erlend, who was an established photographer already at that time, a whole new world of possibilities opened up for me.
During the first few weeks we spent together it became obvious that we could do nature photography together. In the beginning, I was pretty dependent upon Erlend, but today our teamwork is a co-operation that makes us reach much further than we could do individually.
Erlend: As far as I remember I always wanted a job where I could be in the outdoors as much as possible, either as a ranger or a researcher. After high school and military service in northern Norway, I started my biology studies at university. Spring semesters soon turned into nightmares, when I had to prepare for exams while nature was awakening after a long winter. Half a year before graduation I decided to drop my studies and focus full-time on photography. I never regretted my decision and haven’t looked back.
You are both Nikon users – do you carry the same gear, or would I find different lenses, accessories and other stuff in your backpacks? Orsi:
Some of the gear is the same, like our Nikon D850 cameras, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom lenses and our Lee filter sets. Besides these, I always have an 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom in my bag, while Erlend carries a 70-200mm f/2.8, and a 200-400mm f/4 VR II or a 500mm f/4 lens. We share some lenses that we use occasionally: a Nikon 105mm f/2.5 Micro, 12-24mm f/2.8, 17-35mm f/2.8 and a 300mm f/2.8 VR lens. As we do most photography on hiking trips in remote areas, we try to keep the equipment we carry to a minimum.
Which is your ‘desert island’ lens? Orsi:
The 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6. It is light, and the long-range zoom is perfect for both wildlife photography and capturing details in the landscape. I love the VR function in the windy, low-light, Scandinavian winter conditions. It is especially handy in storms when it becomes incredibly difficult to changes lenses.
Erlend: Since I work most with birds and mammals, my first choice would have to be the 500mm f/4.
Congratulations on your new book Laponia. You live in Norway, a spectacular country – why did you choose a region in Sweden for this major project you’ve worked on? Erlend:
Norway is spectacular, but you can hardly find wilderness areas, including in the national parks, without the severely negative effect of animal husbandry and hunting. Mountain wildlife is generally ridiculously shy and scarce, and endangered top predators like brown bear, wolf, lynx and wolverine are literally suppressed to the brink of extinction.
The situation is not ideal, but it’s so much better in Sweden, as in Laponia, it’s only the aboriginal Sami people who have hunting rights, and the core of the protected area is less affected by their activities. In the mountain world of Sarek, you can sometimes go days without crossing a tourist path or meeting other people, and you can encounter wildlife that has no fear of humans. That is why we wanted to explore this gorgeous region. The Laponia World Heritage Site (including four national parks, two nature reserves and some small protected areas, covering altogether 9400 sq km) is one of the largest wilderness areas in all of Europe.
You had to be self-sufficient for each trip, sometimes for many weeks. Were there times when you thought you had bitten off more than you could chew? Orsi:
Luckily, Erlend had made several visits to this area before, so we knew how far we could travel. Our stays in the wilderness have been very challenging at times, but always achievable. For the sake of photography, sometimes we took chances and ignored the danger, but luckily things always turned out right.
There must have been so many highlights over the three years you worked on Laponia. Can you tell me
about one that particularly stands out for the both of you? Orsi:
Photographic highlights do not always come with a great story behind them. My best photographs in this project were often the result of patience and persistence, working with a subject I felt had a potential to result in a good image. Examples of this are images of ptarmigans or the spectacular Rapa Delta.
Erlend: One photographic highlight for me was working with Siberian jays in the Stora Sjöfallet National Park. These birds belong to the old-growth pine forests of the north, where gnarled dead trees lying on the forest floor prove that the forests have been intact through centuries. They are surprisingly bold – small family flocks often passed me by while I was wandering around in the forest.
We have different priorities and interests in photography, but we often share our goals and projects, so there is no reason to compete
I wanted to convey the special atmosphere of the place by capturing these admirable birds in their natural environment. I found this location where I could include a hint of the mountain landscape surrounding the pine forest. I returned for several days until I could finally capture the bird in the right position, with backlit wings and tail, and the setting sun just touching the wing-tips.
Orsi, you say you are happiest by the sea. Why? I’m wondering if it’s because you were born and raised in Hungary, a landlocked country.
Oh, you found this statement on our website! It’s a pretty old statement that I should have updated long ago. I still love the coast but since I started to climb mountains, I became obsessed with it. Looking at it from the photographer’s perspective, working in the coast or high up in the mountains can be easily explained by the magic light you can get in these areas. This is because there’s no blocking elements in the way of sunlight coming from a low angle. You can also experience those wide, open scenes that give you a sense of freedom. And last, but not least, weather changes suddenly and can be dramatic, both in the mountains and along the coast of Norway, which is exciting for a landscape photographer.
Erlend, please tell me more about the execution of your winning image in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. It’s a fantastic photo!
The image of the fighting hares, SnowSpat, is the result of a long-term
project that I started more than 30 years ago. Ihave been observing and photographing mountain hares near my family’s mountain cabin almost every spring since, in a period from late March to late May, which is their mating season. The hares still have their white winter coat in this period, they are more active than usual, and the days are getting longer after the spring equinox, which is especially important since hares are nocturnal and light is often poor for photography when they are active. Normally, I prefer photographing in natural light, but in the last three years I used artificial light to develop the project and photograph them in darkness.
In the area I work with hares, they are very shy due to high hunting pressure – you can hardly encounter the hares themselves, it’s their tracks that reveal their presence in the forest. Therefore, I place food on the snow that they visit regularly during the night. There is a clear hierarchy between the individuals – the dominant ones eat first. ‘Boxing matches’ occur only between equal rivals, and happen two to three times a week on average, lasting five to 10 seconds at a time. It is important to follow carefully so that you are ready to shoot when the situation occurs. Hares fight not only for food – males fight for the females and females reject males with the same method.
Do they respond any differently to artificial light ?
The hares are not affected by the artificial light. They were a bit wary about the camera clicks in the beginning, but they gradually became accustomed to it. Otherwise, they remain shy and I cannot leave my camouflage (hide) while they are around. Although I’ve spent a lot of time on this project, no spring is the same, and new situations and ideas appear. This year’s photo season has just started and I am excited about learning what photo opportunities it will bring.
You have both won a lot of awards for your photography. Are you competitive with each other? Orsi:
Awards are a positive feedback that are nice to receive every now and then, but we don’t give them too much importance. Last year we entered many competitions as prizes can be good advertisements to sell our book, but it gave us a lot of work. This year we quit this activity and it feels fine!
We are not competitive with each other, we’d rather help and support the other to perform better. We have different priorities and interests in photography, but we often share our goals and projects, so there is no reason to compete.
Who, or what, inspires you photographically now? Orsi:
I’m fascinated by nature – its power, beauty, harmony and silence. When I am out there, I seek to experience these qualities. For my photography, I am searching for unseen or surprising scenes that make me stop. I focus on long-term projects and when I work in the field, I know what subject I want to photograph, in what season and in what conditions. However, in wild nature it’s impossible to foresee exactly what I will find until I recognize potential in a situation. These give me inspiration to delve deep into a subject and continue exploring it.
As we do most of our photography on hiking trips in relatively remote areas, we try to keep the photo equipment we carry to a minimum
Erlend: I am a self-taught photographer. I have learnt from many other photographers on the way, but my inspiration always comes from nature. Orsi and I choose our projects carefully, always trying to find something new: a barely explored location, or a new approach to photograph a certain subject. This is how we single out our common or personal projects.
What’s the biggest lesson being a photographer has taught you? Erlend:
The more time I spend in nature, the more respect I have for its finely tuned balance. Unfortunately, people get more and more ignorant and distant from nature and consider it as a bare resource for their own well-being. I have doubts about the impact of images to motivate a
lifestyle change, but I hope they can help people to see and appreciate nature in its own right. Maybe they will help people alter their lives to accommodate nature more.
What is the single best piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to be a nature photographer? Orsi:
There are lots of factors that play a role in whether or not you will succeed. This is not an ordinary job that’s waiting for you after graduation. If you have the talent, the interest, the passion and the diligence, you will undoubtedly grow as a nature photographer. But at the start, you’re better off keeping it as a hobby. You can consider becoming a professional once you feel you can earn part of your living through nature photography.