I got home this morning from a fantastic trip to Abisko, great to meet up with Chad and Linnea of Lights Over Lapland again and spend some time getting to know Abisko National Park in preparation for the winter. I think what struck me the most is the sheer beauty of the place. I know the focus is on the Northern Lights during the winter but I'd happily photograph there at any time of the year. This is a collection of random shots I like that I haven't posted previously, as with any new place it takes a little time to understand and get some really great photographs but for a first look, there are a couple of nice ones. The mountain scenery was spectacular, I was lucky enough to get a couple of days with changeable weather, perfect for photography. I love this shot looking down in to the valley, the way the sun hits the rain is heaven for a photographer.

There are lots of elements key to good landscape photography, natural and man-made objects to lead the eye, a variety of scenes from lakes to mountains, forest to rivers. This was a nice spot, the last remaining snow had been sculpted by the wind and was a perfect lead in to the chairlift silhouetted against the heavy sky, topped off with a little low mist rising from the snow.

Heading off through the forest was really interesting, there were random clearings, usually containing small lakes and large mosquitos! The weather was bright and blue for a few days but I prefer the heavy cloud filled skies for shots like this.

Whilst the park was beautiful, I also really liked the scenery from the drive to Norway, simple elements that worked so perfectly together. I really like the communications towers in this shot, it gave scale to the view and really added to the scene for me, some people like to avoid objects like this in landscapes but I think there's a place for them.

And back finally to the stunning view over the valley from the Aurora Sky Station, this really was a spectacular view and a good day to be up there.

So that was my first visit to Abisko, I will be returning in a couple of weeks to photograph as the summer comes to an end and the autumn starts, it will be interesting to catch the colours in the Birch trees. I'm really looking forward to showing people the area over winter and helping get some truly stunning aurora pictures. If you're planning a trip North then I can highly recommend Abisko, get in touch with Chad and Linnea and we can organise showing you the real beauty of the area.