I’m really, really, starving to find some flowers by now. Without a guide or knowing anyone who has any local knowledge, I have no idea where those beauties are hiding in Föne so all I can do is just randomly go from place to place, hoping that I would come across something interesting. So far, I’ve found nothing of any interest. Partly because this is still early season, partly because I haven’t had any luck. But probably mostly because I haven’t been in the right places, even if I’m still convinced that there has to be something in the flood plains.

So that’s where I headed in the evening, to see what it can offer in the evening light. For landscape pictures, the place is full of potential but I realise now that in practice it’s very difficult to make anything out of that potential. All those wonderful old riverbeds are lined with forest, which means that there’s just far too much contrast in the evening when one side is lit and the other one is shaded. You need to find a riverbed in such direction that the sun shines directly into it so both sides are lit.

But despite this photographic dilemma, I’m loving the place more and more with every visit. Not least because it seems to be full of surprises, and today’s surprise was one of the most amazing wildlife encounters I’ve ever had!

I was walking back when I saw something move between the trees ahead. A moose! As luck would have it, I was carrying the camera around my neck so no problems to get a picture. However, I had just been shooting some landscape pictures with the 11-16mm wideangle, have you ever tried to shoot a wild animal at 16mm? Or a tame animal, for that matter? But the moose wasn’t aware of me, so put down my pack and quickly swapped lenses, the 150mm macro was better than 16mm for sure. So again, I took some shots and the moose still didn’t notice me. The wind must’ve been blowing towards me… so I crawled forward and took some more shots. Repeat and rinse. I was able to get all the way to the water’s edge and the moose had no idea I was there. A couple of times it seemed like it had been looking at me, but either it didn’t see me or didn’t care because it just kept plunging its head in the water to grab some grass and ate happily, while I was frantically shooting off frame after frame, desperately hoping that something would work out. In the meanwhile, the mosquitoes were having a feast on me but I guess I was so full of adrenaline that I barely noticed. It would’ve taken a swarm of wasps to make me leave!

Finally the moose had had its fill and calmly disappeared in the forest, apparently none the wiser that I was there. What an amazing situation… something like that has never, ever happened to me! This was the first wild moose I ever caught on camera, not counting Canada. Since I’m not a wildlife photographer, I never make any plans for shooting wildlife. Every wildlife encounter is just pure luck – last week with the badger, it happened way too quickly to do anything about it. But today was one of those rare lucky days when everything worked out and I experienced something that will always stay with me. And anyway, you can make your own luck by being out there often enough. At some point the numbers will tip to your favour!

Was the 150mm enough then? Of course not. Do I regret I didn’t have 300mm? No I don’t. Taking the 300mm lens was never an option. I didn’t consider it, not for a fraction of a second, it just didn’t exist. Had I been standing at home with the lens in my hand, trying to decide if I should take or not, and then leave it at home… now that would’ve hurt, a lot. But since I didn’t consider it, I was just incredibly grateful I had 150mm with me. The best equipment is always the one you carry with you!