The Odd Couple - a photo on Flickriver

The Odd Couple

The twin falls of Storulfossen are an unusual pair of bedfellows. On the left, there’s Mr Storulfossen, subtle as a flying concrete block as he gushes over the edge of deep cut rock and down to the next level. No time is wasted at all getting to the bottom and charging off down towards the next big drop at Ulafossen. He’s all about the race and not the journey. While on the right sits Mrs Storulfossen, who takes more care of her appearance, stepping daintily across the precipice in a web of filigree patterns. Every inch of her vertical descent to the shallow basin below is a carefully considered element to an enduring work of art that makes for a total contrast to her noisy wayward spouse. I shared this simile with Ali on my return. “Isn’t that always the way?” she replied. I’m not sure who she was basing her barb on, but quite how these two halves of one waterfall ever ended up together is a question I can’t really answer. What I do know is that it was one of the sights we’d been most looking forward to on our five night visit to the Rondane.

It took a heck of a long time to actually get to the waterfall though. Not because it was far from where we parked the car, nor was it due to difficult terrain. It’s just that everything in every direction was so very photogenic. On the first afternoon we were almost jumping from the car before we’d parked it, such was the overwhelming sight of the snow covered mountains to the east, before which stretched an infinity of autumn colour. The distractions continued as we slowly made our way down to the river, where at first we moved away from Storulfossen. There was plenty of time and we knew roughly where it was and how far away. We’d get there soon enough. We didn’t though. The Rondane was putting on a show and it was impossible to walk more than a few steps without dragging the cameras out of the bags again.

By the time we finally got to Storulfossen, the light was getting low and we were still being distracted by the drama in the mountains. It all turned into a half considered rush. Frustrating, as I really wanted a long time here to observe the odd couple from any number of angles. I was sure that there were countless possibilities at almost every imaginable focal length here. As I looked behind me to the east, a rainbow was hanging over the mountains, and with the light having almost left the falls, I raced up onto higher ground again to concentrate on other things. I needed to tell Steve about that rainbow quickly too. Where was Steve exactly? Oh yes, a bright yellow coat in the distance gave him away. He was already pointing the camera towards it. “Rainbow!” said the Whatsapp message that I hadn’t noticed on my phone until now. We agreed that a return to Storulfossen tomorrow afternoon was a must. Neither of us had begun to do it justice.

The following afternoon we were distracted again. Honestly, this landscape never gives you a chance to settle. You can have the best intentions, but everything, and I mean everything you see here at this time of year will distract you from your task. Even after getting out of the car we deliberately went in the wrong direction at first, because there was a group of houses around a small lake that were begging to be photographed. To the east and south lay the mountains of the Rondane, many of them already coated in a fine sugar white dusting on the higher slopes. To the north an open space filled with Silver Birches, some alone, others in an increasingly populated woodland space. And over to the west, a long way off but just about close enough to point the long lens at, stood the huge angular mountains of the Jotunheimen. So much colour everywhere you looked. At more than eleven hundred metres above sea level it’s a landscape that’s never forgotten once seen, and you’ll want to photograph just about everything in front of you, from the bilberries on the ground surrounded by fierce red leaves, to those distant blue Jotunheimen snow capped peaks.

So it still took quite a while to cover the mile from the car to the odd couple, and again I arrived far later than I’d intended to, such were the visual diversions along that path to the waterfall. You’ve probably already worked out that the full story of this stunning area can’t be told in one picture alone. It really is a place where you could spend a very long time on just one subject, yet there are so many of them to choose from. To come all the way to this remote highland area of Norway from home was quite a journey, and it’s one I’ll be forever glad I made.

And just as a footnote for now, we bumped into a Flickr friend of ours here quite by chance. But we'll save that story for another Rondane moment.

Also. Stig Floberghagen has just released a new video from here on YouTube. We must have been there within a couple of days of one another. Well worth a watch.

youtu.be/yYaNVT4H1w0?si=KphWrpjHhVgTLUN2

Taken in: Norway / Oppland / Mysusæter (show map)

Taken on: September 17, 2025

Tags:

Storulfossen

Storula

fossen

Storulafossen

Brudesloret

Water

Waterfall

River

Mountain

mountains

long exposure

Norway

Norge

Rondane

national park

wilderness

landscape

landscape photography

golden hour

Autumn

colour

September

glow

Scandinavia

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Sets appears in: • Norway • Scandinavia 2025 more » • Waterfalls « less

Groups appears in: • Norway • Scandinavian Delight more » • Waterfalls • Autumn Anywhere • Photography Week • Flickr Social • Waterfalls from around the world. « less

Camera: Nikon Z 7_2, f/13.0, 0.8 sec, 19mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 7_2
Lens:	NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S
Aperture:	f/13.0
Exposure Time:	0.8
Focal Length:	19mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 15.0 (Macintosh)
Show full info

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