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The crystal clear waters of Ladtojaure reflecting the mountains around Kebnekaise, Sweden's tallest mountain (Kebnekaise itself should be visible on the far right of the photo but it's hidden by trees). Even on a cloudy, and occasionally stormy, day this lake was stunning to see. The mosquitos -- those black dots you see all over the lake if you look hard enough -- seemed to like the view too since they had gathered here en masse!

The clouds over Lake Ahvenlampi in Luosto explode into colour just after midnight. These were probably some of the most spectacular midnight sun colours I saw on my whole trip, since they filled the whole sky...and the lake below as well!

Outside the smoke sauna at Fell Centre Kiilopää, one of the gateways to northern Finland's Urho Kekkonen National Park, trickles this gorgeous stream. You may not think it so pretty when you're trying to jump into it though! I jumped in after a long sit in the sauna and its 7ºC waters actually hurt. I can't imagine what it would be like in winter -- although the Finns assured me that it's "even better" then!

The trees of Oulanka National Park -- freshly green after a long winter -- reflecting in the calm waters just upstream from Kiutaköngäs Falls.

The powerful crush of Låtefoss, just outside the town of Odda in Fjord Norway. This was such a powerful and huge waterfall that I've only managed to capture half in this photo -- there is a second set of falls hidden behind the rocks to the left. With the spray pouring off the falls and the heavy rain, it's a surprise I managed to get any photos at all!

A group of hikers heads into Lemmenjoki National Park for a day of walking. The boat cruise helps cut off around 19km of walking so visitors can see the best parts of the park (such as Ravadas Falls) in a day.

Looking into the mountains of Swedish Lapland from a lake at Nikkaluokta late on a summer evening. There was no longer midnight sun when I was there, but since I shot this around 11pm, I'd say that's close enough!

The land of fire and ice -- Iceland -- has plenty to offer of both fire and ice, but around the Vatnajökull glacier -- which covers 8% of the island's entire land mass! -- ice is definitely in more supply. I captured this scene on the glacier lake at Jökulsárlón. It was a gorgeous spot to be as the sun started dipping towards the horizon, and surprisingly not all that crowded given its popularity!

Recently, I wrote on my blog (at http://www.bootsandabackpack.com/menesjarvi-blissful-lapland-at-its-best/) about how Menesjärvi was the perfect spot to kick back and relax on a summer holiday. I mean, how could it not be when it featured scenes like this at 11pm?

When the weather in Stavanger started to clear in the afternoon, we made the spontaneous decision to drive out towards Lysebotn, the town at the end of the famous Lysefjord. We ended up driving all the way there -- including down the 21 hairpin turns of Lysevågen -- and were greeted with this golden hour view. There was even a bit of blue sky!

The clouds over Lake Ahvenlampi in Luosto explode into colour just after midnight. These were probably some of the most spectacular midnight sun colours I saw on my whole trip, since they filled the whole sky...and the lake below as well!

The trees weren't bothered by the steep angle of Kesänkitunturi's slopes, although they were perhaps more sensible than I was, since they stayed out of "Pirunkuru" -- which in English, means "damn canyon"!

A (partial) double rainbow sprouting from the base of Skógafoss on Iceland's south coast. We got so lucky seeing this at all; as we were getting ready for the day, I looked out the window and saw a wall of clouds descending on Skogar so we rushed as quickly as we could to get to Skógafoss. We saw this rainbow for about 5 minutes before the sun disappeared and it was gone.

Of all the things I've done on my travels that promise an adrenalin rush, this spot probably offered the biggest -- along with a healthy dose of fear. Sitting near the edge of Preikestolen is enough to turn your legs to jelly as you look down from the ledge that sits 604m above Lysefjord far below. Even though the rocky outcrop where I captured this shot from required quite a bit of clambering across cliff faces to get to, I much preferred being here than out on the rock itself. However, that did mean we got to watch as so many other people put themselves seemingly inches from certain death! It was exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.

Who knew the fells of Ylläs formed a heart shape when combined with the steep slope of ? I found that out when climbing up Pirunkuru, whose name fittingly translates to 'the damn canyon,' on my trek up Kesänkitunturi.

August sunrises in the Scottish Isles are early, but it's absolutely worth the early start to see this! Portree Harbour was quiet, broken only by the squawking of the occasional seagull and the sound of a boat starting off and motoring out to sea; it was a calm way to start a day of touring around some of the most frequented tourist spots in the Scottish Isles.

After I picked up my friend at Keflavik airport, we made a beeline for the closest landmark I knew -- the Gardur Lighthouse -- to try to watch the northern lights we could already see from the parking lot with less light pollution. It was a good choice! Camera: Nikon D750 w/ 16-35mm f4 lens ISO 1000, f4 @ 10s

Fingal Head lighthouse doing its best to light the way for nearby ships, while the Milky Way lights up the skies above.

Standing just above Ravadas Falls in Lemmenjoki National Park, the largest national park in Finland. This waterfall was stunning from all angles, and in the hour I had before the boat came back for the return trip down the Lemmenjoki River, I had to rush around like mad to get as many different compositions as I could! I also used my new Lee Filters Big Stopper for this shot, and I'm pretty happy with the results.

The dance of the boiling mud.

I started my day under overcast skies in Interlaken, but once I saw a live webcam image that showed what it looked like above the clouds at the top of Schilthorn, I couldn't buy my gondola ticket quickly enough. I had to slip and slide my way across the snow to the outer platform at Piz Gloria to get this view of the mountains peeking out of the sea of clouds, but the reward was worth it for the few of us that did make it there.
 Interestingly enough, this was one of the prominent filming locations for the Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," the only Bond film to feature Aussie actor George Lazenby as Bond. Even at the top of the Swiss Alps there's no escaping reminders of home!

The sky lights up in pink over the massive Goðafoss waterfall in northern Iceland. I couldn't have asked for a better 18hrs here -- a sunset, northern lights all night, and then blue skies the next day!

The rocky stream leading out of Ravadas Falls, one of the most popular attractions in Lemmenjoki National Park, Finland's largest national park.

Ravadas Falls crashes downhill in its rush to get to the Lemmenjoki River beyond. This is an easy day trip, despite the fact that it's located 19km into Lemmenjoki National Park; boats run twice daily so you can either go and walk around the falls for an hour or have a full day to hike 15-20km through some of the best scenery the park has to offer.

The aurora dances above the spectacular Goðafoss in northern Iceland.

The aurora dancing across the sky above the famous Godafoss in northern Iceland. I loved how it managed to defy the clouds trying to move in and hide it, since it meant hours more aurora watching for me!

The cliffs of Darwin's East Point reserve light up in pink just after sunset on a gorgeous evening in the dry season.

Morning in Nusfjord -- the lapping of the waves against the rocks, the cawing of seagulls, the absence of vehicles and busloads of visitors. It's a wonderful place to wake up and start the day. Location: Nusfjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway Camera: Nikon D750 w/ 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and Lee Big Stopper filter

As the clouds that had followed us for the morning slowly broke up, they turned the sky into a crazy puzzle with pieces that didn't quite fit together. When we stopped at Lower Waterfowl Lake to capture them, we found some piles of ice that fit right in with the scene; being -20º though, we decided not to try to fit all the icy puzzle pieces together!

Wow, how different the Blue Lagoon looks under the night sky! Even though the aurora was not incredibly bright on this evening, I still love the combination of colours created by it and the light pollution from Keflavík nearby.

It's hard to believe that this was taken around 10am, but when you've got a blanket of smoke smothering you from a season full of wildfires, the world looks a little bit different. This was one of the worst weeks of smoke we experienced over the summer, and it happened to coincide with my only trip of the summer to Jasper. It made for a very different visit from my previous trips up there, and actually resulted in one of my favourite shots I've ever captured of Athabasca Falls.

I thought I'd point out the Milky Way to everyone, just in case they couldn't find it :) Location: Somerset Dam, Queensland, Australia

Sunset may have occurred with barely a whimper, but the threatening clouds -- which made good on their threat and dumped snow overnight -- were just as impressive. Camera: Nikon D750 w/ Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED ISO 200, 218s @ f/11

As per usual, our trip up the Icefields Parkway on this day in early November took much longer than originally planned, so we didn't make it to Sunwapta Falls until blue hour had begun to settle on the landscape. And you know what? I reckon that's ok, since it made the already blue-and-white landscape that much deeper in colour.

After 10km of hiking through Paradise Valley -- a valley that truly lives up to its name, particularly in autumn, we reached the Giant Steps. This waterfall is breathtaking at any time of year, but the light frosting of snow and golden trees on the distant mountains made it even moreso. Even after two hours -- the most we could spare on our hike, since we still had Sentinel Pass to conquer -- we only saw a small portion of this area. I know which hike will be the top of my to-do list next summer!

The triple waterfall of Kirkjufellsfoss crashing down a hill in front of its namesake mountain. Even on days with moody weather, Iceland is still breathtakingly beautiful.