Norwegian photographer Terje Nilssen packs a camera alongside his fly rod. On summer fishing trips he photographs everything around the water: a hidden turquoise beach, a pink sunset over Harstad, a stream cutting through dark rock and the northern lights over a forest river. "I just love waiting for the right moment to take the picture, sitting there in my own thoughts and silence," he says.
Terje Nilssen's fishing-trip photographs
Nilssen set out to "show the world the beautiful nature we have in Norway", and his series carries titles that read like a fishing diary: The hidden beach, Harstad city sunset, Flyfisher's mekka, Stream of the earth, Magical forest and Winter is coming.
Fly-fishing suits landscape photography well. Both reward patience, early starts and late evenings, and both put you at the water's edge exactly when the light is changing. While waiting for a rise, there is time to notice how a cloud opens over a bay or how a reflection settles when the wind drops.
Harstad and the light of Northern Norway
Harstad is the second-largest town in Troms county after Tromsø, with about 21,000 inhabitants in the town itself. It sits on the northeastern shore of the large island of Hinnøya, facing Vågsfjorden. The town gained its charter on 1 January 1904, and the medieval Trondenes Church stands on its northern edge beside Trondenes Fort. Harstad/Narvik Airport at Evenes, about 44 km south, has regular flights to Oslo, Trondheim, Bodø, Tromsø and Andenes.
At this latitude, well north of the Arctic Circle, summer evenings stretch on for hours and sunsets melt into sunrises, which explains the long, soft colour in Harstad city sunset. In autumn the darkness returns, and with it the aurora that glows faintly over the forest in one of Nilssen's frames.
Fishing in Norway: what visitors need to know
- Sea fishing is free for everyone. Use handheld tackle only, respect minimum sizes, and do not sell your catch.
- Freshwater fishing needs a licence from the local rights holder; sports shops and tourist offices sell them.
- Salmon, sea trout, Arctic char and other fish that migrate upstream also require the national fishing fee, paid online on top of the local licence. The salmon season usually runs from June to August, with local rules on bait and hooks.
- Taking fish home: tourists aged 12 or over who fished through a registered fishing camp may export 15 kg of fish twice per calendar year, falling to 10 kg from 1 January 2027. Salmon, trout, char and other freshwater species are not covered by this allowance.
Waterside photography tips
Try Nilssen's approach on your next trip. From one comfortable spot, make three different pictures: one with the near shore as a foreground, one that concentrates on a reflection, and one detail in moving water. Calm evenings give the cleanest reflections, while a slower shutter speed turns a stream into silk. Keep the horizon low when the colour is in the sky, and high when the interest is in the water.
For a view from water level, explore Tomasz Furmanek’s kayak photographs of Norway. For a different way of living with the northern landscape, see the Norwegian NatureHouse beneath a glass dome, and for trip ideas, read about ten places in Norway, from cities to mountain views.
Related reading
- Norway in Photographs: Villages, Roads and Mountain Views
- Briksdalsbreen: Glacier Views in Norway’s Briksdal Valley
- Svalbard: Arctic Seasons, Settlements and Coastal Landscapes
- Hamnøy, Lofoten: Fishing Cabins Beneath the Mountains
- Besseggen Ridge: Gjende, Bessvatnet and a Demanding Norwegian Hike
- Jotunheimen The Home of Giants In Norway
- Norway in Time-Lapse: The Landscapes of Rustad Media
- Tromsø in Winter: Northern Lights, Arctic History and City Days
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