Vanessa Haines, Solstice (LANDSCAPE 2025)

These photographs were taken the furthest north I have ever been. This was the Hesten trail head in Fjordgård, Norway, and after having slept for 4 hours woke up at 12am to drive an hour to then start hiking this mountain and arrive at the peak at 3am to witness the sun's maximum declination and beginning of the longest day on the other side of the world. It was a magical experience, where I FaceTimed my family all the way back home here in Australia to show them how unbelievably this experience was. That here I was at the top of a mountain at 3am and it was full daylight, it's an experience I will hold to my heart and I hope this series captures the beauty and the magic of this wonderful place

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.