Trollstigen Road In Norway

[4Vikram]

Photographing landscapes well is harder than one might think.

“Even the most scenic sites need a discerning eye to make a picture special,” says Traveler‘s director of photography, Dan Westergren. “The default is to shoot images that include everything—except a personal point of view.”

German photo enthusiast Christoph Schaarschmidt solved this by waiting patiently to get his shot. “It was my dream to take a photo of light trails,” he says. “When I found this perfect vantage point on the Trollstigen Mountain Road in Norway, fog obscured the scene.”

The Nat Geo Your Shot community member lingered, poised to shoot—until 1 a.m., when the mist cleared. “Luckily, a car was driving up the steep switchbacks, creating my light trail. I clicked away. Within minutes the fog had returned.”

A great photo, notes Westergren, “captures a feeling that goes deeper than a literal visual record. In this case, the moody weather made all the difference.”