Mads Nordsveen has traveled the world, photographing magnificent French cliffsides, palm-lined California beaches, and the Northern Lights.
But it was a simpler sight in his native Norway that struck his eye over the weekend.
The travel photographer was hiking with companions on the northern Norwegian island of Senja when they came upon a small reindeer calf that was as white as the snow that covered the ground around them.
“He almost vanished into the snow!” Nordsveen afterwards posted on Instagram about it.
The calf could have been mistaken for another snow pile if it hadn’t had dark eyes and bone-colored antlers protruding into the air.
Nordsveen and his companions swiftly came to a halt. A brown reindeer, which Nordsveen assumed was the calf’s mother, stood a few hundred yards away, he said.
“The calf seemed a bit hesitant at first, but we sat perfectly silent and were quite calm, and gradually it approached very close,” Nordsveen, who is based in Oslo, wrote to The Washington Post in an email.
Nordsveen said he was entranced for a few seconds before his “photography instinct” kicked in. He took out his camera and started shooting.
“It was a very unique time; it felt quite magical!” Nordsveen explained. “We locked our gazes on each other.”
The calf lingered near to Nordsveen for around five minutes before running back to his mother, according to Nordsveen. The couple then vanished into the forest.
Nordsveen shared photographs of the uncommon white reindeer to Instagram on Monday, and they soon received tens of thousands of likes.
“What a beauty,” one user said. “The most beautiful little creature I’ve ever seen!” exclaimed another.
Nordsveen stated that white reindeer are so rare that they are supposed to bring happiness to the indigenous Sami people, many of whom herd reindeer in northern Norway.
The sight is so unique that the Norwegian tourism agency once advertised a drone film of a “albino reindeer” running under the midnight sun.
Not all white animals are albino, contrary to popular assumption. Some animals suffer from leucism, a disorder that causes them to lose their color. (Albinism, on the other hand, indicates a lack of pigmentation to begin with.) Albino animals are distinguished by their white hair and pink eyes.)
Nordsveen stated that he began photographing Norwegian landscapes in order to blend his passion of travel and outdoor activities with his desire to preserve those memories. He said he does a lot of research before his excursions to discover the best settings and vistas — but nothing could have prepared him for the encounter with the white reindeer calf.
“Magical situations like the reindeer images cannot be planned!” he exclaimed.
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