Lately, I have been enjoying doing a lot of long lens photography, specifically with the 100-400 Sony GM lens. Thus, when I am on workshops that I run and have the chance to shoot wildlife, I work hard at getting extreme close-ups like this image. This was made in Svalbard of these wonderful walrus. I used a high shutter speed to capture the water, which I think adds to the picture.
Svalbard is one of my favorite places to visit and do workshops, especially when we encounter these magnificent polar bears.
I love Svalbard which is a part of Norway and some of the most northern Islands in the world. I travel to Svalbard at least once a year. One of the highlights is photographing, and I look for two particular animal types. Polar Bears and Arctic Foxes. Here’s an Arctica Fox shot on a trip about a year ago. They have a coat that changes from dark to white once a year. They also don’t have a very long life; thus they tend to get the most out of their time on earth. Adorable creatures.
A long boat ride from Longyearbyen, Svalbard sits an abandoned city that was once a thriving Russian coal mine. I have visited this location on just about every visit I have made to Svalbard. It’s an incredible place and is a ton of fun to photograph in. This is an image from the community center’s music room. I’ll have more images from this amazing place in the coming weeks.
I love Puffins. Puffins are incredible little birds with a big attitude. These birds are usually found in the arctic regions and I have photographed them in Iceknd and Svalbard. They are known for diving off of cliffs, catching krill and returning to their burrows where they feed their young. These birds can fly like no other bird. they have a unique sound and they are just plain cool. If you get to Iceland you should definately make viewing puffins high on your list.
Wow, what a trip. I’m now home from Greenland. I leave again on Monday for another trip but today I wanted to post some photos from our first day of the trip. Before we left Svalbard we had a day to explore. I photographed Walrus and Arctic Fox. These images are just two from an amazing session shooting these fox. There were five of them and one caught a bird and took off from the others. These little guys are amazingly fast. I shot these with the new Sony a9 and 100-400mm GM lens. Auto-focus was amazing and I set the camera on manual at 1000th sec. the ISO was set on auto. This method allowed me to freeze action and allowed the ISO to vary for the light.
I have had the chance to photograph Polar Bears several times and they are just magnificent animals. On one trip we pushed way far into the ice, turned the engines off and drifted for a few days and let the bears come to us. Sometimes we had a few bears around the ship. They were as curious as we were. This is a bear who was quite active. He was jumping between chunks of ice. Shot with a Nikon D800.
A few years ago I made my first journey to the Svalbard area in the Artic Circle. It was my first opportunity to photograph Polar Bears. And, it was an experience I won’t forget. I have been back several times and have loved photographing these incredible animals. The Polar Bear though is in trouble for numerous reason. I have spent time learning about this and making friends with a number of experts on the topic. This image I think tells a story. It expresses well what is happening. The bear is at the edge of the ice looking off and this symbolizes what the bears are facing. Shrinking ice packs and with it a challenge for them to survive. I call this image Polar Bear On The Edge. I think the bird at the top really adds to the image.
I love animals. They have not a care in the world. They are here to share their love with us and to show us how to have fun. This photo should say it all. There is one way to live and that is full steam ahead. I shot a ton of images of these two dogs playing. Just like I shot a ton of the Arctic foxes playing this past summer in Svalbard. No matter where you go you will see animals having a good time. I guess I’ll have to pick up a stick and run a little and see who wants to chase me.
I have been playing wit this image for a while. This a shot of a ship that was wrecked or beached in Svalbard, Norway. It has all the things I like, decay and rust in a beautiful setting. I shot it at the angle I did to utilize the lines of the boat in the composition. This was made with a Nikon d*00e and a 24-70mm lens.