When visiting what I cal big sky locations I find myself enjoying shooting panoramas. These are multiple images that are blended (stitched) together in Photoshop. This image was made just about ten days ago in Svalbad. It was shot handheld and was 14 images that were stitched together. Made with Nikon D800E and 24-70mm lens.
Hard to believe that a week ago I was in winter clothing exploring the northern polar regions of Svalbard, Norway. What an amazing trip and I worked with two different groups of the nicest people on the the trip. I was an instructor along with Peter Cox for the Luminous-landscape – Rockhopper Workshops my day job. We saw amazing sights as well as some real up close encounters with wildlife. On our last day we found 2 Arctic foxes playing and we were able to shoot hundreds of images. This is one of my favorites. It just draws you in. Shot with a Nikon D800e and the new Tamron 150-600mm lens. I can’t wait to make a print of this one.
On both of our trips in the recent Svalabrd workshop we visited the Ice Wall of Brasvellbreen. It is hard to describe this location. It is not a Glacier but an ice cap and one of the largest in the world depending on who you ask. The bottom line is it is hundreds of kilometers long and has hundreds of cascading waterfalls and textures. We were fortunate to arrive at this location with the sun sweeping over the face of the ice wall. And this was around midnight. at this time of year there is 24 hours of light in the Arctic. I’ll have more images of this amazing ice wall in the near future.
It’s nice to be back home. I have spent the last three weeks with Peter Cox and Morton Jørgensen cruising the Svalbard area with 2 workshop groups. We were on the prow for wildlife and great landscapes. Overall on both workshops we have a mission accomplished. We had the chance to photograph Polar Bears, Walrus, many birds, whales, glaciers and as in this image above Arctic Fox. The Arctic Fox is a hearty animal having to live in Arctic Conditions for most of the year. For the winter months it is a pure white animal and then in the summer months it sheds it coat and looks pretty much like the image above until late August when it grows its winter coat back. I had the chance to photograph this fox on two occasions in the last few weeks. I have quite a few beautiful images from the few hours spent with this fox and its brother. Look for more soon.
Before I start publishing a lot of the other wildlife images from this trip and some amazing other Polar Bear photos, I thought I would tease with one that is just a classic pose. This Polar bear let us photograph her for almost two hours. She was on a fresh kill. It was one of the best two hours I have ever spent shooting. I’ll publish more images over the coming days.
I am now in Oslo, Norway about to start the second leg of my journey back to home to Indianapolis. I have been away for 3 weeks and 16 of those days have been at sea leading two amazing photo workshops in the Arctic region of Svlabard, Norway. This was my second trip to Svalbard and it won’t be my last. I got to share this trip with some amazing people and take so many amazing images. We have polar bear pictures and one of them was on a kill. Walrus and Arctic fox. We shot an Ice Wall that is 100’s of kilometers longs with ware falls at just the right light. We shot a bird cliff where I have never seen so many birds. So, over the coming weeks you’ll find a ton of images here on a daily basis, plus give em a few weeks and I’ll have a trip log of this trip. I am home for a few weeks before leading a workshop in the Palouse. So, let’s start out with a classic Iceberg shot. Funny to all dressed up in winter gear in July.
I’m leaving today to go as far north as possible, Svalbard, Norway. I’ll be leading 2 back to back Rockhopper Workshop tours into the Polar ice and Svalbard area to photograph Polar Bears, Reindeer, Arctic Fox and other wildlife plus some great landscapes including some amazing glaciers. I won’t be back until July 31st and will have no internet. I’ll definitely suffer internet withdrawal but I should be OK. If we do get any signal I’ll put up a post. Otherwise see you back here on the 31st. Maybe I’ll even find Santa Claus.
Today I have announced two very specialized workshops to the northern polar regions in July. I traveled to the Svalbard region last summer and was blown away by the amazing landscape and wildlife. I photographed polar bears on 15 separate encounters. Just incredible is the only way to describe it. You can view my images from this past summer by selecting the Svalbard Gallery from the Gallery Menu above. If you are interested in an amazing adventure to an amazing part of the planet then register today. More information can be found HERE.
On my trip this past summer to Svalbard I was amazed at a lot of things. The wildlife always had my attention, but the ice and incredible landscapes had my focus. All during the trip I saw huge glaciers, wide open ice packs, and like in the image an amazing amount of melt off running off these glacier at an amazing large volume. This image I find to be stunning as there is so much depth and detail.
I made my first visit to the northern pole regions of our planet this past August. What an incredible trip. I plan to take two small boat expeditions there next July. This is an image from one of the 15 polar bear encounters we had during this trip. Just amazing animals. Especially when you see the way they live.