Daniel Bergmann and I have just concluded our 2013 Iceland Summer Workshop. We had some stunning light and dramatic weather during our travels and some amazing images were produced by all participants. During our travel one of the many places we visited was the spectacular Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. Jökulsárlón is one of my favourite places in the world for landscape photography and I have written before extensively on the amazing landscape found in this area of Iceland. I never tire of returning to this glacial lagoon and always look forward to the expression on people’s faces on their first visit to this wondrous location. This photograph was one of many we took as we wandered the shores of the lagoon at 2:30am. The midnight sun was rising and provided us with some wonderful alpine glow on the Vatnajökull ice cap in the distance.
I now have a couple of days to rest and catch up on email before Daniel and I head to Longyearyben and the Svalbard Archipeligo where we will board M.S Origo with a dozen other photographers to spend two weeks photographing Polar Bears and other wildlife. Before we leave for Longyearbyen I am hoping to take the opportunity to squeeze in some aerial photography here in Iceland. I have wanted to photograph the glacial river deltas and goethermal Landmannalaugar areas from the air since my first visit to Iceland and with a little luck the weather will be clear enough tomorrow to fly.
Category: Landscape Photographs
Landscape Photographs from around the World
InFocus Australasia Magazine – Issue #4 An Arctic Journey
Custom Made Media has just published issue number four of InFocus Magazine which includes a multi-page interview on my journey in photography. The article includes images from Iceland, South America and Antarctica. InFocus is a free photography magazine and is one of the new generation interactive magazines that is available for the iPad and other tablet devices.
Infocus Australasia is the ultimate in photography magazine experiences. Infocus will cater to the photography and cinema enthusiast across the board, serving to the reader world class tutorials, step-by-step instruction on taking better photographs and all the latest in equipment reviews. We also go behind the scene with some of the world’s leading professional photographers. We show you what they use, when they use it and how they use it. From the beginner right through to the professional, Infocus is everything any photographer would want in a magazine, and best of all it’s FREE! Subscribe now for your monthly issue to be sent directly to your iPad.
WILD Magazine Features Antarctica Portfolio
Wild magazine has remained my favourite Australian outdoor adventure magazines over the years and I am very pleased to have a portfolio of my images from Antarctica featured in the current issue. This is the second time WILD have featured a portfolio of my photography. The first was back in February 2011 when they published a series of images from Iceland under the title ‘Fire and Ice‘. This 2nd portfolio of images from my 2011 Antarctica expedition includes some of my favourite images from that trip.
If you are interested in joining me on an expedition to Antarctica there are still a couple of spots remaining on the November trip I am leading with my good friend Daniel Bergmann this year. This promises to be a very special and unique expedition. You can download a detailed PDF flyer and itinerary from the Workshops Page on my website or contact me for further information.
FootNote:
Wild magazine was founded and originally owned by Chris Baxter – a well respected climber and outdoorsman in his own right who was largely responsible for a significant portion of the early climbing scene in Australia. I had the privilege of knowing Chris and climbing with him briefly during my youth at both Mount Arapiles and The Grampians. Chris forged many new climbs at both of these world famous locations as well as Mount Buffalo and was a full time character in the Australian climbing scene. Chris subsequently sold Wild due to health issues after building up a very successful publishing company that became the outlet for all things bush walking and climbing related in Australia. Unfortunately Chris passed away in 2010 after a long fight with cancer but ‘Wild’ and ‘Rock’ continue to be published under new new ownership.
Antarctica Expedition 2013 – Limited Places Available
Daniel Bergmann and I have had a couple of places become available on the Antarctica Photographic Expedition we are leading in November this year. There is one triple share male space remaining, one twin-share and one-twin private place before the trip is sold out.
This has been a trip more than 8 months in the planning and has been designed and structured to provide the very best possible photographic opportunities. It also includes some truly unique features and opportunities that we are really excited about. The expedition is for a strictly limited number of 50 participants plus leaders and expedition guide and will offer an extended period in Antarctica (15 Day / 14 night Expedition). Whilst most trips to Antarctica take 100+ tourists we are capping the trip at a maximum of 50 dedicated photographers in order to ensure the best possible experience and photographic opportunities. We will be using an ice hardened expedition ship with a highly experienced crew in order to ensure we can get as close as possible to big ice and place you in the best locations for making photographs. Our expedition ship the ‘Polar Pioneer’ is equipped with sufficient zodiacs and crew for all photographers to be shooting simultaneously with plenty of room to spare for camera equipment.
The expedition departs on the 9th of November 2013 and returns on the 23rd of November 2013 and includes very special access into areas normally restricted to scientific research, as well as taking in amazing locations such as the breathtaking Lemaire Channel, the Gerlache Strait and the surreal geothermal Deception Island, to name but a few. There is a fly return from the Falkland Islands; which avoids the worst of the Drake Passage and allows us more time in Antarctica as well as the opportunity to visit and photograph in the the wildlife rich Falkland Islands. There is also an option to stay on in the Falklands for each person for as long as they wish. Flights run once a week out of the Falklands with LAN Chile.
KEY FEATURES OF THIS EXPEDITION
- Strictly Limited to a maximum of 50 participants (much smaller than most other trips to Antarctica, more personal space and the ability for everyone to go ashore and work from zodiacs simultaneously)
- Ice Hardened Expedition Class Ship
- 15 Day Trip (Most trips are only 10 days), which means more time for photography
- Access to areas of Antarctica dedicated to scientific research
- The expedition is dedicated to photography first and foremost; which means we will be spending the maximum amount of time possible shooting from ship, shore and zodiac.
- Added experience of Wildlife in the Falkland Islands and the ability to stay on after the trip in the Falklands.
Weather dependant there will be the added option to spend a night ashore camping in Antarctica. Should the weather favour us we will select a suitable location at the end of a days photography and head ashore via zodiac where we will make camp. All overnight camping equipment will be provided (including sleeping bags) and all you need to do is to make the decision to either spend the night ashore or on ship. Zodiacs will be kept ready throughout the night in case there is any need to return to ship. Of course if you choose to spend the night camping there will be non-stop opportunities for photography throughout the night. This is a fabulous opportunity to not only tick one of the seven continents but also to spend a night ashore.
In addition high end medium format camera manufacturer Phase One has joined this expedition. Kevin Raber, ex Vice President of Phase One PODAS workshops and now part owner of Luminous Landscape will be joining us for the duration of the expedition and will bringing a number of complete Phase One camera systems for everyone on the expedition to freely try and use throughout the trip. This is a truly extraordinary opportunity for all participants to experience the very best medium format digital system on the market today in what is in all likelyhood the most remote and amazing landscape on the planet. Not only will we be travelling to world class locations such as the geothermal Deception Island, the breathtaking Lemaire channel and the Gerlache Strait; but we will also be making photographs with some of the highest quality camera equipment available today.
To get an idea of the sort of photographs you will be able to take on this expedition please visit the Antarctica portfolio on my website at www.jholko.com You can download a detailed flyer and itinerary HERE .
If you are interested in joining us on what is going to be a unique and wondrous expedition to Antarctica then please drop me an email to secure one of these last remaining places. These last places are secured on a first come, first served basis ad once they are spoken for and booked thats it.
Glacial Details at the Svínafellsjökull Glacier – Iceland
One of the things I love most about photographing glaciers and icebergs is the incredible colour and textural detail to be found in the ice. On my last winter workshop to Iceland earlier this year I made a conscious effort to really focus on the intimate landscape much more than the grand vista and the glaciers were the ideal subject and source of inspiration (as they always are). I have always been attracted to glaciers, but as I spend more and more time with them I find myself drawn more and more by the details and seductive beauty of an ever-changing ice landscape. There is an incredible beauty in glacial ice that is bought about through time, immense pressure and environmental considerations. These intimate photographs from the Svínafellsjökull Glacier in Iceland I feel illustrate the beauty and color to be found in just this single rapidly disappearing glacier in the south of Iceland.
If you are interested, I would strongly encourage you to beg, borrow and watch the National Geographic documentary Chasing Ice. This follow up documentary to Extreme Ice documents the catastrophic effect global warming is having on the glaciers across the planet. As someone who regularly spends time in Iceland and the Polar regions I have witnessed first hand the dramatic melting that is underway. The worlds glaciers are not just slowly melting. They are melting at an accelerated rate as global warming speeds the process along. Rates of glacial deflation are at never before seen levels and if we do not act now to curbe the amounts of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere we may well lose these magnificent glacial beasts forever.
Higher resolution versions of these and more photographs from Iceland can be seen on my website at www.jholko.com