Category: Arctic

Guest Photographer: Dallas Thomas Svalbard Winter Expedition 2017

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A few years ago I started a new segment on my blog for photographers with whom I have travelled before in order to provide an outlet for them to share some of their own writing and photography amongst a wider audience. It has been a while since the last post (read Here) but I wanted to share some thoughts and photographs from Dallas Thomas who recently accompanied me on my Winter Svalbard Expedition. It was a pleasure travelling and photographing with Dallas and all aboard this expedition and I just wanted to pass on my thanks to him for both his participation and for sharing some of his thoughts and photographs from this expedition here on my blog. All text and photographs by Dallas Thomas .

Svalbard Winter 2017 – My High Arctic Adventure Dallas Thomas

I had the privilege of spending 10 nights in the arctic in Svalbard in late March, it’s located 2,000km north of Oslo, Norway. A geographically remote place it’s the most northern permanent settlement in the world The North Pole is about 1,300km north.Eight of these nights were on the MS Origo exploring the fjords of Svalbard looking for polar bears and other wildlife to photograph. I have included a short film “Kingdom of the Ice Bear” made 2 years by our expedition leader Joshua Holko, the film was shot later in the season than we experienced. Unfortunately we only saw three polar bears, but seeing these magnificent animals in their natural environment was something I will never forget.

What did surprise and sadden me was the naturist onboard told us 90% of fish caught in the area that were tested had some form of plasticised evident. This was so surprising given the pristine environment we were in. Yes Dallas is starting to turn green!!

You may ask was it cold, the answer is hell yes, the 2nd day out it was – 29 and when the chill was factored in call it -50. The Captain later told us he has never experienced colder weather!

We went as far north as the conditions would allow, the sea ice stopped our voyage at 79’43’38’ for the technical minded, this well inside the arctic circle which starts at 66’.
The landscape is brutal, harsh yet very beautiful.
My advise is if you are thinking of visiting a wilderness like this do it now while you still can.
More photographs can be found on my website www.atstudioeleven.com.au under travel Norway. I have many more images yet to process so feel free to check frequently.
If you are interested in travelling and photographing in Svalbard in Winter I will be running another expedition in March next year. Please contact me for further details (limited places already remaining).

The Making of a WPPI Award Winning Film – Kingdom of the Ice Bear

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Rangefinder magazine has just published a short article on the judges thoughts and notes on the short film Kingdom of the Ice Bear (watch the video) that took out First Place at this years WPPI awards in the Commercial / Illustrative category.If you are interested in travelling to the high Arctic and photographing Polar Bears, Walrus, Arctic Fox, Reindeer and the incredible landscapes found in the Arctic then there is one place remaining on my expedition to Svalbard this July before it will be sold out. You can register your interest by dropping me an email at info@jholko.com

Photo of the Month April 2017 – Polar Bear Play

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A few days ago I returned back to Australia after more than two months of back-to-back expeditions to Finland, Iceland and Svalbard in winter (I will have trip reports over the coming weeks). During the course of these travels I shot over thirty thousand images and now have many weeks of editing ahead of me. One of my initial selects is of a mother Polar Bear and her cub playing on the sea ice at twilight. This photograph was made on a private snow mobile expedition on the East coast of Svalbard during which we were filming for a new short film on polar photography to be released later this year. The cub was rolling around on the ice playfully as the mother watched on. We were extremely fortunate to have some absolutely superb winter light on the distant mountains.

Svalbard Winter Expedition Complete – Australia Bound…

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We have just docked back in Longyearbyen from our Svalbard Winter expedition (full trip report on my return to Australia). We had some absolutely incredible Winter landscapes – frozen fjords, stunning sea ice and some pretty remarkable Polar Bear behaviour. Also, Arctic Fox, Reindeer and Walrus on Ice! My sincere thanks to all who participated and braved the extremes of the Arctic Winter. Our coldest day was -29.5C with 25 knots of wind (just south of -50 Celsius and the coldest temperature I have ever photographed in) and temps generally south of -20C with many days of -25C and below. Starting the long trek home to Australia now…Looking forward to a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for at least a little while…

AIPP Epson Victorian Professional Photography Awards 2017 – Documentary Winner

Posted in Antarctica, Arctic, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife Photographs2 Comments

The AIPP 2017 Epson Victorian Professional Photography Awards were held in Melbourne Victoria this past week. This was the second time in a row I have been unable to attend due to overseas workshop and expedition commitments. I am actually still currently in Svalbard and have just wrapped up seven days of filming on a snow mobile expedition in the Arctic in winter for a new documentary that will be released later this year on polar photography (more on this later – a quick behind the scenes image below). This year for the VPPY awards, I split my print entries across the Documentary and Science, Wildlife and Wild Places categories. I was very pleased to receive word a couple of days ago that not only had the majority of my prints been awarded Silver or Silver with Distinction awards, but that I was also the honoured as the overall winner for the EPSON Victorian 2017 Professional Documentary Photographer of the Year as well as being a finalist in the Science, Wildlife and Wild Places category. I have previously won the Science, Wildlife and Wild Places category in 2014 and was also a finalist in 2015 and 2016.

From my previous post on these awards: The AIPP National and State awards are two of the few remaining competitions to actually judge the finished print and they do so using a panel of judges all deemed experts in their respective genres and accredited as Masters of Photography through their years of success in this arena. Prints are judged in a controlled lighting environment and assessed for their content, originality as well as technical craftsmanship. The judging is enthralling to watch and can be quite nerve wracking if you are a first time entrant as the standard of work is incredibly high. 

All of the prints were printed on Moab Somerset Museum Rag. This wonderful paper has continued to remain my all-time favourite stock for fine art photography prints.

Now its time to put the 2017 VPPY Awards behind me and get some much needed rest. In just a few hours time I will be leaving Longyearbyen to embark on my Winter Svalbard Expedition. If you are interested in travelling and photographing in the Arctic in winter and experiencing what this incredible part of the world has to offer then you can read more about this expedition HERE.