Svalbard Arctic Winter Scouting Trip Complete

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

Yesterday we arrived back in the small town of Longyearbyen via snow mobiles from our scouting trip to the wilderness in the north of Svalbard where we photographed Polar Bear, Reindeer and icy landscapes in the deep freeze of an Arctic Winter. This scouting trip ranks in the top five most amazing and extraodinary expeditions I have ever been fortunate to undertake – it was also the coldest. The mercury plummeted below -30º Celsius with wind chill on many occasions. Although it was cold (its the Arctic in Winter!) we had a mix of incredible light, landscape and wildlife in a deep winter scene that was a very special experience. Part of the problem in dealing with the cold during this test trip was that we were out in the elements for ten or more hours a day with no option to return to our hut to warm up. This meant donning lots of layers and being prepared to deal with really extreme temperatures for many hours. One of the few places you could actually get some warmth into your body when the cold seeped its way through the layers was from the heated handgrips on the snowmobiles and I was personally very pleased to have these available. Being able to operate the camera requires thin gloves and these offer little protection in this extreme environment. We were over two hundred kilometres from Longyearbyen in the remote northern part of Svalbard  which limited us to what we could take with us and the provisions already supplied at the hut. We travelled more than five hundred kilometres in total during the expedition.

During the expedition we encountered and photographed Polar Bears, Seals, Arctic Fox, as well as Reindeer and were able to make some very unique photographs of these animals in the Arctic Winter light. I will be sharing some of the photographs I made when I get a chance to process them on my return to Australia. As tempting as it is to process a few images on my macbook now, I really prefer to save this work for my studio editing machine where I have a much more tightly controlled colour managed environment.

I am going to stay in Longyearbyen for the next couple of days before I fly back to Iceland to continue my Arctic Fox project in the extreme north-east of Iceland. As it happens, there are several fox dens just outside of town in Longyearbyen and I want to check these out before I leave and potentially spend a day photographing the foxes if they are around. Once back in Iceland I am going to to drive up to Isafjord where I will take a charter boat up to the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve. This very remote part of Iceland is very rarely visited in winter and is only accessible by chartered boat (approximately four hours steam north of Isafjord) and there is no infrastructure (power, running water, roads etc.) in place in this wilderness so we have to take everything with us for the duration of the trip. It is a major undertaking to travel and photograph in Hornvik in winter requiring the co-ordination of not only a chartered boat, supplies, and emergency EPIRB, satellite communication equipment, but also special permission from the park ranger. I want to take a moment and thank my friends in Iceland who have helped make this all possible. Without their assistance in co-ordinating and arranging this expedition it simply would not have been possible. I spent a week or so last year in this area photographing Arctic Fox with their assistance from a snow blind and was able to get several images for my project that I was extremely happy with. I hope to get sufficient images from this expedition to complete the project. In the meantime I am going to enjoy a couple of days in Longyearbyen with hot water, electricity and a warm room. See you back in Iceland in a few days.

Arctic Fox Howl

March Photo of the Month Winner: Caroline Hind

Posted in Antarctica, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography1 Comment

Congratulations to the third print winner ‘Caroline Hind’, for the photograph of the month for March 2015: ‘Epic Sense of Scale’

What Caroline said: That is a truly spectacular image! I’ve been to Antarctica only once, but it’s captured my heart and I know I’ll be back.An Epic Sense of Scale

Congratulations Caroline, you were the first, and your print will be sent to you when I return to Australia in early April.

Keep an eye out on my blog for the next print giveaway with the April photograph of the month. Remember the best way to get instant updates is to subscribe via email.

2015 March Photograph of the Month: Epic Sense of Scale

Posted in Antarctica, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized21 Comments

The photograph of the month for March 2015 was shot during one of the last zodiac cruises on my 2013 Antarctica expedition. We were fortunate to come across an iceberg of truly monumental size near the entrance to Antarctic Sound. Whilst I have been fortunate to see and photograph icebergs even larger than this (and the biggest icebergs are measured in kilometres) this particular iceberg also had an incredible chasm, wonderful form and shape and beautifully chiselled features. Our expedition ship ‘Polar Pioneer’ pictured here is seventy two metres long and a full six decks high at the fly bridge.  This was actually one giant iceberg joined underneath the water.  Our ship could have easily fit through the chasm however such a venture would have been exceedingly dangerous. I admit though my mind was racing with the thought of a blast through this chasm in our zodiac! VPPY - Gold AwardDon’t forget! You can win a free 13″ x 19″ Win a Fine art Print of this photograph including shipping anywhere in the world. All you need do is to be the first to comment on this post on the home page with your thoughts on why you like this photograph or why you would like to own a print of the image and then share the post with your preferred social media outlet. Just keep in mind that due to my hectic travel schedule it may take me some time to make and post out each print so if you are the lucky winner for a given month I ask that you jut exercise a little patience and as soon as I am back in my studio in Australia and as soon as practical I will make the print and send it to you – free of charge. Each print will be made and personally signed by me with the same care and attention to detail I exercise on my large gallery prints. There will be a total of twelve prints to win throughout the calendar year. The first two prints of the year were won by Fred Jennings and Chris Roberts and their prints have now been delivered, framed by them and are hanging on their walls.

This particular print is one I hold quite close to my heart as it won a coveted Gold Award at both the 2014 VPPY Victorian Professional Photography Awards and also at the National APPA Australian Professional Photography Awards. It was one of my four portfolio photographs that won me the 2014 Australian Canon Science, Nature and Environment Photographer of the Year award.

Good luck and don’t forget in order to win the print you need to be the first to comment here on the home page on the March photograph of the Month for the 2015 calendar year with your thoughts on why you like the photograph or why you would like to own a print and to then share the post with your social media outlet of choice.

Svalbard in Winter – The Deep Freeze of an Arctic Winter

Posted in Arctic, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Wildlife Photographs, Workshops and Expeditions2 Comments

I arrived in Longyearbyen a few hours ago where the temperature is currently -5º Celsius plus a little wind chill factor. Outside the frozen mountainous landscape is covered in fresh snow and is spectacular to behold – I am looking forward to heading outside shortly to grab a few snapshots of the town in winter. It is fantastic and very exciting to be here in winter and tomorrow I will be heading north with a few friends on snow mobiles to a remote hut by the side of one of Svalbard’s spectacular glaciers on our scouting trip to photograph Polar Bears, Reindeer and landscapes under winter arctic light. For now it is time to enjoy a few feature comforts and the warmth of Basecamp whilst making final gear preparations for our departure tomorrow morning. _H9P3362-Edit-MoabSMR-RelCol32013

Iceland Winter Workshop 2015 Complete – Heading North in search of Polar Bears

Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Workshops and ExpeditionsLeave a comment

Daniel Bergmann and I have just wrapped up an absolutely brilliant 2015 Winter workshop here in Iceland. We had some incredible light, Aurora and experiences during our time exploring the winter countryside with a fabulous group of passionate photographers. In brief, we photographed the spectacular snow covered landscapes of Southern Iceland, partially frozen waterfalls, and the magical Northern Lights over a period of ten days.Iceland-7629 A full trip report and photographs from the workshop will come later once I have a chance to sort through the images and fully digest our shared experiences. Just a reminder if you would like to join us on our 2016 Winter workshop to Iceland there are now only a few places remaining before it will be sold out. We will be exploring the northern landscapes of Iceland and visiting some of the spectacular northern features and landscapes whilst they are covered in fresh snow. You can register your interest by dropping me an email.GullFoss in WinterI am headed North tomorrow via Oslo to the small town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard on a scouting trip to photograph Polar Bears and Reindeer in the deep freeze of an Arctic Winter. Longyearbyen is the world’s most northerly permanent settlement at 78º North and has a population of around 2,500 people. In summer, it is the jumping off point for many Arctic adventures including my own Polar Bear Photography Expeditions. In winter, it is a sleepy frozen town held tightly in the clutches of the Arctic night. Longyearbyen is only my starting point for this scouting trip however, and I will be heading further north with a few friends via snowmobile (snowmobile and dog sleds are the only way to get further north in winter) to a very remote hut by the edge of one of Svalbard’s most spectacular glaciers. We intend to spend a week at this location photographing wildlife and landscapes in the Arctic winter light. At this time of year we are expecting temperatures to potentially dip as low as -30 Celsius and possibly even colder, but we are also expecting incredible winter light should the weather and conditions co-operate. Because of the extremes of temperature at this time of year as well as the danger of camping with Polar Bears we are utilising the small hut as our Basecamp and will explore the landscape daily on snowmobiles and then return to rest in the warmth of the hut. This is the first time a photographic expedition of this nature has been undertaken to my knowledge and it should be an incredible experience. It is our hope that we may be able to offer this remarkable opportunity as a workshop expedition in the near future if our scouting trip is successful. I am very excited about this new opportunity and will have more to report once I return. In the meantime it is time to catch a few hours sleep before I catch my flight to Oslo.