Denver Photographer
The shapes of icebergs can be quite interesting as they sit in the water. Approaching this berg in a zodiac allowed us to get close to the smaller piece of ice as there was a lesser chance of it rolling in the area. The ice itself is most likely thousands of years old as it slowly melts into the arctic waters of Svalbard. Looking for geometric shapes can be quite interesting when photographing these bergs to see the shapes, patterns and the details of the ice.
The motion of a wave is captured from onboard the M/S Stockholm in the waters of Svalbard. After the course of a twelve day trip I started to notice how the waves would come off the boat in which I was traveling upon. Using both the motion of the ship as well as small camera movement the water of the ocean blurs into the wave leading the viewer across the scene.
For twelve days I traveled around Svalbard on the M/S Stockholm. For this journey there were a total of 22 on the ship, this included eleven photographers, two expedition guides and a crew of nine. The crew was made up of the captain, first officer, three deckhands, a steward, the cook and the engineer plus his wife. As you can see this is designed to get into locations larger ships are unable to make.
Originally built for Swedish National Maritime Administration, the ship was converted in 1998 for polar travel. It still has the original 1953 engine giving out 575 horsepower. The length of the ship is 40 meters, with a width of 8.8 meters and a draught of 3.8 meters.
Once we left Longyearbyen we quickly went off the grid for the duration of the trip.
Located at nearly 79 degrees north, Ny-Ålesund is a former mining town now research facility in Svalbard. The name may sound familiar as in the 1920’s it was the launch point for airships looking to cross the north pole. This is also the furthest north civilian functional settlement in the world. As I walked around the town I found this view next to a road leading out of town. On a September day the ground cover is starting to show fall colors for a short period of time. The transition from full daylight to no daylight is just two months and the change is noticeable over the duration of the trip.
I spent 12 days on an expedition boat in Svalbard. On one of the days we headed out on the zodiacs to photograph some walrus which were sitting on the beach. The curiosity we had in the group of around 60 walrus was also mutual as when we got closer they started to swim out to check out the zodiacs as being in a remote portion of the world this was most likely a new experience to them as well. After a little bit these two walrus started to practice their fighting skills with each other over and over. It was quite fascinating to see how they behaved and I even put down the camera for a little while to also just experience the scene as well.