Svalbard - Spitsbergen

Spiral Waves

Couple of weeks back, we had the chance to head down toward Hornsund, to the Polish Research Station, and pick up a few scientists in order to bring them back toward civilization in Longyearbyen. The few hours spent on spot revealed untouched and incredible photography opportunities with multiples sea stacks at the entrance of the big fjord where waves are dancing. The Golden Spiral compo is here solid, from the soft colored foreground, sea weed and water reflections, it leads your eye around toward that timed crashing wave.

Soft & Undisturbed

We have been so lucky to notice that female polar bear in the area, able to capture amazing shots of her around 11pm when the light softens. We managed to find her the day before I captured that shot, with a kill, devouring a ringed seal. Unfortunately I did not manage to get the banger shot of that moment as the 1pm light was really harsh and the ice quite dirty. It was a unique moment to witness, especially in summer as the ice is lacking, harder to sneak on their pray which makes their hunt way less successful. I found that shot simply meaningful, when she is looking away from us, not disturbed at all, with that warm side light striking her, and the cold glacier tones in the background.

The Big Jump

Breeding on these steep cliffs, they are actors of one of the most impressive and natural event in Svalbard, seen just a few days during the whole year at the end of July. Brunnich's Guillemots chicks get incubated by both parents before being pushed off into the void, not able to fly or walk yet, trying to aim and glide down to the sea. This is the rough start of life of these 21 days old chicks, who are followed by daddy all the way down, until they land in the water, or unfortunately not far enough, on land, which is a harsh territory patrolled by nasty predators such as Skuas and Arctic foxes. It is close to midnight there, the capture illustrates with a dramatic touch these amazing birds fighting for their survival, and us simply witnessing it. It is like watching Planet Earth in real life.

Ragnar Ice Sphynx

Sfinksen - Ragnardalen - This one is a big one for me. A banger i had on my list for a long time thinking i could only catch that on the frozen lake of Baikal in Russia. I am here standing on fresh water, frozen solid coming from one of the numerous glacier tongues of Spitsbergen in Svalbard. This is one of my best moment here so far, this feeling of standing on see-through ice, bottom less, deep blue, white cracks. My playground. ❄ I decided to lead it on portrait to marry together this mountain shape and ice composition on the foreground. Focused stacked on 3 different points, the sharpness of the mountain peak, down to detailed air bubbles trapped in ice. More and more, I love shooting harder and more technical shots especially when the wind and the cold kicks in. Add to it the presence of eventual polar bear in the area, and the adrenalin is just full on.

The Union Of Fulmars

The union between Svalbard's landscape and its wildlife. Spending quality time facing the sandstone tops eroded by the harsh Arctic climate. Here, hundreds of birds have found a home. Fulmars are breeding and thriving on these faces, patrolling the skies, constantly being loud and alarmed. They also provide gigantic amount of nutriments down bellow on the steep high slopes, profitable for reindeers coming to feed on the flourishing tundra. How much more could you ask for? All is here in this one catch.

Minimalism In Shade

We are riding deeper through narrow V shaped valley, carved by river, with deep snow covered sides. The gracious shapes and lines that constitute this composition caught my attention straight on arrival. The correlation between these snow waves, the leading lines appearing from different depths are guiding your eyes through the frame, and the shadows casted on the hill sides enhance so well the subject. This shot on 55mm gets a little less crowded and more minimalistic compared to what i often shoot, but still brings full attention from every corner to the center.

Glacial Grimaldi

Glacial Grimaldi sides, with hanging glacial tongues around it

On The Top

She is on top of the food chain, and shows it proudly, standing on the shoulders of the giants in the Arctic. Being able to observe her behavior, watching her movements, seeing her looking away, undisturbed, owning the glacier front; this is priceless. These are some of the best sightings I have had within my last 9 years of traveling the world. I am so much in love with this fragile environment, its biodiversity, and seeing it living with my own eyes everyday, being able to guide it, and show it to passionate people is the best reward I could ask for.

Golden Delta

Midnight sun over Svalbard. On 78° latitude, the sun does not even provide a glimpse of pink or golden light at night. 🌙 It is here 1.30AM when I wandered around these wet lands, home of hundreds Barnacle geese, looking for a great foreground. I found these amazing patterns, framed by flash green and yellow Arctic tundra, completed with dodging and burning.

Tone Of Blues

A swiping line following the golden spiral makes this so comfortable for your eye. The shade of blues brings depth and contrast.

A Wall Of Fog Behind Her

We navigated almost two hours in dense fog, not able to see 100m away in front of us. The fog accumulated due to these recent breaking records temperatures here in the Arctic. It is mostly concentrated just above the water, and dissipates above the glacier fronts and its ice tongue as air temperatures decrease. We were able to locate her this evening, 11pm, and she adventured swimming to that rocky island giving us insane backlight and silhouette. I mean, it is hard to describe with words the feeling of seeing her owning the place, thinking that she has plain power, control of this area and great food supply here.. and this is why she would probably stay around for a bit. Nature is powerful.

Flintholmen Panorama

Here is an impressive panorama of Flintholmen. It is an island dominated by moraine ridges deposited by the glacier Sefströmbreen during a surge in 1896. The ice front moved all the way out, pushing upwards gigantic amount of sea bed sediments. We can now find on this area huge amount of little corals and small lakes surrounded by pointy spiky ridges. I have shot that one using 3 horizontal shots on a wide angle, each of the three shot in HDR to maximize details in shadows and highlights, and trust me, this has been a hell of a mission to put together and balance these blasting highlights with the sun in my face.

Facing Craziness

Svalbard - Northernmost Norway Feel the mood of that capture. Facing nature and staring at the sun and these insane landscapes. This is the best way to enjoy isolation, and get your thoughts lost into the beauty of the North. On the moment I captured this shot, we could only hear the slight wind, and the few kittiwakes shouting over the ice and the edge of the cliff. A natural silence I cannot forget. I looked through my viewfinder, snapped the shot, and stared for a while at this human, facing some of the most magical views and light i have witnessed in Svalbard. Single shot on F11, i placed tiny human right in the center looking toward the light on the left. I know it is often better to give more space toward where the subject is looking, but i definitely found it more interesting this way.

Tarantula

Named after the shape of a tarantula, this rock formation Tarantellen is a unique sight in Spitsbergen. It was a long ride by snowmobile to reach this window view; Crossing glaciers, coast lines, sea ice, snowy valleys. The light i got was just insane, dark clouds in the background, and an unexpected gap casted that light from the side toward the mountain face.. right in front of "Tarantellen".

Map Ice

The challenge of landscape photography in the far North. Finding some of the most amazing sight, and the cherry on the cake becomes four walruses sleeping on the sea ice, framed by these amazing mountain ranges and glacier fronts. It is sometimes hard not to focus on Wildlife photography up here.

Left Behind

I rarely see photographs taken on Spitsbergen with wide angles; And this is something I definitely will show off because it is so unique and unseen from here. I guess the wildlife takes it all up here.. An overcast sky, some of the most amazing landscape on the planet, bright orange Lichens and a reindeer antler left behind. An image on 15mm, stacked over three shots on different focus points for full sharpness.

Cove & Berg

Here is my catch of some ice abstract, playing with perspectives and contrasts. It comes in different shapes, colors and interacts with air. Ice formations can be so impressive and show new colors as the ice is changing forms or spending time under water. Ice can be kilometers long and tall, or as big as a single drop.

Acheminement

Coles Bay - Capturing moments that shows the history of a place is just building so much mood into a photo. Since the early 20th century, Svalbard has been a magnet for some of the most remarkable coal seekers, some of the quality you can find on the planet. Many infrastructures are left behind when failures, abandoned mostly due to extreme weather conditions and harsh climate. This old remain wooden bridge railway was earlier operating for coal transports from a valley to another, down to shipment facilities. I wanted to catch this sun star as good as possible. It did last about 2 minutes before it totally disappeared behind the clouds. I shot here on F22 to be able to have it as shiny as it appears. I used a second shot on F11 for the general subject, in order to avoid diffraction, and get sharpness on the little hut and the person. Finally, I captured a third shot focused on the really foreground to have it neat from top to bottom.

Chased Into The Hills

On the other side of Adventfjord, facing the town of Longyearbyen, the authorities received this night a call alarming them about a Polar Bear patrolling the area, getting closer to the houses and cabins. The helicopter is sent, and hovered close to the female bear, to direct her into these hills, away from the 2000 inhabitants of the main town. A good reminder of the polar bear territory we live in and dramatic side of landscape we face.

Ice Brutality

We found this day quite heavy and rough sea, big waves and swings on our way out. The wind was just gusting like crazy, and we took our adventure to the fronts of Borebreen, this amazing calving glacier. Hard conditions, but we found there some of the most majestic and dramatic light I have seen on Spitsbergen these last 3 and half months. This shot is full in sharpness, detailed light reflection on the towering ice.

Puffin Territory

Welcome to an environment where wildlife thrives in mass. We are here just visitors, breathing the same air as them, and sharing our time with such an incredible diversity of animals is priceless. Watching them everyday fighting for food, for love and caring about their next generations makes you realize..

From The Sea Ice

Fresh or from the sea, water comes mostly solid here up north during these cold months. The opportunity to find amazing foregrounds at the bottom of the glacier moraines and the coast lines. Blend it with unique mountain range and relief, and it creates a paradise for creativity. The midnight sun casts incredible light these last and next days and it will not last forever as the sun goes up pretty quickly day after day. This shot is a blend of 3 captures on 3 different focus points shot on F11, for ultimate sharpness all along the shot. From bottom ice stars in the frozen blue patch, to mountain tops.

Bergy Bits & Kittywakes

Ice movement has been one of the most fascinating thing to learn about this environment. We call these guys Bergy Bits. They are chunks of ice between 1 to 5 meters in height, generally spawned from disintegrating icebergs. The Bergy Bit here is actually anchored to an old sea bed floor that rose from its original depth after the last glacier surge. This is an incredible natural thing to see and thanks to this, we understand the past movements of the glaciers and the way they evolve throughout the years. This is not a black and white shot, but the tones add depth and volume to the image. It is a panoramic composition of 5 horizontal shots on 55mm. The background mountain shapes of Alkhornet and protektorfjellet bring energy to it. I have to say i got lucky to find this calm water, great reflections and resting black legged kittiwakes on the Bergy Bit.

Endless Time

Time, landscapes, and ice seam endless in Svalbard. I found this place snowmobiling during the day at the bottom of a glacier moraine, where fresh water cumulates and freezes solid, not that far from the main town Longyearbyen. I felt the urge to get back later around 11pm when the light lowers down on the horizon, and capture this 3 photos blend, on 3 difference focus points. This triangle on the foreground brings so much energy. The color pallet varies from warm in the setting sky, reflecting onto the middle ice, to this cold blue lines just a step away from my tripod..