Good Morning Greenland

Our last blog featured a massive iceberg that we shot around midnight on the start of our Greenland Adventure.  After shooting that massive chunk of ice we retired to our bunks for the night.   The boat crew worked in 3 hour shifts while we slept so we would arrive at the Sun Glacier the next morning.

The really cool thing about being on a boat was shooting this massive glacier within a few minutes of waking up in the morning.    The Sun Glacier was such an amazing sight, the icecap that covers much of Greenland just rolled over the edge of this mountain range into the sea.   We watched the glacier calving several times.  Often there was a waterfall that would occur after the initial calving and the waterfall would sometimes run for just a few minutes and in other places the waterfalls were constant.

Little did we know every day for the next week would be an incredible visual treat.

Number One

This is what I call Iceberg Number One.   A couple of weeks ago we landed at Constable Point in Greenland for the start of what one of our participants called “one of the top 5 events in my life”.    This tour was over 2 years in planning and simply amazing!   We will be writing additional blogs and posting additional images as time goes forward, but we wanted to get an image posted here on our blog. 

Be sure to follow Don and Denise on Facebook if you don’t want to miss any of our images from this amazing trip.

Back to Number One.  Our flight from Iceland to Greenland was delayed several hours due to weather in a different area of Greenland and this caused a cascading delay in our departure from Iceland.   Once we finally got on the plane and started to taxi out to the runway, one of the plane’s engines died and we instead taxied to the maintenance hangar.   After returning to the terminal Air Iceland readied another plane and 30 minutes later we were finally in the air. 

Upon arrival in Greenland we had a 20 minute walk from the airport to the zodiacs, we transferred to the schooner Opal and after dinner started our voyage from Constable Point to the main part of Scoresby Sund.  The first thing the crew told us is that distances in Greenland are deceptive.   Number One Iceberg was visible to us on the boat almost 2 hours before we arrived.  It seemed so much closer.  We circled this beautiful hunk of ice between midnight and 1 a.m. before retiring for the night.   

If you would like to be notified when registration is open for our 2020 Greenland Tour drop us an email.

Praying for Cold

I'm not a fan of cold weather and that is putting it mildly.  But one thing I look forward to is freezing temperatures that last for several days.  Here in Virginia we often flirt with freezing temperatures in the winter, but most of the time it's not enough for lakes and streams to freeze.

But freezing temperatures can be had if you are willing to travel. I have had great luck in the winter finding frozen water in nearby states of West Virginia, Western Maryland, and Pennsylvania.  I prefer to work the edges of streams and lakes.  Last year in Maine we did walk on some frozen lakes, but they were covered with about a foot of snow so there was not much to photograph. If you do decide to walk out on a lake or stream please be sure it's safe.  A picture in my opinion is not worth risking your safety.    If you stick to the edges I think you will find plenty on interesting patterns and shapes, just remember to dress for the elements.

Winter has arrived

 

 

 

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking a road trip with friends Donna and Jeff.   Our eventual destination was Johnstown, PA for a little Urban Exploration, but along the way we had a great time shooting barns and frozen lakes.   I live in the Washington DC area and some winters it does not get cold enough for the streams and ponds to freeze.   It was a real bonus being able to get in a little macro ice shooting. 

Winter Wonderland

A few weeks ago I took a day trip with my friend Greg Daily to Swallow Falls State Park. As I recall the temperature never got above 20 degrees, but we managed to stay warm and spent the better part of the day exploring the park and just having a good time in general. The falls in the park were frozen solid and there was about a foot of snow on the ground. Part of being a landscape photographer is about enjoying what you do. While I always wish for a productive day, this day was not one of my better ones in that regard. I did see a lot of opportunities but I had to consider my safety. The water was high, it was flowing fast and the ice was thin. This limited my ability to get into key positions to craft the type of images that I think would have shown the beauty around me. When I look at some of the pictures I took that day I find them lacking. But in the end that is fine, just because I was unable to fully capture the beauty around me does not mean that I did not get to enjoy the beauty. It just means that I’m not able to fully share the experience.

The Chute

The shot above is from a recent day hike in Shenandoah.  I was hoping to shoot a lot of frozen water, but the streams were only frozen in a few places.    This is my fault since I could not get out to the Park a week earlier when the thermometer seemed stuck below freezing.  Since then the temperature has warmed during the day and as a result streams and rivers have started to thaw.  Hopefully there will be other opportunities as the winter progresses.     

Between Seasons

Winter seems to be winding down and I’m noticing my tulips are starting to peek above the soil. At this point I doubt I will get to shoot more ice. The picture above was taken during my January trip to White Oak Canyon. We shot on a cloudless day and as the sun started shining into the canyon, the light created some great warm reflections in the water.

Icy Morning

The past weekend I joined a couple friends from the Manassas Warrenton Camera Club for our 2nd Annual White Oak Canyon Expedition. White Oak Canyon is a great spot for photographing ice due to easy access.



Last year it was colder, but this year the wind was blowing and that made the conditions a bit more uncomfortable. We always hike up to the lower falls. Last year we hiked further up the mountain, but it was overcast last year and thus nature provided a diffused light all day long. This year there was not a cloud in the sky at sunrise, so we needed to finish up before the sun crested the canyon walls. We started at the lower falls around sunrise and by 10:30am ended up in the parking lot. This year the trail was covered with ice due to the recent snow, so I finally got a chance to use my ice cleats. I was amazed how well these work. I highly recommend them for hiking in icy conditions.

Surprise Find

The day after Christmas we decided to stop by one of our favorite winery’s before the long drive home from Southwest Virginia. It had rained all day on Christmas and in the morning I noticed that ice was starting to form on the trees. But by mid-morning the temperature warmed up and the ice disappeared, at least at our lower elevation. As we drove up to the winery near the Blue Ridge Parkway, it was a wonderful surprise to find everything coated in ice. Unfortunately the winery was closed because the ice had taken out the power lines, but it provided me with some good subject material.

Winter Wonder Land

Last Saturday started out cold, zero degrees to be exact.

Friends Greg Daily, Joyce Harmon, and I hiked White Oak Canyon in Shenandoah National Park. We were in search of ice. Considering that it has been below freezing for the better part of a week, it looked a little doubtful at the start. The creek next to the parking lot showed no sign of freezing, but as we started up the mountain the amount of ice increased with every few feet of elevation. By the time we reached the lower falls the water was about 90 percent frozen and a sight to see. We also lucked out because the cloud cover arrived when we hit the lower falls. We had nice diffused light for the rest of the day.

We worked the lower falls and then slowly started down the mountain. We spent about 5 hours in the great freezing outdoors.

Hopefully the lower temperatures will continue so I can get out and shoot ice again.

Click here for a small image gallery