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Two Lands of the Midnight SunTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun
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Follow me as I visit two Arctic locations where the sun never sets to photograph the summertime landscapes of the far north. During my first week I meet up with other photographers in Greenland, then it is back to Iceland to explore the south coast. Read more
  • RobCowell

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  • Greenland Greenland
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  • 54footprints
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  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun

    Illulisatt

    June 24, 2023 in Greenland ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    You've already seen the view across the town from my hotel room, but this the view along the street looking towards one of the supermarkets in town - there's a Spar too, just like everywhere else.

    I was heading to the nearest supermarket to get some snacks for today, it's the dark blue building in the main photo, just past the electronics store where you can buy TVs, cameras and drones etc. The supermarket was pretty large and was stocked with everything you'd expect, including Gold Blend coffee. The quality of the fresh food and vegetables was high and easily as good, if not better, than at home.

    The last photo is of the hotel as I was walking back. Compared to the majority of buildings in Illulisatt it really stands out doesn't it. The airport is about to be modernised so it can cope with jets, not just small aircraft, and I suspect our hotel is a sign of what is to come. New hotels are already being built so change is happening and this will alter the lives of the people here, which is great, but I wonder what will be lost as a result. There are already quite a few tourists here, us included of course, and quite a number of boat tours to explore the icebergs. At the moment it doesn't feel commercialised, far from it in fact, but what will it be like in five years?

    Anyway, I purchased a few snacks to eat then returned to the hotel for breakfast. There was a long boat trip ahead of us that would fill the day.    Read more

  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun

    Eqi Glacier

    June 24, 2023 in Greenland ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    Today involves a two hour boat trip to the Eqi glacier north of Illulisatt and opposite a settlement called Arsivik, not that we were anywhere near that or could even see it, but you might be able to find it on Google Maps. Once again we were in a fast boat, but it still took two hours to get there.

    This glacier is apparently the fastest calving glacier in the world so we were hoping to see another calving but maybe not so up front and personal as before. The trip there was straightforward and relatively clear of icebergs, compared to where we had been, but once we neared the glacier the sea was full of ice. We were surrounded by it in fact so the boat had to push its way through to get as close as it could. When we could go no further we were still over 800m from the ice wall.

    I've taken video here and as I can only post one video per footprint so I've split this so you can see what I've taken. The videos give a much better idea of what we were experiencing.    Read more

  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun

    Eqi Glacier 4

    June 24, 2023, Davis Strait ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    We stayed pretty much a couple of hours hoping to see a calving. At the left, where the glacier touches the land, there were one or two falls of ice but nothing spectacular. We often heard loud cracks coming from somewhere behind where we could see, but no calving. We very much hoped something would happen we could capture with our cameras, but then all of a sudden it was time to leave.

    We had all been analysing the ice to see if we could guess where a calving might occur next and we were sure that one spot looked promising, so we asked to stay a little longer. We were given ten minutes.

    Time was running out and then, at the very last moment, the ice dropped and we got the event we were waiting for. I got this recorded on my big camera but there was no time to also use my phone.

    We then had to leave to get back to Illulisatt but we had a great time though, helped by lovely weather, and we saw a calving. It was quite warm on the deck while we were there but I have to admit this calving didn't quite match the excitement of the one we experienced before. 😄    Read more

  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun

    The Whale

    June 24, 2023, Davis Strait ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    We were speeding through the water back to Illulisatt and were now in open water. We were all chatting, as you do, then all of a sudden the boat slowed down and we then heard the skipper had spotted a whale, so we grabbed our cameras.

    In no time I saw it, we all did of course, then it disappeared. You would think it would submerge and reappear a bit further on, but that's not how it worked. The whale would dive but would then reappear at some completely random location nowhere near where you thought it would be. The whale was feeding, so when it dived it swam around finding food and then it would surface., which made it really hard to take photographs, but I must say that it was extremely exciting. At one point the whale surfaced only a few metres from our boat, so close you could smell it. On another occasion we watched it swim under our boat.

    I got three photos on the phone but you'll need to look hard to see any detail. The short video is best but I sort of messed up at the end so missed the whale's tail rising out of the water. You can certainly hear the shutters clicking though. My phone photos aren't brilliant but at least they are a record of the event. I have much better photos taken on the big camera, not all that many but a lot better, so I'll show them to you after I get home.

    Jeroen, one of our group leaders, got some great images using his drone. The last two photos are his. If you are on Instagram he is @jvn.photo    Read more

  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun

    Golden Light

    June 25, 2023 in Greenland ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    On the way back Jeroen phoned ahead to arrange to move the evening boat trip from tomorrow evening to today. The light was looking promising and this turned out to be a good choice.

    We returned to Illulisatt delighted we had photographed a whale, enjoyed our meal in the hotel restaurant then boarded Lisa, our faithful boat, at 10pm.

    We headed south again, to where the icebergs are more packed and enjoyed four hours of beautiful golden light. It was unbelievably yellow/gold and looked almost false at times. Conditions were perfect really, with no wind and a flat calm. At one point we briefly spotted a whale amongst the bergs but quickly lost sight of it when it dived, reappeared, then dived again. We didn't see it afterwards and assumed it had gone under the icebergs somewhere.

    Hopefully I have some nice photos on the camera and the photos in this footprint give you the general idea of what we saw. The light was surreal at times and at one point a group of smaller bergs were lit from the side, the sun making them golden, but the shadows were blue. I hope I've captured that on the camera.

     It was another long day though, with Lisa mooring up at just after 2am and bed at around 3am. It has been another brilliant day.    Read more

  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun

    Restaurant with a View

    June 25, 2023 in Greenland ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    The restaurant in our hotel was on the top floor with panoramic windows looking out across Disko Bay, so I thought you might like to see it.

    We ate here for breakfasts of course, and also for two of our evening meals. On other nights we ate out.

    The staff here were friendly but our waiter (same one both times) had a definite problem with numbers and could not get the orders right. The food was good, though not an extensive choice, and the breakfast buffet was as good a standard as you'd find in any large hotel.    Read more

  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun
    There's a lot of gear in those bags.Nearing the harbour.

    Final Boat Trip

    June 25, 2023, Davis Strait ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    There were supposed to be two boat trips today but we used one of them last night and had gorgeous light. We had photographed a lot of icebergs so the aim today was to cruise in the hope of seeing a whale, but of course the would also be more opportunities to photograph icebergs. So here's a selection of photos from our last trip in Lisa, though at this point I should mention the two crew who kept us safe and we're very obliging to steer the boat where we asked and would stop or reverse as needed so we could take our photographs. They were really helpful and friendly. In fact, all the local people we met were like that.

    In photo four you can see all the camera bags laid out, demonstrating just how much equipment people had brought with them … I wonder what the value of all that was. The cameras weren't at the cheap end either, nor were the lenses and I counted four cameras the same as mine. I feel a new lens is coming my way though - my longest focal length is 200mm (x4 magnification) but some of the group had longer lenses which could zoom in much closer to get some great compositions. I am considering the 100 to 500mm zoom which would take me to x10 magnification - you can see Rhiannon with one in photo 4. I need a bigger lens. 😂

    That's an appropriate thought to have on a boat, if you recall a similar quote from the film Jaws. No sharks here though, just whales. 😊    Read more

  • RobCowellTravelerTwo Lands of the Midnight Sun
    Is hard to believe these are phone photos, but they are.
    2

    Evening Walk

    June 26, 2023 in Greenland ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    After our meal the light was still looking good so the plan was to hike to the rocks where we went on the first day, but further on so we could see more icebergs coming from the Icefjord. The photos in this footprint show the group on location with some taking photos, some flying their drones, but all taking time to relax and admire the beautiful scene laid out before us. We were all starting to feel tired after so many long days.

    It was another late one. Nigel Danson left to go and take video for his YouTube channel then others drifted away when they were tired. I left well after 2am leaving three hunting for a whale using a drone. They succeeded too, but it did mean they had virtually no sleep that night.

    I walked back on my own, taking a few photos on the way given the light was still amazing. It was so quiet walking through Illulisat to the hotel (last two photos) and it was after 3am when I got to bed, with the final day being a long one too.

    It's hard work doing photography, but then I suspect you have no sympathy. 😂    Read more

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