Tomorrow I fly out for Iceland and the Arctic. A week of personal folio shooting in Iceland before heading to Isafjordur in northern Iceland to get aboard the Polar Pioneer for the Jewels of the Arctic expedition up the coast of Greenland to Svalbard. The same Expedition I will be co-leading with Joshua Holko in 2014 (for more details click through here). This year I will be assisting Joshua on this trip which is co-lead by Peter Eastway.
For travelling around Iceland we have a camper van to ensure we can camp at shoot locations and ensure we are there for the right light without the need to head back into towns for accommodation of an evening. Its quite a bit more rustic than a trip I’d take clients on but when its a personal trip, I don’t mind roughing it.
I will likely see and photograph reindeer, Arctic foxes, musk ox, countless sea and land birds, walrus, seals, whales and polar bears amongst the breathtaking Arctic landscapes. At this time of year there is nearly 24 hours of daylight with hours and hours of golden light. What more could I ask for?
At the most northerly position I will be a mere 600 miles from the North Pole! My two gorgeous daughters, who I will miss dearly for the next 23 days, have written letters to Santa Claus to be dropped off at the closest Post Box in Longyearbyn, Svalbard.
My bags are packed. I’ve packed way more than I need, and at the same time I’ve packed less than I’d want to pack. Its always tempting to pack enough clothes than I’ll not need to do any washing for 23 days, that I’ll have every lens option packed and of course that I’ll have a jacket for every occasion. But with luggage weight considerations for flights and of course the bulk of dragging it around airport terminals one has to be a little realistic. For a few suggestions of what to pack see my guide for packing for the Arctic and 10 things to pack in your camera bag.
When travelling around Iceland and camping onsite at various locations internet access will be pretty much non existent. And whilst aboard the Polar Pioneer cruising the Greenland and Norwegian seas there will only be satellite phone access pretty much for emergencies only.
So if you’d like to follow my trip, there will be periodic automated posts showing where the Polar Pioneer is located and some of the attractions I will be seeing whilst on this expedition. You can either follow my public posts on Facebook here, or follow me on twitter here.
Iceland and the Arctic I come!!!