Black (and White) Magic In The Arctic

So, I had this urge to be creative! Perhaps it was that article about Ansel Adams, perhaps a story about photography competitions. Something made me think: can one capture the beauty of Arctic and Antarctic using black and white photography?

So I hopped on a plane, a ship, and a kayak and went back to shoot all my photos in black and white.

Right. I wish. 

Thanks to certain software packages, I can let my imagination (meaning "artistic skills") do the work. For this post, I chose some unusual pictures which really look different in black and white. For those interested: I did not let those certain software packages do all the work, I did use my imagination!  Click on any photo to enlarge it on your high-res display.

Say your prayers! (Antarctic Peninsula)

The following picture was taken during a canoe trip on Bowron Lakes, British Columbia. I had a guide who was working on a picture book of the region, and as you can see, I followed him (and his advice) closely. I'll call this Photograph the Photographer.

And here's Tim The Arctic Explorer! (taken on Ellesmere Island)

Another explorer, Martin is waiting for dog-sledding season to finally begin. (Svalbard/Spitsbergen) 

Not far from Martin, a lone female Polar Bear was trying to survive the ice-less summer. As I wrote in a previous post, you are watching here a sign of the beginning of the extinction of them due to global warming. I'll call this photo The Polar Ghost.

Already convinced? What I like about black and white photography is that not only you can't hide behind magnificent natural colors, but in fact you can bring the most out of situation due to its sheer, singular beauty. Of course, plays of shadow and light just jump in joy into your black and white photo as you can see below!

We'll end this post with Black (and White) Antarctic Magic.

As always, all the pictures in this post were taken by me... For more beautiful photos, see my recent post Frozen Creatures of The Arctic And Antarctica

Diving Into The Arctic Ocean: Should You?

Let me put it this way: if your friends did not get the message, and did not in fact think you're crazy by going to the Arctic Ocean aboard an old Russian icebreaker on a kayaking trip; and if you desperately want to rectify this and make sure they think you are indeed out of your mind - Then the answer is YES. Same answer if you like seeing raised eyebrows.

Look at this photo below. We were returning from a long paddle to our home ship during a kayaking trip around Svalbard (Spitsbergen) and decided that it would be really cool (what a choice of word!) to dive into the water from the deck. Obviously, the Arctic Fever bug had us by then! This is my friend Steve practicing his Yoga on the way to the water. Although I suspect his Om turned into Oye, my very talented finger captured him at just the right moment:

By the way, this was a moment that showed me how much digital photography had changed the world: just a few years back, people would look at a nice Photoshop work and comment "it looks like a real picture!"; when people see this photo above, they usually comment "it looks like a real Photoshop work!". Oh well. For the record: no Photoshop work on this one.

Was it cold? The Arctic ocean (as well as the Antarctic one) is at roughly 31F (0C). It only freezes at 28F because the water is salty. Thank God it wasn't too cold that day - Can you imagine diving like that into a sheet of ice? Was it painful? Let's look at how happy and groggy I looked when jumping off the deck:

(again, no Photoshop on this pic) and how I looked when my feet, hands and head realized that scientific fact of 31F:

For sure, with the little blood in my brain that was still liquid, I could ponder "am I stupid?" The truth is, the water  IS cold. But look at it this way: no sharks; killer whales really like plankton better; and polar bears would shy away from a thin person like me. Besides - I got my chance to convince some people I must be crazy!

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