Day 2: Billiefjorden and Diabasodden

Our first taste of the Arctic

The next day, we awoke in our first glacier fjord of the trip to the northeast of Longyearbyen: Billiefjorden. Billiefjorden offered our first opportunity to photograph a glacier and bird wildlife. It also granted us the opportunity to check out the abandoned Soviet mining settlement Pyramiden.

On our way to Billiefjorden, the photographic opportunities were already lighting up. With not a single gust of wind, the ship was breaking through water that seemed as smooth as glass. Though many had long retired to their staterooms, a few of us stayed topside to photograph the landscapes.

We also encountered dramatic red cliffs casting perfect reflections on the still water. Visibility was perfect and the air still and quiet.

We arrived in Billiefjorden for our first zodiac cruise. A zodiac cruise is exactly how it sounds - Everyone descends into the zodiacs to spend 1-2 hours driving around in the zodiacs. Zodiacs fit roughly 10-12 people. The best seats are generally in the front, but the guides do a good job to give everyone a fair shot at photographs.

All the expedition guides on our ship were exceptional. In fact, several were photographers themselves and all at least familiar with what we would want to shoot. They were extremely knowledgeable and capable, and their dedication in delivering a great expedition experience was incredible.

We also saw the bad side of what can happen on these trips when things go wrong: a Norwegian Coast Guard helicopter.

A Norwegian Coast Guard helicopter approaching for landing at a hunting or research cabin near Billiefjorden

On this zodiac cruise, we had the opportunity to photograph the glacier, but from a significant distance, and bird life. We also had the chance to capture the Polar Pioneer in all its glory against the Svalbard landscape.

My favorite image from the outing is this minimalist landscape of the glacier and two glacial mountains.

Diabasodden

After Billiefjorden, we headed out for our first zodiac landing. Here we had our first opportunity to photograph reindeer. Though very docile and creatures with interesting adaptations to the Arctic environment, like birds, they’re not exactly my favorite to photograph. Also, when photographing them, undoubtedly the ground is absolutely covered in their poop and you’re walking through bogs. To make matters worst, to shoot them properly, you have to bend down close to the ground. So, effectively, you’re trying to take photos of dirty animals six inches from their months old excrement. To be honest, I was not particularly excited by this landscape. It felt messy and miserable.

I approached Tom Heaton and asked him how he felt about the scene. He said the same thing: Not feeling inspired at all.

Nonetheless, I managed to grab one interesting image on approach to the location and one of the reindeer.

But what this outing held next was even more strange. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but we decided to try ICM photography on birds. If you’re not familiar with ICM, it is Intentional Camera Movement. It’s where you move the camera to intentionally achieve a sort of artistic motion blur. In the case of birds, you’re effectively using a panning technique to take pictures of the birds.

We spent an inordinate amount of trying this “ICM bird photography”. Fred, Jan, Joe, Fred, Lin, Tom, and I took hundreds of photos each. We soon discovered birds flapping their wings were particularly good for ICM, which we nicknamed “flappers”. We also experimented with various species and various backgrounds and lighting (e.g., birds and sea in shadow, birds in sun and sea in shadow, birds and sea in sun). I think the rest of the group got better images than me, but it was a special experience as we all tried to make something unique out of an otherwise uninspiring location.

After our outing with the reindeer and bird ICM photography, we headed back to the Polar Pioneer to spend the night sailing to the very southern end of Svalbard.

Day 3