The Landscape Lottery

Landscape Photography

If you know me, you know that I love landscape photography. I enjoy being out in the early hours at some remote location to watch the sunrise over the landscape. The peace and quiet of that time, the quality of the light and beauty of nature feels like a glimpse of heaven.

If you are familiar with landscape photography, you know that its about placing yourself in the right place, at the right time. Great shots rarely happen without a lot of pre-planning and a lot of luck.

Planning the Photography Opportunity

Planning involves learning about the location and what compositions may be possible. I can spend hours doing the research. It involves so many factors such as the weather (e.g., is it rainy season or is a storm predicted), the tides, the season (spring flowers, fall colors, or snow), and the angle of the sun on a proposed composition. For example, we planned a trip to the Oregon coast completely around one particular photograph, that is a photograph of Thor’s Well. Only at high tide does Thor’s Well appear to be a circular waterfall in the middle of the ocean. Our vision was to capture this phenomenon at sunset. The planning involved time of year, time of day, tide cycles, weather and sunset. [See how well we did here.]

The Lottery

When the planning pays off, and the conditions line up for a great shot, a photographer like me feels like I won the lottery!

It’s this feeling that gets me out time and time again with my camera. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get lucky and capture an amazing shot.

However, here I am, on a ship at the ends the earth. Realistically, what are the odds of capturing beautiful landscapes on a ship with no ability to plan ahead or to adjust to the conditions?

The Odds

Not in my favor

For a large part of our Arctic trip, we were on a cruise ship. The ship’s itinerary changed based on the sea and ice conditions and the weather. Planning was rather last minute, basically looking out the window seeing a scene, and determining whether to run out to the bow or the stern of the ship. There was little flexibility in timing or positioning.

In my favor

One advantages of being “on the ship” was I was able to go places and see things from the “water” that most people would not be able to see and photograph. It opened the door to capturing unique perspectives.

Another advantage is that we were high in the arctic where the sun angle always seems to provide good light. And of course, being in the land of the midnight sun, there was no darkness. I could shoot 24 hours a day. (It’s like doubling the odds.) Whether it was sailing through a fjord at 2am or viewing a glacier at noon on an overcast day, I was on deck with the camera waiting for the right opportunity.

I like playing the photography odds.

Shooting

I rolled the dice. I played the odds, and took advantage of the moments.

Still on Arizona time and unable to sleep, I went on deck at. 2:10am. The light was amazing.

Sailing out of Tromso in the northern fjords, this was captured at 2:45am. Beautiful reflections and a small lighthouse caught my attention.

We visited northern Svalbard at the peak of the summer wildflower season. (Okay, this was captured during the hour I was on land not from the ship. But I swear, no planning was involved.)

Captured from a Zodiac. The overcast skies made the blues look bluer.

Svalbard was full of rugged mountains and amazing glaciers.

Early morning as we arrived at Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland.

A little ice in the bay as we approached Ittoqqortoormiit.

Too much ice to venture into Scoreby Sound, but what an amazing morning. The light and the calm waters made the sky and the water blend together in the horizon. It reminded me of a painting.