Greenland – A land of icebergs and Inuits presented by Richard and Janet Burden was a travelogue of a 2017 trip to Greenland; a place they knew extraordinarily little about but were keen to know more. They were fond of bleak areas and found a land-based trip organised by Wild Photography Holidays. The three-hour flight from Iceland introduced them to the colourful highlights of Greenland. The breath-taking views were tempered by the -30-degree temperatures, where everything soon began to freeze up. Equipment whether it be a tripod, or the camera suffered in the biting cold but ‘warm hands’ were invaluable to keep equipment warm in camera bags; it could be an expensive trip if camera bodies died due to the cold.
The skyline of the ‘modern’ town of Ilulissat gave opportunities to show the colourful, timber properties positioned in small groups; when the land is covered in snow and ice there is little need for conventional roads. The traditional sled dogs created lots of photo opportunities. Sunsets produced amazing light for images of sky-scraper sized icebergs, but the best prospects proved to be the Aurora Borealis which, Richard decided would include one of the local houses in the foreground if the Aurora appeared. Stunningly it did and the images were amazing in their intensity. The key to the capture, in the dark, was setting up the camera before the appearance to ensure that the focus would be on infinity and a manual exposure of 15 seconds at f2.8. There was nothing bleak about the Greenland landscape because the light was so special.
Our next presentation evening is by Peter Greenway about National Trust photography on 7th July at 7.30pm. Please check our website for details if you wish to join us as we still cannot confirm we will be meeting in person. Everyone is most welcome.
Anne Hunsley
www.addphoto.co.uk