Decaying Glacier, Hamilton Bukta, Svalbard
Phase One IQ4, Schneider Kreuznach LS 240mm, f4.5 @ 1/1250 second, ISO 100.

A Greenland local interviewed on the news recently suggested that the icebergs today aren't as big as they were when he was a boy - and then the footage switched to some amazingly huge icebergs!

Last year I was at the same location featured on the television program. I was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking across a huge bay full of ice and icebergs. They looked pretty big to me, until one of my friends who had been at the same location 10 days earlier, noted the icebergs then had not been 'across the bay', but towering above the lookout! Things change very quickly, especially near the Poles.

While the icebergs can be huge, they are usually dwarfed by the glaciers from which they spawn. Mind you, the glacier in my photo this week won't be generating any icebergs of note in the near future, but I do love the shape and the curve of the ice as it hugs the saddle of mountain. It certainly speaks about climate change, but I have no idea whether this glacier's condition was a direct result of global warming, or just the end of its natural life.

The capture was pretty straightforward. A thin covering of cloud kept the light soft, so no harsh shadows to contend with. In post-production, I could have darkened the surrounding mountain which in turn would have emphasised the whites and blues of the glacier, but I felt such strong contrast would be a little obvious. The distinction between ice and rock is already pretty clear, so I chose to keep plenty of detail and texture in the mountain.

For the snow on the ice (the white bits), I kept a hint of tone and texture. At this time of the weather cycle, there hadn't been fresh snow for some weeks, so what was there was covered in dust and dirt blown across from the surrounding rocks. It certainly wasn't pristine.

Which left the centre of attention: the solid blue ice. I'm told blue ice is formed under great pressure and no doubt it would have been when this glacier was much larger. Today, the colour in the ice remains and by enhancing the texture and increasing the colour saturation, I feel you get a real sense of the shape and direction of what was possibly a hanging glacier in earlier times!

I love the Arctic and Svalbard in the north is like South Georgia in the south. They look nothing alike, but both are amazing in their own way.

And if you'd like to join me on a voyage to the Arctic this July, check out the website for details. I am doing both the Jewels of the Arctic and a circumnavigation of Svalbard.