Port Leopold, North West Passage
Fujifilm GFX100S II, GF20-35mmF4 R WR, f11 @ 1/60 second, ISO 80

I may have written this before, but I think what I like most in photography is to find a sign of man in a landscape. I'm just as enchanted by the hills of domesticated Tuscany with a farmhouse as I am with this research hut resting forlornly on a barren strip of earth, thousands of miles from civilisation, a small patch of snow to the right. But how many small huts can one photograph before it's been done already?

I guess we could level the same question to portrait photographers. How many photos of a human head and shoulders do you need to take before you've exhausted the subject? Why is it we are enchanted with the human face and form when, essentially, they are all the same. Show any elephant a book of portraits and he'll think they are all much of a muchness!

For me, huts like this all have their own character. And I love exploring how that character fits into its environment. My capture technique is similar for most of them: wide-angle lens so I can include the surroundings, keeping my camera back vertical to avoid perspective distortion and walking around the subject, exploring the light and angles available. 

I've taken a few liberties with the colours. Any paint on a building in this climate isn't going to retain its sparkle for very long, so colour saturation has been my friend. And I like the hint of yellow in the sky behind, connecting the subject to its environment. I'm still undecided about the clouds - maybe I've been a little heavy-handed there and perhaps the dark foreground could be lightened up a little, but isn't it interesting that no matter how careful you've been with the editing or how many times you do it, given a little time you always seem to find something else to do later on.

Bugger.

And if you're interested in seeing more of this series of photos, I have a 100-page ePortfolio available for sale on the on website. It's titled North West Passage. You can see more details by clicking here.