Scoresby Sound Icebergs
- Adam Monk
- Mar 20, 2017
- 2 min read
Scoresby sound in South East Greenland is the largest Fjord complex on Earth, it is also the least populated and has one of the most isolated communities on Earth…. Interesting stats, but the best bits are that it is completely unique and amazingly beautiful. Seeing Scoresby Sound by boat during the brief far Northern hemisphere summer is definitely one of the highlights of my career so far. To sail around surrounded by sheer rock walls hundreds of metres high in fjords that are hundreds of metres deep (I spent some time time watching the depth sounder on the boat completely awed), while massive ice sculptures that dwarfed the boat floated serenely past is truly something to behold.
To add to that, the huge Icebergs are mostly below the surface, and with the crystal clear water of Scoresby Sound that can be very obvious as you sail past. Some of these behemoths are the size of a city block, and yet up to 90% of it is below the waterline. It’s ill advised to get too close to such massive and unpredictable creations with something so flimsy and frail as a wooden boat. Huge house sized bits of ice just fall off without warning and crash into the sea, or even more spectacular, the whole monstrosity can roll right over as melting ice changes the balance point. Now that is really something to see!
The image above and below is of a much smaller iceberg (the size of a family car above the water) that I was able to photograph close up as we meandered slowly past in the zodiac, but the vast shape beneath the waterline is clearly visible disappearing into the depths below.
Shooting Handheld from the deck.
All these images were shot handheld with the Phase One XF camera with the IQ3-100 digital back plus a series of Phase One and Schneider Kreuznach lenses (Yes there is a post HERE about this) . Scoresby Sound is very placid, and the “Donna Wood” is a very robust solid boat, but it’s not stable enough to use a tripod on deck, so handheld shooting is the only viable option. With the right ISO selected, and keeping the shutter speed reasonable (depending on the camera and lens combination), it’s a great place to shoot from. The viewpoint is right in amongst the action, the scenery is constantly changing and with the added bonus of great food rolling out constantly from the kitchen and my bed being just a short stroll away.
I’m headed back to Scoresby Sound in East Greenland later this year to float amongst the icebergs, if you would care to join me, click HERE for details.