Glacial Layers. Join us this August for a remote sailing expedition and workshop in the East of Greenland. Hosted by @fursty, @hannes_becker and myself, we’ll be exploring one of the worlds largest fjord systems, Scorsbysund. Whilst sailing through the fjord in search of unique Arctic imagery, we’ll be mentoring our five guests on board with our combined knowledge on photographic techniques and how to build your personal brand in the industry. Head to the link in my bio for all of the info and the application page. Stoked for this one 🤘🏼
The Svalbard reindeer. This one appeared from above the snow line, glancing over while digging down to the ground beneath. I captured this one at 300mm, using an aperture of f/2.8 to create some depth where the snow meets the reindeer. It can be quite tricky to shoot in these whiteout situations, though I must admit I’m a huge fan of minimal scenes 🤘🏼 @visitsvalbard
An unforgettable moment at the edge of the fast ice. Two Polar bears had been playing together at the waters edge, a mating couple we soon learned. Leading up to this image, the female had fallen into the water as the ice cracked beneath her, the male soon followed. They were diving down to fetch some kelp from the seabed beneath, and bringing it up to investigate. Soon after, the female bear took an interest in our zodiac, swimming towards us as I captured the scene at 500mm. We swiftly gained some distance, and left them to continue their ways. @visitsvalbard
Standing on the summit of Iceland. Earlier this week alongside @summitexplorers, I climbed to the highest point in Iceland, Hvannadalshnúkur at 2,110m. Whilst our mountains are relatively small in comparison to other countries, getting to the summit requires a 25km round trip climb from just above sea level, navigating around the outlet glaciers that run down to the valley floor. The view from the top is just incredible, giving a visual over the whole of Vatnajökull, the biggest glacier in Europe. We had super nice weather for the climb with clear skies and no wind the whole way to the top. Then right as I started to shoot on the summit, a wall of cloud rolled in, creating a nice dynamic atmosphere in the background. So stoked to have finally made it up there 🤘🏼 #hvannadalshnúkur
East Greenland Workshop ↡ Stoked to announce that this August alongside @fursty and @hannes_becker, we’ll be hosting a seven day sailing expedition to explore the Eastern side of Greenland. Along with five of you, we will be living on board a wooden schooner named Hildur, while spending our days sailing and shooting within Scorsbysund, one of the worlds biggest fjord systems. Really excited for this one as it will a first for most of us to visit this side of Greenland, and I’m delighted to invite you to join us for it. Head to the link in my bio or swipe up in my story for all of the info 🤘🏼
A moment in between. I’ve always found drifting clouds to be a peaceful thing to watch, especially as they interact with the landscape in the high mountains. Looking up at these frozen peaks in Svalbard, I tracked the clouds as they drifted past, waiting for that swift moment where a wall of cloud sat right above the summit. It almost lined up in the end! #svalbard
Midnight light over the mountains of Bellsund. On the first night of my expedition around the archipelago, I spent the evening adjusting to the endless daylight. I couldn’t sleep, so I layered up and spent a few hours just sitting out on the deck of our ship as we drifted through this incredibly still water. @visitsvalbard #svalbard
Days out at sea, a battle against gloomy ocean swells persisted as we pushed towards the East, ice charts in hand. Reaching the fast ice, we were met with a view I remember vividly as a vast and empty abyss of white. No wildlife in sight, it seemed the locals had already ventured North. With our crews morale at its lowest, I couldn’t have imagined what we’d soon experience, for what was coming would be my most profound encounter with a Polar Bear in Svalbard.
Home from the Arctic. Spending time aboard an expedition ship earlier this month, I set out with an amazing team to capture images along the remote coastline of Svalbard. The expedition opened my eyes to the diverse range of resilient wildlife that call this archipelago home, and the threats they face amidst our changing climate. Diving into the post processing phase this week, I’m feeling inspired from what I’ve seen and the shots I’ve created, though quite shocked from the facts I’ve learned along the way. There are so many insights and images to share with you all, but to begin let’s start with a landscape. One day I woke up to see this interesting mountain peak passing by the window in the South West. It’s shaped like this only from one angle, so later in the trip we returned and took some time to stop the ship at this position and appreciate its form and textures up close. #Svalbard | #Arctic
Stoked to be back in Svalbard ❄️ Currently I’m aboard a ship helping to co-guide an expedition around the archipelago. We’ll be following the spring season sea ice and wildlife heading North. I’ll be back online soon with updates!  For now, here’s an Arctic Fox portrait that I captured in Pyramiden last year. #Svalbard | #Arcticfox
Evening light over the mountains of Tindfjöll.  Looking back on this moment, I was scoping in on the summit with a 400mm lens as the light cut across the mountain face. while capturing this image, I’m pretty sure it was the moment I first realised this was my favourite mountain ridge in Iceland. Earlier this year, I was trapped in a storm up there while on a ski mission. My friends and I then faced a 12 hour battle to get off the mountain. Freezing cold and completely wet we eventually made it down, and what an experience it was. In my ‘Iceland’ highlight story you can see the full day unfold. I learnt a lot on that trip, as with every mission to the mountains 🤘🏼 #Iceland
It’s live!  Thank you to each and every one of you who has enrolled in my online workshop so far. It’s an overwhelming feeling to experience so much interest in my work and I really hope that you can gain some valuable knowledge from the tutorial series. Photography started out for me ten years ago as a fun way to travel locally with my friends in the surfing community back home in Western Australia. I could have never imagined that it would take me where it has, discovering a love for cold-climates and a deep connection to Iceland, moving across the world and now devoting my life to documenting the North. If you haven’t yet had the chance to check out my online workshop, head to the link in my bio to see what it’s all about. Thank you again everyone, I wouldn't be where I am without all of your support! #HardmanXStrohl | #Iceland
Sea ice travel around the remote settlement of Uummannaq. The Greenland dog has long been a staple part of Greenlandic culture and their way of life. The dogs work in teams to haul both people and supplies across the sea ice during winter. The bonds between mushers and their dogs are incredible to witness, especially in remote regions such as Uummannaq where your survival literally depends on your dogs. If the pack somehow gets away from you on the ice and doesn’t return, you can freeze and die, it’s often as simple as that. As the sea ice thins and the often snowless summers get longer, the dogs struggle to survive. As the local people rely less and less on the dogs due to these changes, their population is in sharp decline. Changes to the global climate not only have an effect on the ice, but also the people and wildlife that live in these remote polar regions. #Greenland | #uummannaq
Today is the last day to pre-order my online workshop! If you are thinking of ordering, this will be the last chance to secure it at the special pre-order price before it goes live. During the filming of the online workshop, photographing the wildlife in Jökulsárlón was our first field project. We came across a group of 17 seals all while the camera was rolling, it was the most I’d ever seen together. In the end, the image I chose to edit had a relatively flat exposure and made for a great canvas to breakdown of my most used functionalities in Lightroom and Photoshop. As the episodes progress, we dive deeper into my post processing methods, working on several shots to sculpt the light through the selective adjustments and bring to life my vision for each scene. Head over to the link in my bio to check it all out, and remember it’s the last day for our pre-order pricing! Thanks everyone. #HardmanXStrohl | #Iceland
Winter Updates - Greenland and beyond. Today I uploaded a new video over on YouTube! I thought it would be cool to fill you guys in on what I’ve been up to over the last few months and share some thoughts on the upcoming workshop release. You’ll also see a few drone sequences in there from my 40 days in the Arctic this winter. Swipe up in my story to check out the video and leave a comment if you’d like to see some more video logs this summer! #Greenland
Happy earth day everyone! We’re getting really close to the release of my online workshop with @alexstrohl, I’m feeling super excited to share this with you all. This coming Wednesday, we will be opening a limited quantity of pre-orders that include some special additions. If you head to the link in my bio and save your place, you’ll also get access to two free episodes of the workshop straight to your inbox in the morning. In the meantime here’s an outtake from the first day of filming, looking up at the clouds forming around Hrútsfjall in southeast Iceland. This view has always been one that makes me stop in my tracks and admire the beauty of the mountains, I thought it was fitting for today✌🏼 #HardmanxStrohl | #Earthday
Winter camouflage. Whilst no one is certain of their origin, it’s thought that the Arctic Fox first travelled to Iceland during the time of the ice age, when sea ice created a land bridge between Europe, Iceland and Greenland. As the ice retreated however, the foxes became trapped in Iceland, making them the first and only native land mammal to exist here. Over thousands of years, the isolation of the icelandic Arctic Fox has given them unique traits from those found in other regions. Unlike other areas where the white morph Arctic Fox dominates the snow covered landscape of the Arctic, most of the food they find in Iceland is coastal sea derived. Due to the dark and rocky coastline of Iceland, devoid of snow all year round in most areas, the blue morph Fox, brown in colour, is the by far the most dominant colour morph found here. In the early 90’s, they became a protected species on the nature reserve of Hornstrandir, where they flourish under the watchful eye of scientists and the amazing team at the @arcticfoxcentre, where I learned of these incredible facts. Captured for @icelandair. #MyStopover | #Iceland | #ArcticFox
First signs of Spring. Towards the end of winter, the first storms above zero degrees begin to hit the highlands. Heavy wind and rain work to clear away the thick layer of snow and ice that has buried the landscape for months on end. Hundreds of glacial lakes and braided rivers will begin to flow once again, giving us the first true signs of the vibrant spring and summer seasons ahead. Shot for @icelandair. #MyStopover | #iceland