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
Drifting through silent snowfall. Over the course of the winter this year, I’ve spent quite a lot of time sailing amongst the fjord ice in Disko Bay. The changes I’ve witnessed just in the last few months alone have been immense. The biggest change being the lack of sea ice. Many years ago it would be frozen solid out there, but now as the ocean temperatures slowly rise and fluctuations in the weather become more sporadic, the sea ice cannot freeze thick enough to remain solid against the ocean currents, leading to a cycle of cracking apart and refreezing to a thin surface layer. On a few occasions, I noticed the ice completely vanish in the wind over the space of just one evening. Even more alarming however, was to see satellite images from the fjord systems further north. The sea ice in some cases had cracked and disappeared much earlier than expected, even putting my own expedition plans to a halt this season. Some of the fjords were ice free all the way to back the furthest end, where the outlet glaciers meet the fjord waters. Hearing the locals talk about these recent occurrences, I could feel an underlying sense of shock around the town. If no measures are swiftly put in place by the world’s large scale industry leaders to prevent further damage to our climate, things will undoubtedly get much worse out there. #greenland | #climatechange
We’re just over a week away from the pre-order drop date for my online photography workshop with @alexstrohl. I’ve been watching the video series come together over the last few months and I’m elated at all the topics we’ve covered on photography, from the steps involved to find your own style in the industry, to refining your editing skill set. In my story you can see the third trailer on editing, where I’ll be covering my process in depth by working specifically with images we captured during the filming of the workshop. To sign up for free episodes and get early access to the April 24th pre-order window, head to the link in my bio 🙏🏼 #iceland | #reindeer
Where the wall once stood.
Cloudy late night skies in the East. As the wind picks up, clouds drift across the mountains, enshrouding them from view. For a brief few minutes, a new perspective of the peaks will likely be revealed from within, often met with a flock of birds passing through. After a long winter, I must say I’m looking forward to the bright nights ahead. They give a window into the nocturnal world, from Owl sightings to cloud inversions, the midnight light in Iceland holds a unique atmosphere of its own. #iceland
First light. Good memories from the first day of shooting my online workshop with @alexstrohl. We were on our way to the east of Iceland in search of wildlife, when we noticed the morning light popping over Dyrhamar and the surrounding mountains of Öræfajökull. All of a sudden the cameras where rolling, the first shot of the workshop was in the bag and months of planning became a reality. Head to my story to see some insights into the vibe of the online workshop and stay tuned for the pre-order window - it will begin on the 24th of April. Super excited for this! #iceland
High up in the icefall. It’s been a huge winter this year, I thought I’d share some updates for those interested. It started off with the filming of my upcoming online workshop in Iceland alongside @alexstrohl. We’ll be covering all there is to know about my editing and curation process, while breaking down some interesting shooting scenarios back in Iceland. We had some really interesting conditions for the shoot, and I’m proud of the images we covered in the workshop modules. Excited to share this with you all later this month! Then began my winter season of travel in the Arctic, where I’ve spent the last 2 months between Greenland and Svalbard, shooting for a long term project I’ve been working on about the North. Right now I’m in Ilulissat waiting to fly home to Iceland, though a storm has cancelled my flights for the last two days - a classic scenario in Greenland. Looking forward to heading home to defrost and start to prepare for the next expedition in Svalbard in two weeks time. That’s all for now, cheers everyone!
A distant wanderer on the fjord ice. After finding some distinctive footprints on our track and scouting the area with binoculars, we came across this Polar Bear laying down on a mountain in the distance. Eventually the bear woke up and walked down onto the ice, stopping at this point and staring out into the abyss of the fjord before laying down again. I followed along at 600mm, trying to keep stable against a rock with my frozen hands. Shooting through the haze, it was difficult to get an image of this scene, but I’m glad to have at least been able to document this beautifully quiet and serene moment in time. Captured on my way to the east coast with @poliarctici on assignment for @visitsvalbard. #svalbard
Back in connection today for a few moments here in Greenland and I thought I’d share with you all an awesome opportunity to travel with @donalboyd and I this June in the mountains of Iceland. We’ll be heading into the southern side of highlands, accessing some of our favourite areas to shoot and sharing our knowledge on photography and post processing along the way. Head to the link in my bio for the application page and check out all the info over on Donal’s website. Flying further north in Greenland today. Will be back online next week with updates, cheers✌🏼
A reindeer in Svalbard, enduring stormy weather along the coastline of Longyearbyen. They are such resilient animals, digging down through the snow in search of winter supplies and surviving through the arctic freeze. #visitsvalbard | #svalbard
Earlier this year @alexstrohl joined me in Iceland to begin creating an online photography workshop together. Through field and studio sessions, we worked to break down my style in photography and dive into the core elements I use to process my images - here’s an image from one of the modules! Now we’re getting closer to the launch next month and the @strohlworks team has just put together a webpage that gives you the the inside scoop and info on how to sign up for exclusive access on the drop date. Really excited to share this with you all, it’s been a wild journey! Link in bio. #HardmanxStrohl
Looking down from the boat deck at a scaly pattern in the sea ice over Disko bay. This month has been a huge one, travelling in remote regions across both Greenland and Svalbard. Really excited to now spend a few days tucked away at home in Iceland and start to look through all of the photographs. Stay tuned friends!
One from home. Fjallabak is an interesting area to observe the seasonal changes of the landscape in Iceland. I photographed this scene a few weeks ago from the sky with my buddy @volcanopilot, where a section of a river on Mælifellssandur survived the winter freeze. With the path hidden under the snow at either end, it’s almost as if the exposed section came to the surface for a breath of fresh mountain air before returning to the depths. #iceland
A swirl of ice drifting with the wind at the edge of a glacier, deep in the western fjords of Svalbard. Excited to be returning here in a few days time to continue shooting one of my long-term projects on the Arctic. @visitsvalbard
Really stoked to announce the upcoming release of my online photography workshop together with my good friend @alexstrohl. Earlier this year, Alex and his team joined me in Iceland to head into the field and begin to break down my entire creative process in photography. I’ve worked for years to refine the style and aesthetic of my images, and by far the question I get asked most is how I edit to achieve a unified appearance in my work. I’m thrilled to finally share my process with you all, we go deep into my editing workflow and how and why I compose the way I do when out in nature. I’m confident that there will be some useful insights for you all upon the release! In the meantime I’ve made an email signup page on my website, where you will be get early access to the pre-order release phase as well access to our favourite episodes straight to your inbox for free. The signup link is in my bio! ✌🏼
Perspectives from the ice field. During a trip into the backcountry of West Greenland last week, I discovered this ice arch out in on the frozen fjord. Hiking there on foot, my friends and I were able see and photograph this incredible structure up close. Looking through the arch, you can see the iceberg from my recent post where I’d witnessed the Northern Lights dancing overhead while camping on the ice. It’s hard to comprehend that so much beauty can exist in one location, and equally hard to come to terms with the fact these icebergs will swiftly disappear, soon existing only as a memory through these images. Climate change has really taken hold of the Arctic, every time I return I see and hear of areas that have started to change drastically from what has been observed in the last few decades. On this latest trip alone, I’ve witnessed sea ice thinning significantly, inland fjord ice melting completely in the middle of winter and ice crossings between towns unexpectedly breaking apart. With hopes that my glacier and ice related images can inspire us all to band together and help to prevent further damage to our fragile polar regions, I’ll continue to share my observations and thoughts on the issue of climate change here on Instagram throughout the rest of the Arctic winter and beyond. #greenland | #climatechange
With snow falling heavily around us, the icebergs remained hidden from view until the last minute. There’s something quite intimidating about arriving in this way to the base of a towering iceberg, sometimes over 50 meters high. #greenland