Well some of you may have read this on DPR already and some may not.
I wrote back and forth with Adam (our forum owner) to figure out where to post it and per his suggestion here it is.
Some of you may know that i have been away on what has become my favourite winterassignment for a client in Ilulissat, Greenland.
This time around the menu was set for 1 day of hiking, 1 day onboard a turist cruise and finally a 3 day dogsledding shoot, driving from Ilulissat, up onto the inland ice and down along the huge icefiord back home.
Weather this year was amazing a real blast, a confortable -5C and high arctic spring sun during the day and a modest -20C during night (a little chilly in the tent in the morning, but all in all fairly decent:)
This field report will be split into a 4 sections - A gear evaluation thread
- Images from the first couple of days
- Dogsledding - the sled and the landscape
- Dogsledding - people and portraits
Speaking of images there will not be quite as many as in the orginal thread as there will be quite a large amount of text, thus from here you really do have need to use the image gallery link in the bottom of the this post.
But no one gotta start somewhere, so why not start out with the first rule of dogsledding:
"Dogsledding is Bumpy, Dirty and freaking cold - You will not be looking your best" :)
Thanks for making it this far, I sincerely hope you will enjoy the read.
Feedback, comments and questions are as always highly welcome and appreciated.
The Gear evaluation:
This is an attempt to evaluate a little on the assignment itself and how the gear and accessories worked out, as I had a few items that were on their first heavy duty tour.
The following was with me on the trip: (++ = New in bag).
I have added how many percent of the final images delivered to the client they were used for where relevant.
Bodies:
Nikon D3 (1) - 62%
Nikon D3 (2) - 0% (back up body not used at all)
Pentax K-7 - 38%
Pentax K-m - 0% (back up body and never used)
More pentax than I expected really and it is bound in 3 facts.
- Weather was great thus more light, which meant base ISO and that is where the K-7 works for me.
- Shooting preferences, I had a look in mind for several situations that I knew the DA21 and FA43 would be able to deliver for me
- The fact that the DA*300 worked out as well as it did on the early stages of the trip.
lenses:
Nikkor 14-24/2.8 - 6%
Zeiss 28/2
Nikkor 50/1.2
Sigma 50/1.4 - 22%
Zeiss 85/1.4 - 4%
Nikkor 70-200VR - 31%
Pentax DA21ltd - 25%
++Pentax K28/3.5
Pentax FA43ltd - 4%
Pentax DA70ltd
++Pentax DA*300 - 8%
A couple of surprises here, The DA*300 has definitely earned its place in my assignment kit, Build is decent, focus not the fastest, but acceptable. but where it sells itself is with its renderings.
It has an IQ that I can only describe as excellent.
I did not expect to find as many images from the Nikkor 70-200VR as I did, but it has confirmed itself as my workhorse over and over again. extremely fast AF, stabilised and excellent IQ.
The Sigma 50 is simply a stellar slightly wide normal, sigma has done an outstanding job on this prime and I would not want ot have been without it on this trip, Responsible for one of my favourite images and a lens I rate almost as high as the limiteds in terms of IQ.
The DA21 and FA43 my two pentax favourites, some wonderful people images and perhaps favourite all time environmental portrait from the FA43 on this trip.
All camera gear functioned without hickups or errors in any way, weather has a lot to do with that.
Last year we encountered blizzardlike conditions and that really put a lot of pressure on the sealing, as ice build up around lensmount, knobs, dials etc.
This year i had no such issues:)
Speedlights:
Nikon SB-800 x 2
Nikon SU800 commander
Pentax AF540FGZ
Elincrom Skyport Wireless triggers
I used a large amount of fill light this time around, the Pentax flash was used once, rest of the time I used my SB800s on both cameras or remotely with radiotriggers.
Not that I dislike the Pentax flash, but the faster recycling time and the more consistent output made the difference, not to mention that they are more compact than the pentax flash.
The Skyports had me worried a little in advance, but they handled exceptionally well, with no reduction in range, excellent battery life and perfect operation (they are a little small to handle with gloves on though:)
Other stuff:
++Lowepro Pro Trekker 400AW
Lowepro SR200AW
Gitzo 5541 with Studioball ballhead
Giottos MT9240 with Gitzo ball head
Light stand softlighter II
a huge amount of batteries, chargers and memory cards
Now the Lowepro Pro Trekker deserves a mention and a few extra words.
The most well thought out photobag from Lowepro yet, at least in the category of large backpacks.
It seems to have enherited a lot of good treats and details from the LoweAlpine range of bags, for carrying heavy gear all day it is a wonderful bag, this is how it was set up:
and here is it with topcompartment installed:
Packed on the sled was an additional D3 body, a K-m, a few backup lenses, light gear and tripods.
Batteries were overall a positive experience, the K-7 is an improvent ober earlier bodies, but still not quite there for extended outings in cold weather all spare batteries were worn in the middle layer in watertight casings to keep them dry and warm
Overall however everything worked out as it should and not a single piece of gear went bad on me:)
The first couple of days:
The Ilulissat Icefiord was a couple of Years ago adopted on the UNESCO World Heritage list and is definitely among the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
Thus the first couple of days was spend doing a hike in the Isfiord area and on a boat trip among the huge icebergs in the Icefiord, for first time visitors this is about as much as one are able to take in at one time and one of the models had not been in Greenland before making for some very real expressions and reactions.
A fair bit of my time was spend palnning the trip too. Meeting with the client, the sled drivers etc.
Anyway a couple of sample images:
Fur ball by the Icefiord:
(K-7 - DA21ltd - f16 - 1/180 - ISO100 - SB800@1/1)
white on blue:
(K-7 - DA*300 - f5 - 1/1000 - ISO100)
Kataq and the ice:
(K-7 - DA*300 - f11 - 1/100 - ISO100)
Dogsledding, the dogsled action and scenic dogsleds:
Now Greenlandic dogsledding is dogsledding the traditional arctic way and not in the fashion you are used to see from Canada or dogsled races.
The dogs are of a different breed than the canadian sled dog too and the only breed of dog allowed north of the polar circle in Greenland. size varies, but judging from their sound and the way they treat humans, they are more wolves than dogs, something to bear in mind when working around them ("Kammaq" - the dog with the two females in the gallery is more than 200kg of sleddog).
That said, they are some amazing and incredibly strong animals, I am not a dog person, but these animals are fascinating creatures to work around.
the sled is build of wood and extremely sturdy, buid to take the blunt impacts from pressure ridges in the fiord and sea ice at speed while carrying a heavy load. the dogs are fanned out side by side in lines and not paired as it is common in canada and for dog sled races.
A touch of colour:
(K-7 - DA21ltd - f11 - 1/320 - ISO100)
On the Greenlandic Inland Ice:
(K-7 - DA*300 - f11 - 1/160 - ISO100)
Pressure ridge crossing #2:
(K-7 - DA21ltd - f13 - 1/250 - ISO100)
Dogsledding, people and portraits:
Clothing on such a trip is insulated seal fur parca and pants, as outerlayer and 3-4 layers underneath depending on temperature. you will se both in the image of me and the image of the hunters that there are variations when one adapts to the environment, especially this late in the season where temperatures does not get below -20C
Boots are usually Sorel or baffin polar boots. Gloves is anything from 1 - 4 layers, I use the local variant of green knitted style gloves (they are 2 dollars a pair and sold in packs of 10), If you need more insulation just put 3 of them into eachother and they insulate as good or better than any arctic expedition glove:)
Sunglases or skigoggles are mandatory, the arctic spring sun is extremely bright and you want to be able to open your eyes for more than the first day:)
All this clothing and the inuits tremendous adaption to these temperatures makes for some fun images.
The same is true about the way they choose to sleep, a sled tent with a petrolium stove at low power (slowly melting ice for coffee the next morning) in the opening is much more comfortable and warmer to sleep in than the arctic expedition tents used by many. these local customs alongside the needs from those unadapted to the arctic environment, simply makes for some very funny contrasts. And I have come to realise that modern technology is simply not as comfortable yet as the odd looking and last century ways of the native Inuits. The arctic desert is their home turf and it shows when you really get into the wilderness.
Timeless:
(K-7 - FA43ltd - F8 - 1/180 - ISO100 - SB800@1/4th)
On the inland ice #2:
(K-7 - DA21ltd - f13 - 1/180 - ISO100 - SB800@1/1)
A coffee moment #1:
(K-7 - DA*300 - f4 - 1/500 - ISO100)
Well if you have made it this far and have not been bored to death yet, then I do suggest that you take a look either at the updated dogsledding gallery found here:
Duplo Photography | Dogsledding
Or at the full trip gallery found here:
Duplo Photography | Dogsledding 2010
Thanks for reading, any comments or questions are highly welcome.
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