Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/05/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>I am considering a trip to the Arctic this summer. Has anybody down any >photography in that region? > >Clifton > Well I've done a fair bit of mountaineering and landscape photography in arctic Norway, and also photographed a sailing trip to Bear Island and Svalbard - to about 80 deg N - on the Staadtsraad Lemkuhl (sp?). I confess to using a Nikkormat FTn and a Rollei 35 on land and a weatherproof Nikon compact at sea. Kodachrome 64 for everything. The light in summer is - well - - beyond words. The summer weather in those parts of the Arctic is fairly mild and stable (at least in comparison with higher hills at lower latitudes) mainly because of the North Atlantic Drift. Fog and light rain are common - as are flies. Where were you thinking of going? Svalbard (Spitzbergen) is much more easily accessible than it used to be (guess that is true just about the world over). It has Russian and Norwegian mining towns - the highest latitude towns (as opposed to 'bases' or 'camps') in the world, I believe. Longyearbyen (Longyear City - named after a mining engineer I think) is as far North as Ross Base is South. Arctic Norway is easier to get to (and to get around) and is just overwhelmingly beautiful. A trip on the coastal ferry is well worthwhile - even for a day or so. The North Cape is a little bizarre. All of Norway is covered by excellent 1 to 50 000 maps. Anyway, I'm writing all this when there is probably a Luggite who lives there and can give you much better info! What did you want to know? (Now he asks!) Regards, Malcolm Currently nearer to the Equator than the N Pole, in Singapore