NZICESCAPES IMAGES » Glaciology

Beaten views are sometimes worth it!

admin — Tue, 16 May 2017 04:16:43 +0000

Soft colours of twilight over Southern Alps with two highest peaks in New Zealand, Aoraki, Mt. Cook 3724m (right) and Mt. Tasman 3497m (left) and Franz Josef Glacier, Westland Tai Poutini National Park, West Coast, UNESCO World Heritage Area, New Zealand, NZ

In a pursue of my images, I try to find new places, locations unknown and not photographed by others to create a new, fresh and appealing frame. It’s not only for the sake of novelty though, rather, to make me happy and excited with new vistas, new discoveries.
Sometimes, however, there are places which demand our high respect, making us to ditch our egos, because of just what they are. One of those spots is a popular lookout from the Okarito Trig, offering spectacular views toward the majestic Southern Alps. And sometimes, all it takes to create a wonderful photograph is to be there in the right time of the day and play it simple. Like in this example, when I took advantage of those gorgeous, soft pastel hues cast over the landscape by the ending of the day. And of course, when pretty, lenticular clouds hung around for a minute, that’s when the image speaks up.
These would be, arguably the most expansive vistas over the Southern Alps, encompassing a few hundreds of km of rangers laid out right in front of you in 180 degree span.
2 highest peaks of New Zealand’s Southern Alps with leafy shaped Mount Tasman on right 3,497m with highest mountain Aoraki/Mount Cook 3,724m right next to it on right. Franz Josef Glacier is just visible below them.
Thank you.

Sunset over Southern Alps and Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

admin — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 03:46:25 +0000

Vast area of Geikie Snowfield of upper parts of Franz Josef Glacier during setting sun with Mt. Tasman and Aoraki, Mount Cook dominating skyline, Westland Tai Poutini National Park, West Coast, UNESCO World Heritage Area, New Zealand, NZ

Perhaps everyone knows how glaciers work…a lot of snow (and I mean a lot of it, up to 50m to gain a compressing weight of its own) compacting into the ice with gravity pulling this mass down the hill. It may however be a bit harder for everyone to imagine the scale of the area where all this compacting happens.
Franz Josef Glacier is one of the smaller glaciers by world standards but quite a sizeable chunk of ice in New Zealand landscape.
On this photograph I’ve been hoping to show the vastness of the upper parts of this currently about 10km long glacier. With 2 highest peaks of the New Zealand’s Southern Alps dominating the background – Mount Tasman on far top left 3,497m and highest mountain Aoraki/Mount Cook 3,724m next to it on right, the vastness of the Geikie and Davis Snowfields of the Franz Josef Glacier is quite apparent.
This wonderful scene has been photographed just as the sun was dipping over the horizon of the Tasman Sea on right and I love the beautiful light bouncing over about 30 square km large NEVE in wonderful hues of purple, pink and orange. Hope you enjoy this image, too. Thank you.

Winter Photo Tour in New Zealand

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 23:07:45 +0000

Sunset over Main Divide with Centennial Hut perched on ridge in centre atop of Franz Josef Glacier, Westland National Park, West Coast, Westland Tai Poutini National Park, World Heritage Area, New Zealand

Throughout the year, we have several itineraries of our photo workshops and tours but we were thinking about adding one more special winter version to our selection.
This new itinerary is almost identical with our 15 day South Island tour but we added a new, super location to it – one night will be spent in the high altitude mountaineering hut in The Southern Alps of the South Island in New Zealand.

The hut sits atop of the Franz Josef or Fox Glaciers, (depending on weather conditions we chose the best option), and we will have our private, professional mountaineering guide to guide us in this spectacular environment.
This combination will enable us to fully concentrate on photography, capturing images from areas usually accessible only to the skilled mountaineers. The scenery is going to be utterly breathtaking with 360 views and vistas reaching far into the Tasman Sea on horizon. We’ll be photographing spectacular West Coast sunset over the Tasman Sea from around 2800m above sea level, right under the Main Alpine Divide, as well as the sun rising from behind the following morning.

This adventure is scheduled for the 4 August until 18 August 2016 and I can’t wait to taking you into some of the most spectacular location on our planet.

For the full itinerary, please visit our website – nzicescapes.com

Beautiful pastel colours of sunset above Franz Josef Glacier photographed from Centennial Hut with Tasman Sea visible on horizon. Tusk Rocks in foreground, Chamberlin Snowfield right, Agassiz Glacier left, Westland National Park, West Coast, World Heritage Area, New Zealand

Deep crevasses in upper parts of Franz Josef Glacier, Westland Tai Poutini National Park, West Coast, UNESCO Wolrd Heritage Area, New Zealand, NZ

Views down Franz Josef Glacier from above Centenial Hut with Tasman Sea in distance, Westland Tai Poutini National Park, West Coast, UNESCO World Heritage Area, New Zealand, NZ

Tasman Glacier in Mt Cook NP

admin — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:48:50 +0000

Tasman Glacier and its terminal lake with icebergs and icy debris after massive terminal face calving in 2010 under sunset, Mt. Cook National Park, Mackenzie Country, World Heritage Area, New Zealand

Glaciers around the world are melting and disappearing from World Maps. We are not immune to it as this sad reality is hitting New Zealand as well, and it’s not a nice sight.
The Southern Alps are becoming more and more unstable for alpine activities with increased rock avalanches as the warmer temperatures are melting rock binding ice in lower altitudes then in past.
All this rock avalanche debris falls on the shrinking and narrowing glaciers in valleys below, covering their gasping for breath remnants under layers of rocks.

In case of Tasman Glacier, this is even more evident, as with it’s lengths of 27km now, it is New Zealand’s longest and mightiest glacier…but how long for when its retreat is today estimated to be close to 1 km each year.
In 2010 massive calving event occurred, littering Tasman Glacier terminal lake, non-existent 40 years ago, with tons of ice debris and icebergs.

It’s not every day when event like this happens so I went to check it out myself. When I arrived at the terminal lake near sunset time, the sky suddenly closed up, clouds rolled over my head and it started to snow. The light of the setting sun was penetrating this gentle snowfall, and all Tasman Valley got dressed up in this beautiful pinkish pastel colours…very eerie, moody scene with all the icebergs in the lake…how lucky I was to witness this alone…

Tasman Glacier with its terminal lake after calving at sunset, Mt. Cook National Park, Mackenzie Country, World Heritage Area, New Zealand

Taken with Nikon D300 and Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens

Wilderness of Copland Valley in New Zealand

admin — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:22:59 +0000

Copland River in Copland Valley, West Coast, New Zealand

Despite this place being right on my doorstep, I’m quite ashamed to admit that it’s been a long 10 years since I visited this location last time. But this long gap won’t happen again, I can promise you that!
This said, you can well imagine my excitement planing my trip back into the wilderness of this spectacular western part of the Southern Alps, part of the Westland National Park in New Zealand.
Copland Valley is simply amazing. Jugged skyline of The Sierra Range on southern side of the valley keeps your mind in awe pretty much all along the way toward the first, well known hut – Welcome Flat Hut, which is reached after around 8hrs. A lot of the time you’re hiking along beautiful Copland River as it runs through this valley. River originates in Copland Glacier and gathers its waters from magnificent peaks of the Southern Alps, especially from The Sierra Range. And it is its glacial origins which gives this river stunning turquoise-blue colour of water.

It was late on a summer day when I took this photograph of the Copland River. As the sun went lower and lower, the Copland Valley lost its light completely and the blue chill of river gave the air its coldness. Combination of these qualities, warm sunlight on the peaks, coldness of the river and with addition of the juicy green rainforest made this frame for me.

This panoramic photograph is a merge of six frames, processed using Lightroom 4 and stitched in Photoshop CS6.

Sunrise over Lake Wanaka

admin — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:18:09 +0000

A few month back I hiked up the Roys Peak 1578m to get some photographs of Lake Wanaka. It’s an easy hike mostly through the farmland but from the start to the very end it goes only uphill. With a heavy pack loaded with camping and photo gear it will give your legs a decent workout. But boy, she’s a worthwhile…
The 360 degree views from the tops are simply incredible. On clear evenings you can see for miles and miles with some iconic features of the Central Otago region. To the west for example, in this frame on left, you can see the famous “horn” of Mount Aspiring – Tititea 3033m which is the highest NZ’s mountain peak outside of Mt. Cook area.
Lake Wanaka itself is the 4′s largest NZ lake covering an area of just under 200km sq with depth of up to 300 m. Situated in u-shaped valley formed by glacier during the last ice age more then 10,000 years ago, the lake is fed by the Makarora and Matukituki rivers and is the source of the south island’s longest Clutha River.
At its longest axis, the lake is 42km long and up to 10km wide at its widest point.

This photograph has been made by stitching 13 vertical frames, processed using Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4.

Enjoy!

Icy Fringes

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:22:10 +0000

Beautiful shapes of deep, freshly snowed up crevasses on Franz Josef Glacier, Westland National Park, West Coast, New Zealand

This shot is from last winter on Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand.
It was a beautiful day, as it always is on the West Coast and which is why you wanna be on ice, right?
I was on one of my explorations of this glacier. Since the glacier’s changing literally every day, you can keep coming back all the time and always see some new magic.

On this day, it was these turquoise fringes of the crevasses which caught my attention, as they were shining from a distance at me.
I love these ice colours but it is not easy to get around locations like this, especially in winter when every crack, deep crevasse or whole is covered with snow. These adventures can truly be deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’ve been tip toeing around these crevasses, poking the ground in front of me before I put my next step down. I wanted to get as close as I could to get a nice wide angle shot with a lot of detail.

Standing on the slippery edge of the crevasse I made this exposure with my 12-24 mm wide angle lens at 12mm and with +1.3 EV exposure compensation.
Only very little of touch up on this RAW file in Lightroom was required to finalize the frame.
I hope you’ll like it as I do.

Enjoy!

Moonlight over Franz Josef Glacier

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:37:56 +0000

Franz Josef Glacier under the moonlight, Westland National Park, West Coast, New Zealand

I’ve been wondering for quite some time how Franz Josef Glacier looks under the moonlight. As you know, there is only 12 or 13 full moons in a year and not each of moon’s appearance is on a clear sky for maximum light. Also, I might not always be able to chase it…but eventually, I managed.

Couple of days back it looked like its going to be a good full moon and because I was around, I decided to give it a go and hurried up to climb the hill and spent a night under the stars…and what a night it was!

I’ve been just starting and experimenting with night photography so I was very excited to see what can be captured. I managed to get several exposures ranging from 30 to 40 min but I can see that there is much more potential. It was full moon and that’s why I went up – to get well illuminated glacier but next time I might go somewhere in the middle of the moon cycle. That should allow me to add some nice, stronger star trails into the frame, as well, as this time the sky was too bright.

Since this image is not online yet, the link from it will take you to our STOCK galleries where you can explore more on New Zealand’s landscapes!
Enjoy!

…and into Fiordland on Routeburn Track!

admin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:27:01 +0000

Spectacular, emerald green Lake Mackenzie on Routeburn Track, Fiordland National Park, Southland, New Zealand

Leaving Mt. Aspiring National Park in Harris Saddle, the track begins to drop down and zig zags on the Hollyford Face. From here some amazing vistas are to be seen with Lake Mackenzie in far distance at the bottom of the valley and, it may take around 3hrs to get to Lake Mackenzie Hut from an area of fragile alpine vegetation of Harris Saddle. After several zig zags, track enters beautiful, densely in moss cloaked Fiordland bush before reaching the hut. Remember, this is Fiordland, one of the wettest regions in the World and this amazingly green ancient forest is proof of it.

Result of the last glaciation, Lake Mackenzie, beautifully surrounded by this juicy green bush and grey rocks, is one of the gems in Fiordland. Its breath taking emerald colours, enhanced on my overcast day, are quite extraordinary and I could spend many days here just exploring and photographing. Can’t wait to be back one day again!

Brewster Glacier – Day 2

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:21:02 +0000

Mt. Brewster dominating the Brewster Glacier with its terminal lakes - Mt. Aspiring N.P., West Coast, New Zealand

After spending a night at Brewster Hut, it’s not too long to get to the Brewster Glacier, just around couple of hours of hiking.
Brewster Glacier is a magical place to photograph…the glacier melt water gathers and forms stunningly coloured terminal lakes. Yes, these lakes are freezing cold but their emerald colour makes them look amazing, with its source, the Brewster Glacier and Mt. Brewster 2515m asl, right behind it.
Despite of relatively not too difficult hike to the glacier, the hike shouldn’t be taken lightly. Especially during the unpredictable wether period. There is no track as such and you need to find and follow orange poles on the beginning and then just know the terrain and find your way through the steep slopes and scree, as the poles are not all the way to the glacier. Since the route leads along steep slopes with some moderate exposure which may be fine in summer but during the winter or low clouds, this can be quite dangerous. Other thing to consider is that the route runs through an avalanche path in winter. This avalanche hazard applies long into the spring so if considering heading that way, be extra vigilant and experienced, and definitely check the weather before you take off.
When you eventually make it through though, you will never forget it!