expedition - svalbard Happiness is a sharp ice axe

Taken while ice climbing in remote Spitzberg island, as close as the North Pole as you can sailto...

A different perspective, with a global view of the site is here .

What about this shot? I like the concurrency of action, expression andlocation... and you? Anything to improve or change?

Wow !

 

Now I see that my F100 can resist to "extreme" wheather conditions. ;-)

 

Thanks.

Sebastien, the funny part was that I had brought my FM2 for this kind of things, since it does resist to these conditions without battery problems... but midway the month-long trip a film trailer broke in the camera and I found myself with all the film rolled to the right and did not want to risk removing it (what was done by a lab losing the images anyhow). So the F100, which was the backup body for the FM2, ended up being the camera used for most of the shots. Incidentally one can sun-charge the batteries...

Magnificient image taken, I hope, at no risk to your personal safety?

Fantastic shot.

Super colors and composition.

"Happiness is a warm gun" John Lennon sings ... and you are saying that Happiness is a sharp Ice axe

 

Happiness is also a camera and a good motive and the right moment and the right light and .. and ...

 

I guess she and you felt happiness in that moment for different reasons. A very nice shot.

 

It tells me that happiness is relative.

Maybe including more rope and less space on the right would have given a greater sense of effort? As it is, maybe cropping a little off the right? Also tried cropping immediate foreground ice out, to give a hanging in the air feel, the orginal ice making an anchor that may reduce the feeling of vertigo? Agree or disagree? Also change brightness contrast, and reduced cyans and reds, increased blues. I felt reducing the reds would bring out more of the texture of the jacket, but its a matter of taste really...

Stephen, the idea of having less foreground is a very good one, and I'll most likely implement it.

Thanks a lot!

 

As for the colours, this is more or less the light which was there... remember: it was midnight!

I've eventually uploaded a new crop as suggested above. For reference, here the old one. Thanks again for all valuable suggestions.

By the way, that's truly yours after his turn came to try the ice face. On the horizon, the Imram, the boat we sailed up there and our floating base-camp!

Really good climbing portrait: I guess you had to go really far north find good light! Seems like just about the right motion blur as she drives the axe - maybe could be a bit slower shutter but I'd be delighted to get this shot. Though the colors are muted, the yellow shaft pops out nicely here.

Man, you really get around! Looks like fun!