Patterns in Ice – Lofoten Islands

Photo: Snow on Urvatnet, Lofoten Islands, Norway.   Feb 2012

Photo: Rock breaks through ice on Nedre Heimdalsvatnet, Eggum, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

With the relatively low amounts of snow during my two weeks on the islands I often found myself using ice as a foreground subject.  Normally, even with only 10cm or so of snow, the frozen lakes and fjords would just be flat areas of white without much contrast or anything of interest.  With the snow mostly melted from rain or blown away by the wind I found the crack patterns that formed in the ice to be patterns for study.  The frozen areas of tidal inlets where rocks would break through the ice and form unique shapes and patterns were especially interesting.  This also helped add a bit of contrast to the scene on otherwise flat and overcast days.

Being from California, ice isn’t exactly a common sight for me.  I probably looked pretty funny at times trying to negotiate my way around.  Especially after the days of rain when the ice was especially slippery and I would have to use my tripod as a sort of walker to keep me from falling on my ass.  Though I still managed that a few times as well.  On one somewhat windy day, my tripod (without camera) was blown about 20 meters while standing up.  It was a bit funny to watch it just slide across the lake until I realised that it ended up a bit farther from the shore than I was comfortable in walking; I usually stuck to areas where I could see that the bottom wasn’t much more than knee deep if the ice was to break for some reason, although it was plenty thick enough.

The following two photos illustrate just how much a night of rain can change the scene.  In the first photo the snow helps emphasise the crack patterns in the ice, giving a bit of contrast to the scene in the flat light just before dark.  In the second image, the cracks are almost without detail and the contrast in the scene comes from the changing hues of the ice as it is elevated upon a rock below the surface and the water covered ice reflects like the surface of a lake.

In case you missed my post from the other day, HERE’S THE LINK to my gallery of the trip.

Photo: Frozen shore of Ytterpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012

 

Photo: Frozen shore of Ytterpollen, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  Feb 2012