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Should i wait for @Something Fishy's 2016 TR before continuing with this one?

No
9 (15.8%)
Hell no
47 (82.5%)
Wait
1 (1.8%)

Total Members Voted: 57

Author Topic: 2018 Arctic Expedition  (Read 30446 times)

Offline shayaj

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #40 on: March 29, 2018, 12:50:46 PM »
Excuse me! I asked you to wait!!

Also, great pictures! I like this TR style, although I'm sure there is so much backstory not being shared. Will wait for the Fishy report one day.

On a real note, I would have wanted to write all the backstories and play around with editing the photos, but I know I never would have finished, so rather I decided to take this route.
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Offline Joe4007

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #41 on: March 29, 2018, 01:51:10 PM »


Great stuff Shayaj! Keep the pictures coming.

The 5 minute walkway from airport to hotel, has walls of snow on the sides :)

That's what you should expect after landing on a snowy runway

Offline shayaj

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #42 on: April 04, 2018, 10:51:52 AM »
Part 2


Tuesday, March 13th, 2018.

We got up early to this beautiful view.




Davening shacharis.




After breakfast, we were picked up by Better Moments (the outfitter we used).




Their unique lodge (they call it "office"), where we were outfitted with the appropriate gear.




Erlend, one of our guides, giving us a brief overview of the islands of Svalbard.




Reviewing the route we are planning to take.




Safety briefing.




Our other guard Renč, with his rifle (it's illegal to leave the town without a gun).




All of our stuff, the camping gear, extra gas, and emergency equipment were loaded onto 4 sleds.

One more lesson on how to operate the snowmobile.




And off we went.




Svalbard, a rough yet unblemished land. No photos can do justice its beauty - or roughness, for that matter (not even your TR @Something Fishy.)

We drove through the most scenic mountains and valleys trying to make our way to the east coast of the island, where we were planning on setting up camp for the night.

We stopped at this beautiful site, to eat lunch and to daven mincha.




It's hard to show the size of those pieces of ice.




Bonding with @Moishebatchy.




@Something Fishy taking some photos.




Yup, that's me up there.




@Moishebatchy gets grumpy if he misses his daily nap.




We continued to drive up the glacier for about another 2 hours or so, then stopped on top for sundown.

It was breathtaking - sadly this is the best photo my phone could take.




After driving a bit more we arrived at a safe place to set up camp.

Setting up camp.




It's getting darker, but we are still in the process of setting up our tents.




It took us about 2 hours to setup 6 small tents to sleep and one big heated tepee for eating, davening and to warm up a bit.

Time to warm up, we melted snow in a pot and Sous-vided our frozen food. Hot food never tasted so good....




And then the northern lights started, the most amazing display of nature's fireworks.

It started slow...




It got stronger by the minute...




And then it was all over us.




Our tent... Time to go to sleep



Stay tuned.....
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Offline Shmuel4

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #43 on: April 04, 2018, 02:40:50 PM »
This is amazing. I should have came!!! Keep em cmn!

Offline Yaalili

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #44 on: April 05, 2018, 02:51:31 AM »
Wow!

Offline Dan

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #45 on: April 05, 2018, 11:35:15 AM »
Great stuff.
How much of those lights were visible by the naked eye?
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Online Something Fishy

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #46 on: April 05, 2018, 11:44:15 AM »
Great stuff.
How much of those lights were visible by the naked eye?

The pictures are true to life here.
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Offline @Yehuda

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #47 on: April 08, 2018, 01:04:41 AM »
The pictures are true to life here.
Wow! I didn't know they could look like that without edits.

Offline davidrotts63

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #48 on: April 08, 2018, 01:06:11 AM »
The pictures are true to life here.
The question is if the pictures do it justice
(Quit) pulling out the flowers, and watering the weeds. -Peter Lynch

Offline Yammer

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #49 on: April 08, 2018, 02:33:08 AM »
Beautiful!

Offline Dan

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #50 on: April 08, 2018, 09:02:35 AM »
Wow! I didn't know they could look like that without edits.
AB is very photogenic. A slow shutter speed will pickup ABs that a human eye can't see.
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Online Something Fishy

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #51 on: April 09, 2018, 12:04:45 AM »
Check out my site for epic kosher adventures: Kosher Horizons

Offline shayaj

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #52 on: April 09, 2018, 12:35:13 AM »
Great stuff.
How much of those lights were visible by the naked eye?

In the beginning there was almost nothing, and most people went to warm up in the big tent. After a few minutes it got stronger and everyone ran out. This happened a few times, until most people were tired of running out constantly. The first few pictures were taken during the times that most people were out, and like Fishy said, is pretty true to life.

In the end it was just me and one of the guides left outside, when the sky exploded (last picture). The guide said he doesn't remember seeing it this bright or strong here.
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Offline shayaj

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #53 on: April 09, 2018, 01:06:25 AM »
The question is if the pictures do it justice

Once it exploded, it was changing so rapidly, no still photo can do it justice.







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Offline shayaj

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #54 on: April 09, 2018, 01:08:20 AM »


I don't see them holding their hands up :-\
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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #55 on: April 09, 2018, 01:09:58 AM »
I don't see them holding their hands up :-\

Lol. I just liked picture after they put their hands down better.
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Offline shayaj

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #56 on: April 09, 2018, 01:14:45 AM »
Wow! I didn't know they could look like that without edits.

they are straight out of my Olympus E-M10.
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Offline mgarfin

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #57 on: April 17, 2018, 12:46:29 AM »
This looks like it's going to take as long as something fishy

Online Something Fishy

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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #58 on: April 17, 2018, 12:47:57 AM »
This looks like it's going to take as long as something fishy

Oooh shots fired ;D
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Re: 2018 Arctic Expedition
« Reply #59 on: April 17, 2018, 10:50:51 AM »
Once it exploded, it was changing so rapidly, no still photo can do it justice.








Second one is fantastic, with the AB mimicking the shape of the tent. I'm a sucker for those kinds of symmetries in photography.