By Mark McConville
INCREDIBLE intricate patterns have been revealed in the ice in a series of stunning bird’s eye view images of Iceland.
The astonishing aerial images show the blue lines of the ocean separating the pure white shapes of the ice, wavy streams of water and icy providing a blue hued patterns over a brown river bed and the darkness of a river and its estuaries breaking up a huge chunk of white.
Other spectacular shots show a pure white mountain peak standing out against the grey lowland, brown ridges straining to get through a blanket of snow and the green of land making way for the turquoise colour of the sea.
The amazing photographs were taken in Iceland, Greenland and Nunavut by arctic wildlife photographer Florian Ledoux (28), from Château-Thierry in France, using a drone.
“When I heard about drone technology (it was pretty new at the beginning) I knew it would be a new point of view on our planet Earth and on the Arctic,” he said.
“The drone allows us to be lower than a helicopter and also to frame as I want and to do smooth footage. While I was doing different reportage in Greenland, Nunavut or Iceland I wanted to capture an abstract view of Earth.
“Obviously from the ground I couldn’t see how it will look. Once the drone was in the sky, the camera looking down, every time, I could not believe the beautiful patterns I was seeing. Earth’s lines and patterns are just amazing. Our nature is the biggest artist I have ever seen.”
Florian explained the problems he ran into flying a drone in the Arctic and why he wants to display this beautiful landscape to a wider audience.
“I crashed many drones to take all these photos as it is tricky to fly in the Arctic,” he added.
“Because the Arctic is remote, close to the magnetic pole and experiences extreme cold temperatures, drones encounter a lot of trouble while flying. There are interferences, compass errors etc; every flight is a risk that I made even greater by flying from a sailboat, which became a non-static reference point for the operating system.
“I want people to realise how incredible is our Planet and it is even truer from the sky. I want to share this beauty which a large public that never seen the planet in that way.
“I love the Arctic for its immense landscape and nature, which remains wild and almost untouched by human activity. You can sail, hike and explore for several days or weeks without witnessing any sign of human presence.
“I was deeply touched while I took my first journey above the Arctic Circle when I was ten years old and this feeling is something that is still growing in intensity as I explore further.
“When I find myself in the remote Arctic, encounter and engage with the people and wildlife that call it home, I know that this is the moment where everything makes sense for me. I know it because I feel it deeply in myself.
“It is a deep vibe that takes all my body and soul. In this moment, the urge to create an image that I would remember for the rest of my life with a strong message, comes naturally to me.”
