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Walking on Ice

A journey to the heart of Iceland

By Craig MirandaPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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A Crystal Ice Cave

Today’s reality is tomorrow’s memory.

Our planet holds such great beauty, which it generously displays for us to indulge in. This picture is that of a pristine ice cave deep in the heart of Vatnajökull, Iceland. The picture has been edited by increasing the contrast and slightly shifting the tone curve. In addition to that, I also shifted the blues towards teal and had a local adjustment in the sky to bring up the saturation and down the exposure for the sunset to really pop out. The intention behind the edit was to highlight the crystal blues from the magical glacier in the image which we don’t see every day, but also focus on the sunset which is so familiar to us.

The area of Vatnajökull, is built on the formation of glaciers which lacked any residents; this place was home to nothing but nature. The journey started with a drive from a small town with a population of less than 50 to Vatnajökull, which gave us about 45 mins to understand the land and the works of the glaciers. Once the jeep had parked, we were then aware that we were in the middle of a deserted icy desert. Nothing but snow and ice covered the land for as far as my eyes could see. We were told that there were barely any animals that would live here apart from foxes or sheep- but they too would only walk on this terrain to just get to the river where they would feed. We trekked through for a while until we came upon a slope where we had to start utilizing our crampons that were attached to the soles of our boots, giving us a good grip whilst climbing upwards on the glacier. Looking towards the horizon whilst we were halfway up, I could still see nothing but ice that covered the ground for miles and miles. As the elevation was getting to us, we finally made it to the top of the glacier where the entrance to a dark crystal ice cave had formed- and that finally took my breath away.

It is such a humbling experience to witness such a spectacular natural formation, which has weathered harsh conditions, punishing terrain and is isolated and aloof from humans. Standing in front of this ice cave, I could not help think of the dichotomy it represented; so magnificent yet so alone, so beautiful yet so cold, a monumental work of nature standing in pin-drop silence. It was as if this ice cave knew that I would be one of the few witnesses to speak of its existence long after it melted into the chasms of the earth’s abyss.

With the opportunity of being on Europe’s largest glacier, I stood there head bowed in prayer for I felt oneness and connected. I knew that having been drawn to this place, I now had the responsibility to click a picture of it, to show it and tell its story to others. I clicked, clicked and clicked only to realize that hours had elapsed. I lay my camera aside conscious of the setting sun and the need to embrace this experience before the harsh winter night would blizzard it into obscurity.

I chose to submit this picture into the competition as I am hoping that it would gain visibility such that others could travel to enjoy and witness such splendor. A lot of our natural landscape is changing, and I wish for this Vatnajökull ice cave to live on, to be perennial rather than ephemeral and to bring the calmness and warmth that it brought me from just witnessing the stillness of its existence.

travel photography
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About the Creator

Craig Miranda

There's only 1 world, but 7 billion perspectives of it!

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