Congratulations to Stefan Official for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 7 votes - View Previous Winners
Unfortunately, I haven't had much time recently, which is why it's been a bit quiet here. Today I edited an old photo from 20 years ago and was shocked to see what it looks like today. You can find out more in the photo description.
I took this photo over 20 years ago at Briksdalsbreen in Norway – a mighty glacier that once flowed deep into the valley lake.
The glacier hike, framed by this monumental ice landscape, was a fascinating scene to capture – impressive in its stillness and scale.
Today, almost nothing remains of the glacier. Only a small patch of snow is left high on the mountain – barely enough to be called a glacier. Looking at my own image now, it feels like a piece of history.
If you have a moment, try searching for Briksdalsbreen today – and see what’s left. It’s sobering, but worth looking.
The photo was taken with a Canon EOS-1D Mark II and an EF 100–400 mm f/4.5–5.6 L IS USM at 130 mm.
Technical data:
ISO 100 | 1/400 s | f/9.0 | 130 mm (full frame)
Location: Briksdalsbreen, Norway
Simply stunning image…more so with the story behind the glacier dying. I would bet the lodge would buy a large photo of this shot just for history sake.
Stefan, now that's an incredible capture and Briksdalsbreen is no longer the same as seen in this image. Your composition and PP is wonderful. Well done
Me and my wife did the hike to Briksdalsbreen last July. We stopped at Loen skylift and then drove to Briksdalsbreen. Now one can book a one way shuttle for the hike and the glacier has receded a lot as per the sign posted at the lake. Nevertheless, its a very pretty area.
Thank you very much, girls and boys! Today someone showed me a 40-year-old photo of a glacier in Austria. Nothing but ice and mountains. Today there's only a little snow left on the summit and a lake. If he hadn't shown it to me, I wouldn't have known there had ever been a glacier there. I'll even drive past there soon and think of him, because you can't forget something like that. Maybe you should show Trump these photos.
Stefan Official wrote:
Thank you very much, girls and boys! Today someone showed me a 40-year-old photo of a glacier in Austria. Nothing but ice and mountains. Today there's only a little snow left on the summit and a lake. If he hadn't shown it to me, I wouldn't have known there had ever been a glacier there. I'll even drive past there soon and think of him, because you can't forget something like that. Maybe you should show Trump these photos.
Lots of glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and British Columbia are in the same boat. Once they were majestic…now just a slim reminder of what once was.
California’s Sierra Nevada was, decades ago, full of quite a few mostly-small glaciers. It was common to find them on north faces of the highest parts of the range.
Today, not so much. Many have been reduced to semi-permanent ice fields, if that. One of the more famous, on the slopes of My. Lyell, the highest peak in Yosemite National Park, was studied by John Muir as he worked to make the then-controversial case that glaciers were responsible for many of the features of the range. A few years ago it was declared to no longer qualify as a glacier.
For my own part, over the decades that I have spent in that range I have observed changes that are impossible to miss. I started backpacking in about 1968. Back then I recall that it was not at all uncommon on summer trips to wake up to frost on teh sleeping bag and ice where water collected.
I cannot recall the last time that I saw this in the range. I spent four nights at and above 10,000’ last week, and while we had some cold wind — we’re in what now passes for a cool spell in California — there was no frost or ice. The lowest temperatures were in the low to mid 40s.
Stefan:
Now that's a beautiful capture. Between the people giving a sense of scale and those blues that keep sucking my eyes in, I was virtually transfixed - just staring at it.
Such a sad story, too. As others have remarked, it is not a unique one. I live near "Glacier" National Park (the US one, not the Canadian one) and it's what we're seeing here, too.
I remember visiting the Franz Joseph Glacier in New Zealand in 1995. As one drives up there are signs marking the edge of the glacier at various years going back about 200 years. I am sure I would be horrified to go back and see a stake with the date "1995" and find out now how far back the glacier has receded.
Many thanks to all of you for the feedback and the votes – I truly appreciate the response.
It was fascinating to read about the places you’ve experienced with similar emotions – from Chamonix to Yosemite, from Norway to New Zealand.
When re-editing the image, I was genuinely surprised how well the old RAW file held up – as if the photo had barely aged, unlike the subject itself. I'm really glad I started shooting RAW quite early.
Just a few years earlier, that wouldn’t have been possible. In the early days of digital photography, like many others, I shot JPEG. There are a few strong images from that time too – but the quality is often disappointing, and there’s not much to recover. Fortunately, that phase didn’t last long.
Do you ever revisit old images – to re-edit them with everything you’ve learned over the years?
I've made it a habit to do this regularly – about once a month I pick an older photo from the archive.
Not only is it enjoyable, but with some distance you often realize how much you’ve actually learned – not just behind the camera, but also in post-processing. Some images only unfold their full potential when seen with fresh eyes and a different perspective.
That’s been my experience, at least.
Thanks Stefan
Just fantastic photography Sefan!
First- THANK YOU for your narrative. It puts both a visual and mental vibe to the frame. Photography can be a visual or mental window, most often, BOTH , referng to the idea that a photograph can act as a literal or metaphorical window, offering a view into another world, a different perspective, or revealing something previously unseen. I would say your image here provides all that and more Sefan!
You allow some of us, that do not have the opportunity, to visit the corners of the World for pleasure. Thanks for the journey!
Now..stunning photograph! Natl Geo should be so lucky! Thanks for the trip.
Dan
