Greenland: What An Introduction
The wild beauty of Greenland, from above, before landing in Ilulissat.
Arriving in Greenland is an amazing experience. Let me share some insights into Greenland's history and geography.
Greenland has a very wild and unforgiving landscape. Consisting mainly of ice and rock it’s a harsh and barren land.
But then, during the long summer day’s the climate, while changeable, is less extreme and the landscape, particularly when illuminated by the midnight sun, can be breathtakingly beautiful.
I ventured to Greenland for a taste of this wild, brutal and beautiful land. And I wasn’t disappointed.
It’s hard to describe the immensity of this vast, frigid landscape. I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to have flown over Greenland, from east to west, on my journey from Iceland.
Despite what you read about Greenland there’s nothing that can prepare you for the awesome scale of the landscape as you fly over this world of ice and rock.
It’s a wonderful experience that I won’t easily forget.
How To Photograph Greenland from a Plane
I made the above photo, through the window, as my plane from Reykjavik was about to touch down in Ilulissat, Greenland.
I needed a relatively fast shutter speed to ensure sharpness, but not so fast that it would freeze the motion of the spinning propeller.
Incidentally, airplane wheels don’t generally spin during flight, except initially after leaving the runway.
I only had a moment to choose and guessed that a shutter speed of 1/800 second would suffice.
That little bit of propeller blur is important as it adds a sense of motion to this otherwise static image.
If the propeller was sharp it might look like the plane was, somehow, suspended in mid air.
It was a pretty small plane and my seat was quite close to the front. I needed a 24 mm focal length lens, on my full frame camera, to allow me to fit in such an expansive view though the plane’s narrow window.
To reduce the chance of reflection I moved my camera really close to the window pane, without actually touching it.
Touching the window would likely have introduced vibration through the lens and camera and a loss of sharpness would have resulted.
By moving in very close to the window pane you’re able to shade the front of the lens and, thereby, reduce the chance of people and objects reflecting back into the lens from behind you.
Wearing a black top can be an extra aid to reducing reflection when photographing through glass on planes, buses and trains.
How Thick is the Ice Over Greenland?
Eighty percent of Greenland is covered in ice and, for most of the year, the climate is inhospitable in the extreme.
It’s estimated that the Greenland ice sheet has covered large parts of the island for between two and three million years.
The thickness of the ice sheet varies from a few meters in certain areas close to the sea to around 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) at its highest point.
In January 2009 National Geographic published an article that stated that the Greenland ice sheet contains enough ice to raise sea levels 23 feet (7 meters).
Patterns in the ice flying over Southern Greenland. Link to resources page.
Greenland Pre-History
Habitation of Greenland is said to date back to around 2,500BCE.
Tribes from islands north of the North American mainland, themselves likely descended from inhabitants of Siberia who had migrated into Canada tens of thousands of years ago, settled in various parts of the island.
Erik the Red Settles Greenland
Icelandic Vikings, from Norse origins, followed in the 10th Century.
The most famous Icelander was Erik the Red, a Viking explorer of Norwegian decent.
After being exiled from Iceland for three years for the crime of manslaughter, Erik explored and settled the massive land to the West we know as Greenland.
Sailing over the pristine waters of the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland.
Viking Humor
It’s said that Erik the Red gave Greenland its name to entice others to join him when he returned to Iceland looking to settle the new land.
An exercise in public relations, to be sure.
You see while Greenland is mainly ice, the coastal regions of Iceland are in fact green and relatively lush.
Like Father, Like Son
In the year 1000CE Erik the Red’s son, Leif Eriksson, ventured south of Greenland to discover several new islands and territories. They included Baffin Island and, almost certainly, Newfoundland.
As a result Leif Erickson was likely the first European to discover North America, nearly 400 years before Columbus.
Aerial view of Greenland. A land of ice and water.
Best Time To Visit Greenland
Greenland is a wild and potentially dangerous environment. But it’s also pristine and, for the most part, a wilderness offering spectacular opportunities for the enthusiastic photographer.
While photographing the Aurora during winter would be exciting, I feel that the opportunity to see and do more during the long days of the midnight sun would be, for most folk, a better option.
I will return to Greenland. There’s so much more to see and do there. While I’d love to return to Ilulissat on the West Coast, the less frigid landscapes of the south-east look very promising.