I’ve had the great privilege of spending time near Iqaluit, Nunavut, just north of Hudson’s Bay. At the edge of this small village is the Road to Nowhere and from there, this is the view. To my uneducated eye the rocky tundra with little to define depth all looked pretty much the same and the occasional inuksuks I found did not help much. I quickly realized how easy it would be to become inextricably lost. Clearly the First Nation people have traversed this landscape for centuries and derived from it a very high culture. It is a magnificent place I hope to return to and would encourage any and all to visit.
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Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Minolta, 1/180, f/5.6, 7mm, ISO100
Environments like this can be deceptive. At first it seems desolate and barren, but then you notice rodents, birds and mammals that thrive there. The colors are so rich in this. The sky looks a little hot in the center. Have you tried a Linear Profile to see what highlights can be recovered?
Yes, I think you are correct about the hotspot as that is where a beam of sunlight was coming down. Also correct about this is definitely NOT desolate! The lichens alone were mind-boggling and the little Arctic willows, only 3’ high, could be a hundred years old. Here in Vermont we are always cautioned to be careful around the vegetation on top of the mountains, and rightfully so, but there the vegetation was 2-4’ high and sometimes impossible to not step on. The glacial erratics were also magnificent. Yes, birds, rodents and mammals too. Rich with life beneath that first look.
With my fascination for lichens I’d be in heaven there!! I’ve only been in the high Rocky mountains and yes, the plants, tiny though they might be, are easily destroyed and slow to regenerate because of the harsh conditions. Maybe one day I’ll get into the far north.
Beautiful landscape John. I’m enjoying your inclusion of all the foreground detail and like your placement of the river too. Gorgeous colors, aided by the overcast sky. Appears to be some rock cairns on the left which would make good references for those unfamiliar with the area.
Thanks, Jim. The cairn is actually the inuksuk, rocks stacked to look like a person. Traditionally they were used for wayfinding and also to scare herds of animals along a track to fall over a bluff. They too are not easy for the uneducated eye to see but can be found all over the tundra, many of them quite old.
An impressive landscape. And equally impressive, as you said, that people roamed here for centuries, made a living from the local resources and built a rich culture.
Also rich are the colors in your image, in a limited palette and even the inuksuk is more or less camouflaged. A vaste landscape, but probably a great place for those who like to photograph small scenes as well.
Thank you, Han. Yes the colors were fabulous and the small scenes really kept me busy for the two weeks I was there. I have hundreds of gorgeous images of rocks, lichens, plants, ice, all 2-5 feet away. It is a magical world, literally. I saw things happen there that can only be explained in magical terms!
