06/02/2026
REFLECTIVE MOMENT | I’ve been trying to slow myself down on this trip. To actually feel the moments instead of just chasing them. The rhythm on these photo journeys are intense, moving from sunrise to sunset to aurora with over 12kg of gear on my back, running on little rest, climbing in and out of the car, up and down beaches, trails and mountains in temperatures up to -10c, monitoring tide times and checking weather conditions. Every decision is timed, every move planned so I can be in the right place with the right conditions. Always moving, searching and planning, rarely stopping long enough to process where I am or what I’ve caught. Then I have to ensure I have planned and am equipped with food and water to be out in the elements for over 12 hours at a time.
And then there’s the self‑critique that follows. I made the wrong location choice. Why didn’t I shoot in portrait. Why didn’t I get the drone up. Why did I include that tree. I cropped too hard on that last image. The list goes on, and it’s loud.
But then a scene like this one momentarily encourages me to pause. The snow covered foreground curved across the beach and became my leading line, guiding the eye toward the mountain. A break in the clouds lights part of the peak like a natural light box, glowing against the darker slopes around it. Waves roll over the frozen shoreline, scattering ice across the sand and adding motion to an otherwise still Arctic moment. One small breath held before it shifted into something else.
