Day 2 of our expedition began with a tour of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. Nuuk was a "wet landing". The ship anchored offshore and we went ashore in zodiacs. In wet landings, we carry our hiking boots and wear rubber boots and waterproof pants, because we step off the boat into ankle-deep water at a rocky beach. There are many hands to help you stay on your feet.
After landing, we remove and stack our rubber boots and lifejackets and prepare to visit the site or town.
It was foggy that day, which meant different expectations and tactics for photography.
This photo shows a fogbow, or white rainbow, an optical phenomenon similar to a rainbow but formed by sunlight interacting with tiny water droplets in fog or mist, rather than larger raindrops. Because these droplets are so small, light diffracts rather than refracts, scattering the colors so much that the arc appears white or has only faint traces of color.
At the bottom center of the photo is the world-famous Mother of the Sea (Sassuma Arnaa or Sedna) statue, which depicts the Inuit goddess of the sea. This statue illustrates the legend of a shaman combing the goddess's hair to release animals to hunters. The statue is mostly submerged at high tide, and fully exposed at low tide.
This image will look great on any of the recommended media, but glossy metal is best to bring out the details and colors. If you prefer a paper print, please include a mat and frame to avoid custom framing costs later..
A fog bow is a rainbow's pale cousin. The optics are the same, light refracted and reflected back out of suspended water droplets, but fog droplets are so much smaller than raindrops that diffraction smears the colours together, and what you get is a broad white arc with at most a faint red blush on the outside and a bluish tinge within. They are not rare, exactly, but they require the sun behind you, fog in front of you, and thin enough fog for sunlight to penetrate. All three at once is the uncommon part.
Getting ashore that morning was a wet landing: the ship anchors offshore, everyone goes in by zodiac, and you step off the boat into ankle-deep water, which is why we carried hiking boots and wore rubber boots and waterproof trousers for the transfer. It is an undignified process and an efficient one, and it is how you reach most of the Arctic coast.
Fun fact: because fog bows are formed by such small droplets they are also called white rainbows or cloud bows, and pilots see them regularly from above, arcing across the tops of cloud layers with the aircraft's shadow at the centre.
On printing this one: a fog bow is a very low-contrast arc against a very low-contrast sky, and it is genuinely fragile in reproduction. Print it badly and the bow simply is not there. This is the image in the gallery I would most insist on seeing done properly. Metal, and do not go small.
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