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Audun Rickardsen and a polar bear selfie that spent an entire year in Arctic waters

In 2017, Canon Ambassador Audun Rickardsen literally knew both the happiness and woe of being a photographer in just a few seconds. He used a camera trap to get a close-up of a polar bear hunting seals around an ice-hole, but then the camera fell into the water and disappeared into the depths. A year later, Audun came up with a daring plan to find a camera with the footage taken.

By Gary Evans

Full review of Canon EOS R mirrorless camera

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&copy Audun Ricardsen.

Shot with a Canon EOS 6D with a Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens and the following settings: 1/1000 sec., f/16 and ISO 800

ā€œItā€™s really good photography,ā€ says the Norwegian scientist and photographer. ā€“ Best picture Iā€™ve ever taken? For me, this is not my favorite shot. But I really like the story of its creation. This is a case where history takes precedence over photography.

Audun works as a nature photographer and also teaches Arctic and marine biology at the University of TromsĆø, Norway. In May 2017, he organized a trip for nature photographers and traveled to the Norwegian archipelago of Spitsbergen, located between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The photographers on the ship drove to Hornsund Fjord in West Spitsbergen, the largest and only inhabited island of the archipelago, and it took them a full two days to get there. A ship anchored in the ice of a fjord, and the photographers set out in search of seals and polar bears.

Audun placed a motion-sensing camera near the ice hole. He hoped that the sensor would react the moment the sealā€™s head emerged from the ice-hole. When Audun left the ice-hole, he realized he hadnā€™t secured the camera in any way. But it was too late. Going back to the ice-hole was to scare away all the seals.

At 2 a.m., everyone was asleep on the ship, and suddenly one of the crew members started waking everyone up. Audun ran out on deck and saw a polar bear approaching the ice hole in the distance. The bear was heading straight for the camera. Audun has always dreamed of taking a photo with a polar bear hunting seals near an ice hole. The motion sensor went off and the camera started taking pictures. The bear went around the camera in a circle, licked it, and pushed it into the hole

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For safety reasons, Audun photographed the bear approaching the camera trap from the boat. Taken by the camera Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with the lens Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM, teleconverter Canon EF 1.4x III and the following parameters: 1/1000 sec., f/5.6 and ISO 250. &copy Audun Rickardsen

The camera fell into the water, but hung on the cord from the sensor, which was left lying on the ice. The bear took the cord in his teeth and began to move away from the hole, pulling the camera out of the water. And then the cord broke. The camera went to a depth of 140 meters. Audun couldnā€™t sleep for a long time afterwards.

Audun uses several cameras, from the compact Canon PowerShot G1 X to the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. He took his Canon EOS 6D with him that day. It is relatively compact and equipped with a silent shooting mode, which gave the photographer the opportunity to shoot close-ups of animals and obtain images of exceptional quality. Itā€™s also relatively inexpensive, which is important because thereā€™s always a risk of damaging equipment when working in such extreme conditions.

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The camera kept shooting and produced a whole series of photos with the bear near the ice-hole. A few seconds after creating these shots, the camera headed out into the icy waters of the Arctic. Taken on camera

Canon EOS 6D

with the lens

Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM

. &copy Audun Rickardsen

Audun chose the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM, a lens he uses quite often when filming. ā€œIt allows you to get close-ups of the animal, but you also get a shot of the landscape around it. I use it for close-ups and underwater photography. In that sense, itā€™s the perfect lens. Itā€™s also quite versatile, as it has a zoom. I donā€™t know if there are other fisheye lenses with a similar effect. At 15mm this is a standard fisheye for a full frame, but at 8mm it provides a viewing angle of up to 180 degrees. It allows you to be creative, and I like that.

Camera escape

A year later, in May 2018, Audun received an offer to participate in the same expedition again at the same location. A colleague from his university also went on the expedition with him and took the underwater drone with him. They drove to the spot where the photographer had lost his camera. This time the ice was much thinner and polar bears were walking around. More than once he wondered if he should give it up.

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A stunning shot taken by the underwater droneā€™s built-in camera: the camera and tripod had been sitting in the freezing water for a year. &copy Audun Rickardsen

The drone was difficult to steer because of murky water and strong currents. On the third attempt, the drone found the camera. Audun and the drone pilot started dancing and celebrating ā€“ as it turned out, it was too soon to rejoice. The droneā€™s ā€œclawā€ gripped the camera sideways, but he couldnā€™t hold it what was happening was like playing a game of ā€œcraneā€ in a slot machine, where you can get a prize in this way. The pilot lost control, and the drone seemed to be broken, too. They managed to pull him out of the water. Seaweed clogged the propellers. Audun was so close to his goal and now felt even worse than a year ago.

There wasnā€™t much time left before the ship was dispatched ā€“ just enough time for one more try. They found the camera again, and this time, the drone gripped the tripod tightly. Audun already shouted. He felt the strongest rush of adrenaline. The camera didnā€™t survive the year spent in icy water, but Audun immediately placed the memory card in distilled water to prevent further corrosion.

Upon his return to the mainland, a company that handles crime data retrieval helped him retrieve the photos. After the emotional upheaval he experienced, it finally allowed him to relax.

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ā€œThese days, no one is particularly surprised by close-ups of polar bears,ā€ Audun says. ā€“ Many people create photos like this. But what makes this story unique is that the footage shows a polar bear while hunting in the Arctic, its natural habitat. A polar bear standing by the ice-hole waiting for a seal to emerge from itā€¦ Iā€™ve never seen anything like this beforeā€.

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Comments: 2
  1. Sage

    Wow, Audun Rickardsenā€™s polar bear selfie is truly incredible! I canā€™t help but wonder, how did he manage to capture such a unique photo in Arctic waters? Was there any risk involved, and what was the message behind this extraordinary interaction with the polar bear?

    Reply
  2. Sophia Brooks

    This article captures an incredible story of Audun Rickardsen and his polar bear selfie lasting a year in Arctic waters. It makes me wonder, how did Audun manage to capture such a unique and daring photo? What motivated him to take such a risk, and what kind of precautions did he have to take to ensure his safety and the bearā€™s? Additionally, what impact did this selfie have on creating awareness about the polar bearā€™s vulnerability due to climate change?

    Reply
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