Posts by regis

This was the fourth time I went to Angel Island (day trip) and it’s always a treat. It’s pretty incredible that a lot of people living in the Bay Area have never been to Angel Island. Last time, I went camping (see previous post), we did get ideal conditions. This time we went later into the spring, hoping to get better luck with the fog. Overall the weather was ok but not yet as interesting as it could be, knowing the location potential. I will have to try again, until I get the image I want to make. In the meantime, here are some draft images I made while being...

Finally I made it to the Art Biennale in Venice! It has been on my bucket list for a while and I have several of my friends who go every time. Even my wife went 4 years ago without me (I was probably traveling somewhere else). This year, I spent 3 weeks in Nice and I was able to spend a short weekend in Venice towards the end of the Biennale. Like Burning Man, the pictures you see and the stories you read about this event are not complete. The Biennale is something you experience yourself and no one will have the same experience. I found the event overwhelming at time, immense, totally amazing and engaged. While we were there, we had two days of heavy fog that grounded aircrafts and stopped public boats. While we had to walk more, it was so worth it. It’s...

This last post took way more time to be written than anyone had expected. In case you are reaching this blog directly, I highly recommend reading the two previous posts about this trip: part 1: the northernmost inhabited place in the world part 2: our boat. The main reasons for me to travel to Svalbard are to see some polar bears and also capture the unique landscape of the arctic. The weather in the arctic changes quickly from the worst to the best in couple minutes. After returning from my previous trip, I learned that my favorite images from that trip were when it was cloudy, overcast, almost stormy. I don’t know why but the pictures taken in cloudy weather seems to reflect better my feelings about Svalbard, a hard place, a challenging place. This time...

After part one, you should now know where Svalbard is and how challenging life over there can be. Sailing can be dangerous but in most places, there is reasonable hope for help if something goes really bad. In Svalbard, you are on your own. The governor of Svalbard makes it really clear that help can take a long time to reach you and you should be prepared to help yourself. I’m not confident enough in my sailing skills so I chartered a boat with a crew. The boat is not a big one, it’s an Alubat Ovni 445, 45ft aluminum hull sailboat, made in France (in the Sables d’Olonnes). The boat was really confortable and spacious. We were 4 passengers and 2 crew members. The constant presence of sunlight really confused our internal clock. After a while we...

I went sailing in Svalbard last month for a week. It was the second time, I visited the small archipelago in the arctic zone. Last time I went camping and kayaking and while it was fun it did not allow me to travel long distances. This time, I chose a sailboat, first because it allowed us to travel quite a lot, secondly it was a lot more confortable, thirdly it was small enough we could get really close to any glacier. Where is the Svalbard? Svalbard (which means “cold coast” in Norwegian) is between 78 and 81 degrees north. The main town is Longyearbyen and is about 650 miles from the North Pole. That’s the northernmost inhabited place in the world. It’s not a big town, about 2000 people lives there year long. There is an hospital, roads, stores,...