A low resolution 360 degree panorama from the survey location. Click on the panorama and drag to look around, press Shift to zoom in, Command (Mac) or Control (PC) to zoom out.
My idea is to photograph the entire valley at a spatial resolution of better than 20 cm, and preferably much higher, both as stand-alone photographs but also to drape over the new topographic map we will make later this year. Such photographs will allow future scientists a unique view of seeing a glacier and its surroundings as they were in 2008, to make comparisons with their current state and better understand the trajectory from one state to another. These photos are also high enough resolution that one can learn many interesting things without waiting another 50 years. The reason is that these are snapshots in time – they have better resolution than the naked eye and one can explore them for hours or days, so it really is better than being there in many ways, if for no other reason that there is not usually the time to sit in one place and explore, due either to the demands of a field schedule or changing weather.
For my first set of photos on this trip, I chose a 1958 photo location that I had located last year. Here Austin Post had photographed John Sater surveying glacier motion, with the IGY camp in the background. Old survey locations are also great for photography, because both require enough room to setup a tripod and have a good view. In this case, the survey spot was still in great shape, but the 1958 photo spot itself was now gone—Austin was standing on ice which is now more than 5 meters lower! I spent most of the afternoon at the site, taking panoramas with a variety of new lenses. I didn’t have the time I needed to work with these lenses in Fairbanks before we left for the trip, so this was also kind of a shake-down test for me. The main reason I chose this location first is because this was the first time we had camped in the upper cirque, near the IGY camp, and I wanted to get an exact 50 year repeat, down to the day, comparing not only the change in the glacier but the similarities between drilling camps 50 years apart. So in this case, unlike most other repeat photos I’ve made out here, there’s an element of some things changing but some things staying the same that I really like.
I processed many of the images back in camp that night to confirm they worked, and was greatly relieved to see that not only did I have everything set up properly, but that the new lenses I had chosen really were worth the money (especially buying them used on ebay…).
John Sater surveying the upper cirque with theodolite in April 1958.
Surveying the glacier with digital photos in April 2008. I could not make an exact repeat because the glacier that Austin Post was standing on to take the 1958 photos has thinned substantially; it would take a 10 m pole to get the same shot now.