DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Repeat Photography demonstrates how glaciers are melting away

Oct 27, 2015 by Liron Samuels Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Glaciers-top

The glaciers at Glacier National Park are rapidly shrinking. In fact, they’re melting so fast that the glaciers that can be seen today represent just one-sixth of the number of the icy bodies that were in the same park just 150 years ago.

It is imperative that scientists measure glaciers and follow their changes, and this is exactly where repeat photography kicks in.

By going to the same spot where a photo was taken a long time ago and recreating the composition, scientists are able to quickly learn (and share) how the landscape has changed over time.

The results, unfortunately, are alarming.

“In the mid-1800s,” National Geographic writes, “this Montana landscape was covered by 150 glaciers—today only 25 remain”.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists claiming that glaciers are shrinking and disappearing are backing their words with proof by recreating glacier photographs from the early 1900s.

Dan Fagre, a USGS research ecologist from the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, says the really big changes are seen when you visit the same spot and take a photo every 5-10 years. That being said, while the team initially thought that photographing the glaciers every other year would be pointless, the extreme glacier change now has them repeating photographs a lot more frequently.

Other techniques, such as GPS and up-close inspections, are also used to study and document the ice, but they don’t convey the dramatic changes as efficiently.

The visualization of the melting glaciers is not only important for scientific purposes, but also to show the general public the results of global warming.

“The striking images created by pairing historic images with contemporary photos has given global warming a face and made climate change a relevant issue to viewers,” says the USGS on its overview page of the Repeat Photography Project, which began in 1997. “The images are an effective visual means to help viewers understand that climate change contributes to the dynamic landscape changes so evident in Glacier National Park”.

For those interested in the process, the USGS shared a bit more information about how it works:

“We began searching for historic photographs of glaciers in the vast collection that spans over a century. Many high quality photographs exist from the parks early photographers such as Morton Elrod, T.J. Hileman, Ted Marble, F.E. Matthes, and others who scoured the park to publicize its beauty and earn their livings. Copies of the historic photos were taken in the field to help determine the exact location of the original photograph. Photographing the glaciers cannot occur until the previous winters snow has melted on the glacial ice and when air quality conditions are considered at least good. This creates a narrow window in the northern clime of Glacier National Park where smoke from forest fires prevented photography on many occasions in the past few years. Since 1997 over sixty photographs have been repeated of seventeen different glaciers. Thirteen of those glaciers have shown marked recession and some of the more intensely studied glaciers have proved to be just 1/3 of their estimated maximum size that occurred at the end of the Little Ice Age (circa 1850).”

The video below shows more of these photos and explains the importance of the glaciers on their environments:

[via USGS]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Watch: Canon demonstrates the power of their new 120MP camera sensor Olympus demonstrates its 150-400mm f/4.5 lens with an insane zoom shot of the sun behind Mt. Fuji Default ThumbnailEverything Is Melting Reevaluates Our Love Of Popsicles Melting Ice Cream Never Looked As Good It Does In These Nostalgia Inducing Long Exposures

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Glacier National Park, Glaciers, Montana, Repeat Photography, USGS

About Liron Samuels

Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel.

When he isn't waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses.

You can see more of his work on his website or follow him on Facebook.

« A 46 Gigapixel Milky Way ‘panorama’ you can interact with
How color grading your photos can manipulate viewers’ emotions »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Kolari introduces Atlas – The lightest matte box in the industry
  • This epic timelapse shows the glory of the “blood moon” lunar eclipse
  • This is how your camera’s sensor sees the world
  • Create a beauty-light portrait with nothing but speed lights
  • Utah law now requires minors to ask parents consent for social media

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy