28-year-old French photographer Florian Ledoux used a drone to take a series of photographs of Canada's polar regions. Global warming has changed the local landscape: instead of solid ice, there is now a series of ice islands separated by numerous gullies. In one of these gullies, the camera lens captured a giant polar bear. I wonder at what magnification you can see it?
28-year-old Florian Ledoux was filming in the ice near Baffin Island, in the far north of Canada, in the territory of Nunavut. Global warming has turned former ice fields into a network of streams and lagoons.
Florian dreamed of photographing a polar bear, but spotting one was not easy. “We looked for him day after day, but for a long time we could not achieve a result,” says Florian. “But one day we found fresh tracks and realized that our goal was close. We stood on the deck and peered into space until the horizon. And finally, , I saw something. I checked myself twice, but there was no mistake. It was him, the king of the Arctic, swimming just a few meters from our side. Tears welled up in my eyes, and my heart beat faster and faster as I watched him ".
Florian Ledoux moved from France to Iceland to be closer to the Arctic latitudes, which he enjoys filming. While hunting for a polar bear, he managed to take unique shots of the boundless Arctic plains with their impeccable icy geometry.
When filming, the photographer used a drone to see the space from above, changing the perspective. "The Arctic from a bird's eye view is impressive, adding another dimension to it. The view from above is a new perspective for humans, and a drone allows you to get much closer to your subject than a helicopter."
The photographer watches the flight of the drones through a computer. “I use instant image transmission, so I observe the beauty of the planet in real time,” he says. “Although using drones in the Arctic is not easy: you have weak GPS coverage, the pull of the magnetic field that throws off the compass, and unexpected sharp gusts of wind. I've crashed several drones trying to capture the beauty of this area."
In the end, Florian Ledoux managed to fulfill his dream and photograph the king of the Arctic - the polar bear in all his splendor. Today, due to global warming and the melting of Arctic ice, polar bears are experiencing increasing difficulties in finding food, and therefore in surviving. However, despite everything, they remain the largest and most majestic animals of the Arctic.
