Brutal winter conditions and minimal sunlight were no match for the Sony A7S II and Chris Burkard

 

 

Adventure photographer Chris Burkard gathered up a large crew of fellow photographers, videographers and surfers and headed to Iceland…in the dead of winter. One of the surfers caught a couple of redeye flights from Hawaii to join up with Burkard and company, which was quite the temperature transition. In the first video below, we get to go behind the scenes with Burkard for a new film, "Under an Arctic Sky."

The new film is all about finding the perfect surf in Iceland. As you can imagine, the scenario for shooting is challenging. Burkard says, "You couldn't design a more challenging shot. You have to deal with the wind, the swell, the tide… And as a photographer you have to be ready for anything...And you factor in the Northern Lights, this incredible celestial event that really only happens on the coldest and clearest of nights…It's rare to see them low on the horizon or over the ocean at all." With Sony gear capable of shooting at very high ISOs, Burkard and fellow photographer/videographer Renan Ozturk were able to capture stunning scenes.

As you can see in the video above, Burkard brought a handful of Sony A7S II cameras for the filming, taking advantage of the camera's excellent low-light capabilities. "Even in the most heinous of conditions, this thing performed," Burkard said of the A7S II as it stood up to snow, ocean spray, ice and more.

If you'd like to see the official trailer for "Under an Arctic Sky," you can watch that below. For more information on the film, click here.

For more on photographer Chris Burkard, watch a recent video Adorama published about Burkard and his work as part of their "Spotlight" series.

You can also read about how to photograph in and around water by checking out our interview with Chris Burkard.