Outdoor Adventure Photographer Chris Burkard has spent much of his career documenting the harmony of man and nature around the world. Best known for his surfing photography, Burkard recently directed a documentary called "Under an Arctic Sky" about a group of surfers venturing to Iceland in the dead of winter in search of waves. This recently released behind the scenes showcases the daunting and treacherous production.
The behind-the-scenes video is a mini-documentary in and of itself, featuring a compelling story of the making of the film with high production value. Burkard and his team of filmmakers, photographers, assistants, and surfers travel to the northern coast of Iceland hoping to surf in the Arctic winter. Conditions quickly deteriorate as the crew faces the harshest storm to hit the nation in 25 years. Facing a multitude of challenges in extreme environmental conditions, they persist and come away with incredible footage.
Burkard and his team use Sony a7S II cameras for the production due to their incredible low-light capability and robust build (Burkard is a Sony Artisan ambassador). He explained, "From the very beginning of the project, we built the whole thing around the fact that we were going to be there with 18 hours of darkness a day. And being there in the middle of winter, there was really only one camera we could shoot in the day low of light... the a7S II was our workhorse."
It's a treat to see the pure joy on the faces of the team and hear the excitement in their voices as everything comes together perfectly at the end with an incredible aurora surfing session. It's also a great reminder of why landscape photographers and filmmakers do what they do: no matter the challenges, the pursuit of the perfect moment is always worth it in the end.
