Majestic marvels of nature: Stunning photographs capture the dramatic landscapes and beautiful animals of Northern Europe
PUBLISHED: 18:00 GMT, 5 December 2012 | UPDATED: 08:35 GMT, 6 December 2012
From stunning mountain ranges to vast boreal forests and freeze-thaw tundras to glacial ice worlds, Northern Europe is one of the most spectacular places on earth.
British photographer Danny Green's first book 'The Long Journey North' explores these varied and heart-stoppingly beautiful landscapes - along with the creatures that call them home.
This visual exploration of the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Northern Europe has been a labour of love for Danny for the past eight years.
This stunning shot of a Great Grey Owl looking straight down the barrel of the lens was taken in Finland. The animals distinct yellow eyes are wide open as it comes into land on the snowy surface
The end result is a collection of images showing some of the most beautiful and iconic species that can be found in this pristine wilderness.
Danny has now gathered all of these images together in a stunning self published 200-page coffee table book, with a foreword by respected BBC wildlife cameraman John Aitchison, who has worked on the likes of David Attenborough's 'Frozen Planet'.
John writes: As a stills photographer some of his [Danny's] problems are different to mine. Capturing movement is one of them. It's easier for me - filming movement is what video cameras do after all - but by freezing an instant in a photograph the inner liveliness of an animal can be destroyed, yet somehow that never happens in Danny's pictures'.
Snow-encrusted trees in the Taiga Forest in Finland look like something from another world, further evidence that Northern Europe in wintertime is one of the most spectacular places on earth
In this photograph Danny Green has captured the poignant bond between a Whooper swan and her gaggle of furry cygnets as the swim in Iceland's chilly waters
Kittiwakes in Norway chirp to one another as they perch on a windowsill, while other members of the group rest up on a nearby wooden ledge
A furry Muskox, rests up on an isolated patch of rough ground in Norway. Fortunately the photographer was using a long lens to take this one as the animal looks as if it could charge at any moment
A Walrus colony laze by the icefields of Svalbard, in Norway. The animals are padded with blubber to provide them with plenty of warmth in the cold temperatures
He adds: 'Danny has a wonderful eye. The moments he does choose to freeze are just the right moments: the perfect symmetry of an owl, caught just as it kicks up a random plume of snow, or a puffin dipping one wing on final approach with a precious load of fish'.
'The Long Journey North' comes complete with text and captions by Danny and takes the reader on a visual journey of the Northern parts of Europe.
Here a great grey owl glides silently over a snowy landscape in Finland, while in Norway a white tailed sea eagle shows off its phenomenal wingspan.
Elsewhere a giant walrus lays beached on the ice while a polar bear shakes itself dry after a freezing dip.
Embracing his pup in his belly this walrus looks very content as it sits near the water's edge in Svalbard, Norway
Walruses bunch up closely and as one gets some sleep another stretches out a flipper over his head in Svalbard, Norway
This iceberg, in Svalbard, Norway, sits peacefully on the glass-like waters of an arctic lake
An Arctic Tern appears to be carrying food for its offspring as it comes into land on an ice patch in Svlbard, Norway
An osprey scoops up an fish in its sharp talons from a lake in Norway. The visual exploration of the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Northern Europe has been a labour of love for Danny Green
The recognisable white tusks of a walrus in Svalbard, Norway, is just one of 200 images compiled in the book by Danny Green
A Puffin holds a pair of small fish in its distinctive orange-coloured beak as it flies over Scotland
Showing off their hunting skills, in Scotland a puffin comes into land with a beak full of fish, while in Finland a Hawk Owl clutches an unfortunate rodent in its claws.
In the book's introduction Danny explains that his 'deep passion and fascination for the north' began as an eight-year-old on a trip with his granddad.
He comments: 'I clearly remember watching thousands of wading birds swirling around an estuary as the tide came in.
A White Tailed Sea Eagle, hovers just above the water in Norway showing off its phenomenal wingspan
Not an alien landing, but the stunning Aurora Borealis, more commonly known as the Northern Lights, pictured over the Taiga Forest, in Finland
An adult and baby Brown Bear, stand up on their hind legs, seemingly observing something in the distance in a lush green field in Finland
Spray rises from a lake at Godfloss, in Iceland, after plummeting over the precipice of this dramatic horseshoe waterfall
A King Eidur Duck makes a big flap in Norway. Danny says his 'deep passion and fascination for the north' began as an eight-year-old on a trip with his granddad
The silhouette of a White Tailed Sea Eagle carrying a fish, over a lake in Norway
A deer at dawn in Britain - the book covers stunning mountain ranges to vast boreal forests and freeze-thaw tundras to glacial ice worlds
A Ruff male displays its feathers in Norway
A White Tailed Sea Eagle carries a fish in Norway
Trees reflected in Glen Affric lake in Scotland
Northern Bullfinch perches on the top of a tree in Norway
The front cover of the stunning self published 200-page coffee table book featuring images by Danny Green
'He told me that this flock of birds were Knot and explained where they had come from and that they only visit us for the winter months.
'When we got home we looked at the map and I was mesmerised by the huge distances that they travelled.
'I wanted to learn more, not just about these birds but the other species that lived in this Arctic environment. The North has gripped me ever since.'
- 'The Long Journey North' by Danny Green is available from his website for £30 (plus £5 p&p).
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