All images © NZICESCAPES. Above: A view from a green ice cave on the Franz Josef Glacier – Westland National Park, West Coast, New Zealand.

NZICESCAPES Images is a specialized, boutique image library based on the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand run by Peter and Kristina Hlavacek. They cover New Zealand landscapes, from Cape Reinga to Rakiura with a focus on the incredibly diverse West Coast of the Southern Alps. Within the last decade they have developed their expertise in photographing New Zealand’s glaciers, which is their passion and niche. Peter describes the impact of  glaciers as “the most powerful hand Mother Nature has. Glaciers take away entire mountains, change rivers, lakes and anything that lies in their way, and you can’t fix that. Furthermore, the colors of glacial ice is somewhat addictive for me and the icy scenery I’ve seen on glacier is something that is hard to match.”

A downstream view into the valley across seracs of the Main Icefall on the Franz Josef Glacier and toward the Tasman Sea on the horizon – Westland National Park, West Coast, New Zealand.

Mt. Tasman (3497m) decorates the skyline with massive seracs of Explorer Glacier in foreground. The orange color on the ice is actually dust polution all the way from Australia, emphasized by setting sun – Westland National Park, West Coast, New Zealand.

Franz Josef Glacier – Aerial.

Crawling through a brilliantly blue, nicely textured ice cave on Franz Josef Glacier – Westland National Park, West Coast.