When two of AFP’s most experienced photographers went to photograph orcas high above the Arctic Circle, they didn’t expect to fall in love. The setting wasn’t exactly welcoming -- air temperatures of minus 10-15 degrees Celsius, water temperatures barely above zero. On top of that, Mother Nature was not at all cooperative in Tromso, northern Norway. Not only did they have barely two hours of daylight in which to work every day, the skies were overcast and the normally clear waters of the fjords were murky because of all the sediment a storm had kicked up the week before.

But no matter -- after a week of diving with the graceful giants, Olivier Morin and Francois-Xavier Marit fell completely under their spell.

“'It was magical.'”