Pictures Of Antarctica: How To Easily Take Great Photos
Breaking through pack ice along the Lemaire Channel in Antarctica.
Antarctica is vast and provides many opportunities for awe inspiring wildlife and landscape photography. Extensive research untaken prior to my own Antarctic adventure enabled me to create an extensive portfolio of photos that showcases the beauty of this stunning and remote part of the world.
No wonder an Antarctica adventure is on top of the bucket list for many travelers. It’s an exhilarating experience being on an ice class cruise ship as it breaks through pack ice along the sublime Lemaire Channel.
I remember having trouble taking it all in and being very aware of my insignificance in such a surreal and monumental landscape.
The Drake Passage Is An Adventure
I was fortunate to co-run a special photography tour to Antarctica which included adventures in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island.
The tour was 19 days in duration and, due to the significant distance between our point of departure in Ushuaia, at the very bottom of Argentina, several days at sea were required at each end of the tour.
The journey across the Drake Passage is an adventure in itself. If you’re not suffering from sea sickness it’s a great time to forge friendships with your fellow travelers.
It’s also the perfect time to make use of your workshop leader to resolve any camera or post processing questions you may have.
From my point of view it’s completely unacceptable for a paying customer to be wandering around making photos without knowing how to make the best use of their camera.
That doesn’t mean you need to know every single function and feature in great detail.
But you do need to know how to use your camera to be able to document wildlife and photograph those epic Antarctic landscapes you’ve paid so much money to see.
If making great photos was a key reason why you signed up for the tour then make sure you use your time on ship to help set yourself up for success.
Your days at sea will also provide great opportunities to photograph birds, like giant wandering albatross, that often fly behind the ship following its wake.
There are some quite specific skills required for this kind of photography. Likewise, your camera may have special focus tracking settings that need to be activated to make the most of these opportunities.
If you’re on an actual photography tour do make sure your tour leader or guest instructor takes you through the various techniques and camera settings to maximize your chances of being able to make great photos.
Flights To Antarctica
These days some tours allow you to fly directly down to Antarctica. That’s an attractive option for anyone who’s time poor or has an absolute dread of sea sickness.
Charter planes fly from Punta Arenas in Chile to the Antarctic peninsula in as little as two hours. That’s a significant saving compared to the two days crossing the Drake Passage from Ushuaia.
But for those who can undertake the trip there’s something to be said for crossing the Drake Passage on at least one leg of the journey.
Argentine Almirante Brown Antarctic Base by shores of Paradise Bay in Antarctica.
Best Photo Equipment For Antarctica
As to the best photo equipment for Antarctica it all depends upon the following criteria.
What it is you most want to photograph (e.g., birds in flight or landscape).
Your physical condition and level of fitness.
How important photography is to you, what you’re prepared to do to make great photos and the degree to which photography has been built into the tour you’ve joined.
All photographers face restrictions associated with the amount of camera gear they can take onto a plane. That means compromise may have to be made.
If your camera kit includes a bunch of lenses you’ll likely have to leave some of them at home.
You probably already know how difficult it can be to get a large and heavy camera bag through airport security and onto a plane.
Be aware that, in addition to the international flight required to get you to Buenos Aires, you’ll also need to take a separate domestic flight to get to Ushuaia or Punta Arenas.
Make sure you check the regulations for carry on luggage for each and all flights you’ll be taking, including any in your own country.
You should also consider whether you’d be able to carry all that gear on and off zodiac boats and on excursions that could involve walking long distances or wadding through snow.
You should also be prepared for the fact that getting in and out of a zodiac inflatable boat may require getting your feet wet as the craft often cannot be dragged onto the beach with the added weight of passengers still on board.
Climbing in and out of a zodiac boat and wading a few steps through sea water isn’t a problem if you’re wearing waterproof pants, boots and overboots.
But it’s certainly harder to do so when you’re carrying a large and heavy backpack loaded with camera gear.
My colleague and I brought special, heavy duty waterproof bags that we put our backpacks into whenever we got on or off our zodiac inflatable boats.
We’d leave those large bags with the boat while we headed off for our shore based excursions.
Difficult choices may have to be made to arrive at a camera kit that allows you to create the types of photos you most want to make while offering the maximum flexibility for the majority of situations you’re likely to encounter.
While the final decision is yours to make I strongly advise that you seek assistance from your tour leader and/or the dedicated ships photographer.
While I did do quite a lot of bird photography on the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island, Antarctica was almost entirely about landscape photography.
The photo of the Argentine Almirante Brown Antarctic Base by the shores of Paradise Bay in Antarctica is a case in point.
Made at a 24 mm focal length at 1/500 second and at an aperture of f/6.3 it’s a good example of how to use a wide angle lens to explore three dimensional space and depth in a photograph.
Notice to how I’ve used the shoreline to draw a roughly diagonal line from the bottom left of the image up to the research hut by the shores of Paradise Bay.
There are several other diagonal lines in the image, including the one that separates the darker and lighter clouds. These lines are sympathetic in that they add strength and value to each other.
As mentioned previously the type of camera and lenses you bring with you are going to be influenced, at least in part, by what it is you most want to photograph.
If your primary goal is to make stunning, high end bird photography you’re going to need the following:
A high end camera that offers a very high frame rate of at least 10 frames per second.
Large buffer to temporarily store images while the camera is writing previously exposed image files to the card.
Low noise at relatively high ISO speeds.
Camera with extremely quick and accurate focusing.
Camera with the ability to track fast moving subjects and continually refocus, as the subject moves through the frame, during a burst of images.
Extremely high end reliable memory cards with very fast write speeds.
Powerful zoom lens with an effective focal length in the range of 100-400mm.
General purpose zoom lens with an effective focal length of, say 24-105mm, for a range of landscape and people photography.
If landscape photography is likely to be your primary focus then consider a camera kit that includes the following:
High end camera with a relatively large (e.g., 24MP) megapixel count.
If a smaller and more lightweight camera is important to you, particularly if you’re not likely to be doing significant post processing and/or making large prints, then a 16MP camera may be sufficient for your needs.
General purpose lens with an effective focal length of 24-105mm for a range of landscape and portrait photography.
Ultra wide lens with an effective focal length of around 16-35mm when photographing monumental landscapes from a relatively modest distance.
Telephoto zoom lens with an effective focal length of 70-200mm (or the 100-400 equivalent I mentioned previously) for bird photography and when photographing distance landscape scenes from the deck of your cruise ship.
While not essential a fast fixed focal length or prime lens, with an effective focal length of 50 mm, won’t fill up much space in your camera bag and can allow you to create some pretty unique photos.
Portraits and close up photos where a shallow depth of field is desirable.
Sharp photos on board the ship under low light conditions.
Rougher than usual zodiac adventure while looking for leopard seals in Antarctica.
Backup Camera Gear For Antarctica
Antarctica is a wild, harsh and unforgiving landscape.
What could be more devastating than investing all that money and time on a once in a lifetime trip to Antarctica only to have your camera break down.
This must be particularly devastating for someone who's signed up for a photography tour.
As you can see Antarctica is a perilous environment and you want to make sure you and your camera gear are properly protected.
This photo was made on our last day in Antarctica. Normally the bays in which you head out for your daily adventures in zodiac inflatable boats are quite placid.
However, on this particular day our guide decided it was a good idea to go out in search of leopard seals.
From my point of view we spent too much time speeding across quite open water. I believe our photography group would have found more photographic opportunities closer to shore.
Still it was fun and there’s no doubt some of the lads really felt the need for speed. What’s more we did get some pretty dramatic images of big waves crashing into that massive iceberg.
Other than common sense and good proper handling and storage the best way to protect yourself against loss or damage to your camera gear is to build redundancy into your camera system.
From my point of view that means bringing two or, ideally, three cameras on the tour.
If you're a DSLR or Mirrorless camera owner the best option would be to have a second body.
If you have more than one lens, which is advisable for the range of photography opportunities in Antarctica as well as backup redundancy, you could attach your first and second most commonly used lenses onto these camera bodies.
This would reduce the likelihood of getting dust, water droplets or other foreign bodies (e.g., salt) onto your camera sensor when changing lenses.
This is a real concern as a lot of the photography you’ll be doing will be along windy beach locations.
For example a lot of wildlife photography on South Georgia Island is done on or nearby the beaches where your zodiac boat lands.
Another approach is to leave your second camera body in your room on board your Antarctic cruise ship.
If you're hiring a second camera body for the trip this might not seem like great value for money. But if the point of hiring that camera was as a backup, in case your own camera stops functioning, then this option makes sense.
Over the years I've heard lots of reports of folks arriving back on board, after an onshore excursion, and discovering that their camera has stopped working.
More than likely this is because they've returned from an outdoor environment with quite low levels of humidity onto a ship where the onboard heating and humidity is quite high.
It's, therefore, conceivable that if you take two cameras out with you both could be adversely effected in the same way.
I have no information, whether proven data or anecdotal stories, to support this theory. But it seems possible.
If your entire camera kit ends up in the drink after a mishap boarding or alighting from a zodiac inflatable boat you might be grateful to have kept a spare camera and lens safely stored in your room.
How you manage your spare camera and lens is up to you, but I certainly recommend brining them along.
But what about a third camera? Does that seem a bit over the top?
Given cost and carry on baggage restrictions there would be few folks capable on bringing a third high end camera body on such a trip.
While most folks would consider their mobile phone as an acceptable second or third camera option, it's worth considering a small and, relatively, inexpensive mirrorless camera instead.
I’m convinced that a robust and decent quality small camera provides extra versatility over a mobile phone and, at a pinch, may become an acceptable backup option should your primary camera/cameras falter.
The type of camera to which I’m referring will be stronger, more durable and offer better waterproof protection than the common mobile phone.
You should also expect better still and video quality from such a camera, particularly when the photos or videos in question are viewed on larger screens such as computer monitors or TV's.
While rain and snow are rare in Antarctica, we experienced quite a bit of snow when we visited Deception Island in Antarctica. And it certainly rains in the Falkland Islands and on South Georgia Island.
The fact that most cameras offer limited protection from rain and salt water splashes is a concern, particularly when it comes to photographing from a zodiac inflatable boat.
Icebergs photographed from a zodiac inflatable boat in Paradise Bay, Antarctica.
Photos From Zodiac Inflatable Boats
There are few opportunities for cruise ships to dock in Antarctica and those with 500 or more passengers are forbidden from doing so.
Landings are usually made via the extremely capable zodiac inflatable boats. It's an efficient and, for most folks, fun way to travel back and forth between your cruise ship and the variety of locations you’ll visit on tour.
I photographed this image of icebergs, sculpture by wind and sea to resemble people’s faces, from a zodiac inflatable boat in Paradise Bay, Antarctica.
One of the other great things about zodiac boats is the ability they provide to photograph wildlife, both in the water and on shore, as you approach your landing site.
However, while making photos from a zodiac inflatable boat is great fun, you're in a small rubberized boat surrounded by a massive amount of saltwater.
And saltwater can be deadly to cameras.
This is where a small, dedicated waterproof camera is a great option for photos from your zodiac boat and, perhaps, around the bar at night.
Of course it's important to know to what extent your waterproof camera is truly waterproof (e.g., how far below the surface of the water it can be submerged).
Likewise if it's described as a water-resistant camera it's important to know if it’s simply offering protection from light rain, a prolonged downpour and/or a dousing from a saltwater wave.
Of course you also have the option not to photograph from a zodiac boat. But you will need to travel on them to and from shore where most of your photos will be made.
Not only that, but there are great opportunities for amazing wildlife photography from zodiac boats off South Georgia Island and Antarctica.
One of my all time favorite photography adventures was photography icebergs while touring around in a zodiac inflatable boat off Cuverville Island in Antarctica.
If you’re only in a position to bring one serious camera with you on tour, and just don’t want to risk using it while photographing from a zodiac inflatable boat, a small waterproof camera becomes a very reasonable comprise.
Waterproof Camera For Antarctica
If you’re a DSLR or Mirrorless camera user you won’t need a waterproof camera for Antarctica.
However, a small and relatively lightweight waterproof camera is a great option when photographing from a moving zodiac inflatable boat.
Generally these cameras are designed to be quite shock-proof and may offer GPS tagging, Wi-Fi connectivity, altimeters and video features such as slow-mo and time-lapse.
If I was considering buying a small, hardy waterproof camera I’d choose the Olympus Tough TG-6 camera.
The camera’s features include the following:
A reasonably large 1 ⅔ inch sensor.
Lens 25-100 mm (equivalent focal length) f/2.0-4.9 for a wide range of landscape and portrait photo opportunities.
Waterproof down to 15 metres
Shockproof down to 2.1 metres
Freezeproof down to -10 degrees Celsius
3 inch monitor with 1,040 dot resolution
4K video
Photography is a game of compromise. Do be aware that the Olympus Tough TG-6 does not include an electronic viewfinder.
Just like making photos with a mobile phone, it can be difficult to compose and review photos from a scene you’re photographing on an LCD screen outside under bright light conditions.
Some other waterproof camera options I discovered researching this article include the following:
Nikon Coolpix W300
Panasonic Lumix FS7 (labelled as the FT7 outside of the USA)
Fujifilm FinePix XP130
Ricoh WG-60
While price, size, weight, ergonomics and easy of use need to be considered when purchasing any camera you should also consider the following criteria when researching any of the cameras listed above.
Underwater and dust proof specifications
Limitations of warranty
Sensor size
Zoom range
Low light capabilities and noise performance at relatively high ISO
Maximum aperture for low light photography and for achieving relatively shallow depth of field
Frame rates and buffer size for action photography
Close up capabilities
RAW and/or JPEG
Video frame rate
Packing Camera Gear For Antarctica
A quality camera backpack is essential to protect your camera kit in transit and to provide you with a solid and comfortable way to carry it during your onshore excursions in Antarctica.
The Lowepro DryZone backpacks seem to offer an ideal solution and I may well purchase one should I be fortunate enough to return again to Antarctica.
Needless to say lots of spare batteries and memory cards should be considered as essential items on your list for building a great camera kit for your Antarctica photography adventure.
I’d also consider picking up a spare battery charger, just in case you leave it behind in a hotel room on route.
Are you planning to bring a laptop computer with you to download your photos at the end of each day?
If so you should also bring at least one portable hard drive as a backup device for your images and, if you use Lightroom, for your Lightroom catalog.
Ideally you’d have two identical portable hard drives giving you two backup drives.
Whatever you do don’t leave all your batteries, memory cards or backup portable drives in the same place and don’t take them all out with you on any given day.
Better to have one of each stolen or lost then the whole lot.
When it comes to portable hard drives I’d never leave both of them, together with my laptop, in a hotel room without a safe.
If I have any such concerns I’II ask for one of my portable hard drives to be stored in the hotel manager’s office or, alternatively, take it out with me on that day’s photo walk.
Photography Hints For Antarctica
Needless to say, as you’ll be a long way from any camera repair facilities, it’s important to consider how to protect your camera from the elements (e.g., salt, sand, water) you’ll encounter while making photos in Antarctica.
There's lots of temporary measures folks make use of to protect their cameras when out and about making photos under inclement weather.
A large plastic bag can be useful, either to protect your camera between photos or, with the lens poked through it, as a very basic lightweight raincoat.
Just be wary of the wildlife and the incredibly fragile nature of the environment you’ve journey to. We most certainly don't want to introduce plastic bags into Antarctica.
With that in mind check with your tour guide about whether this approach is acceptable on the tour you're planning to join.
A better option is a dedicated rain jacket designed to cover cameras and lenses when photographing under inclement weather.
I took one of these, the Manfrotto E-702 Rain Cover, with me to Antarctica. I used it on a couple of occasions, but only with limited success.
The trouble is that these jackets are quite generic and, therefore, not made to fit or work with any specific camera in mind.
Frankly I found the clear plastic jacket was a real pain to use, even though it’s designed so that the hands can access the camera’s controls through entry points on either side of the rain cover.
In the end I did what I’ve done for years which was to wrap my camera inside a fleece beanie.
This approach works particularly well in extremely cold conditions as it helps to keep your camera battery warm and minimizes the chance of your camera’s LCD screen from freezing.
What’s more the rain wicking properties of the fleece do provide some protection from tiny splashes of water, assuming your camera is properly covered by the fleece.
A small hand towel placed over a tripod based camera can help protect your camera and lens while exposed to rain for extended periods of time.
While it’s most unlikely you’d need this particular arrangement in Antarctica, it could prove useful in the Falkland Islands or on South Georgia Island.
And you will appreciate that small hand towel if your camera cops a splash while you’re photographing from a zodiac boat.
While I don’t personally own one I’ve seen the Peak Design Shell and I’ve heard very good reports about it’s versatility and functionality when photographing under inclement weather. It’s an option worth considering.
What matters is that you do something to protect your camera gear and help ensure you maximize your photo opportunities on what should be a cruise of a lifetime.
King penguin's feet on the icy slopes of Cuverville Island in Antarctica.
Best Camera Setting For Antarctica
The best camera settings for Antarctica are going to be dependent upon the type of photo you’re making and the conditions under which you find yourself photographing.
For example I made this photo of a King penguin’s feet on the steep, icy slopes of Cuverville Island.
Given the terrain it was extremely difficult and slow moving around. But the landscape was epic and there were lots of penguins to photograph, albeit from a distance.
One of the gals on the tour suggested I borrow her 100-400 mm zoom lens that day and I was so lucky to have done so.
This image was made at 400 mm at 1/400 second with an aperture of f/5.6 at ISO 100.
There’s a reasonable amount of fine texture in the penguin’s fur and I’m so happy at how prominent its orange foot, closest to the camera, is in the photo.
I did make a more traditional image of this penguin, but the best way to concentrate attention on those feet was through this unusual composition.
Here’s a basic guide, for mirrorless and DSLR cameras to get you started.
An aperture of f/11 for most landscape photography situations requiring a relatively large depth of field.
(Wider angle focal lengths and smaller sensor cameras can achieve similar depth of field at physically larger apertures).
An aperture of f/4 is a good starting point when photographing portraits of animals or birds when a shallow depth of field is required.
When you’re quite close to the subject, particularly when using a telephoto focal length lens, an aperture of f/8 or greater might be required for the maximum about of sharpness in areas where high detail is required, such as in birds plumage.
Shutter speeds of at least 1/1000 second when photographing large birds in flight.
The highest possible shutter speed you’re able to achieve when photographing fast moving birds in flight.
The ISO that’s required to give you the shutter speed you need to photograph action.
A low to moderate ISO (e.g., ISO 100-400) when photographing landscapes from a stable base with a wide to standard focal length lens.
A higher ISO may be required when making photos with a telephoto lens and/or when photographing on a moving zodiac or from the deck of your cruise ship.
Huge slabs of bluish ice covering the waters of Paradise Bay, Antarctica.
Best White Balance Setting For Antarctica
There’s are some important things to consider when it comes to achieving the best white balance settings for Antarctica.
There’s the actual color of the world you’re photographing, whether or not you perceive it accurately.
Degrees of color blindness are actually quite common, particularly in males, so there’s quite a lot of variation in how each of us perceives color.
It’s also true that, while a fantastic sunrise can certainly change the way we see the world around us, our own mindset also effects how we perceive color.
Given that color, like everything else, is based largely upon perception you shouldn’t be too worried about the notion of reality when making photos.
It’s perfectly legitimate to tweak color to produce a rendering of the scene that’s either more pleasing or more inline with the mood you want to explore.
Let’s examine this photo of icebergs in Paradise Bay, Antarctica as a case in point.
Notice how different the color of the ice appears, from those huge slabs of bluish ice in the foreground to cleaner looking light grey and white ice and snow further back in the distance.
Now icebergs are often bluish in color, but the color of snow, ice and water is affected by the color of the light reflected of their surfaces.
The fact is that the light above and behind me was bluish while the light, coming through the clouds into the distance was a more neutral grayish colored light.
As a basic guideline my own default white balance setting is cloudy. In simple terms that means adding yellow to the image.
We live on the blue planet and are surrounded by a bluish colored atmosphere, most noticeable in the color of a blue sky.
Isn’t it reasonable that the color of the light reaching our world is often tinted by this bluish skylight.
In photography the opposite color to yellow is blue. Painters know that, strictly speaking, it’s actually a purple/blue hue.
Photographers, on the other hand, like to keep such things simple, which makes sense if you want to get past the information and take action to produce a great result.
I’ve found that the cloudy white balance setting provides the color balance that, more often than not, produces images with good color reproduction.
That’s cloudy is my default setting when making photos under natural light conditions.
This is actually a very complex subject and the specific white balance you decide upon could be dependent upon a range of factors including the following:
The color of the light you’re photographing under.
How important it is for theoretically neutral colored subjects or scenes like white wedding dresses and snow covered landscapes to photograph without a color cast.
The mood you want to explore in your photo.
The ethnicity of the person being photographed.
I’ve worked really hard to produce a post that demystifies white balance and explains what you need to know to use it to create great color photos.
The post is titled White Balance Explained.
Best camera settings for an optimal exposure of tour members in Antarctica.
Exposure Compensation For Antarctica
A lot of photos folks made in Antarctica are likely to be too dark.
That rather shocking revelation is simply a consequence that your camera, with the possible exception of GPS and time zone settings, has no idea you’re in Antarctica let alone that you’re photographing icebergs, glaciers and the like.
This should follow then that my camera had no idea that I was photographing a line of tourists climbing up a hill above the spectacular Paradise Bay in Antarctica.
However, under normal circumstances, the camera’s light meter would have registered the brightness of the snow and sky and determined that was significantly brighter than the so-called average scene.
As a consequence the camera would have taken action to ensure the scene photographed darker.
Camera light meters are designed to measure light and, depending upon the Exposure Mode your camera is set to, prompt you or your camera to record that area in line with what’s referred to as mid gray.
In simple terms this means that predominantly light tone scenes tend to photograph too dark.
I’ve written about this problem, which adversely effects photos of bright subjects (e.g., bride in white dress) or scenes (e.g., beach on a summer’s day) all over the world.
In simple terms, to stop your photos coming out too dark, you’ll need to let more light into your camera than what the camera wants you to.
Overriding your camera’s recommended exposure, however you achieve it, allows you to do that.
In the case of manual exposure you can manually adjust your camera to achieve the desired brightness by changing one or more of the following three camera controls.
Shutter Speed
Aperture
ISO
With semi automatic (A or AV, S or TV) and automatic (P) exposure modes you’ll need to change exposure via your camera’s Exposure Compensation control.
Back in the day I used the Zone System to adjust the exposure above or below that which was suggested by my camera’s light meter.
To do that I had to know, for example, the correct brightness of a rock in deep shade, open shade or sunlight.
When it came to snow, ice or sand you had to consider the brightness of the subject and how much fine detail you wanted to record within it.
When it came to portraits I needed to know the correct brightness of, for example, the average Caucasian face under deep shade, open shade or sunlit conditions.
Living in a multicultural country and being a travel photographer I also had to know how those settings needed to be adapted when photographing folks from ethnic backgrounds other than my own.
These days it’s so much easier. You don’t need to know any of that theory from the Zone System. You simply adjust your camera until the brightness of the skin or scene seems correct.
With a DSLR camera you make a photo and determine what kind of adjustment is required by either assessing the brightness of the first image or by examining the histogram generated from that particular file.
Top end mirrorless cameras are even better in that if the image looks too dark through the viewfinder you can adjust the exposure, in the ways I’ve already indicated, before you make the photo.
That’s just one of the advantages of working with a quality Electronic Viewfinder (EVF), which provides a real time view of what the photo will look like, before your release your camera’s shutter.
DSLR cameras have optical viewfinders. They’re great for helping to achieve good composition and accurate focus.
However, unlike an EVF, optical viewfinders don’t allow you to see the brightness and color balance prior to making the exposure.
The confidence folks gain by being able to adjust the brightness of their images, in the field, is extremely empowering. Once you’ve made a successful image it’s time to play.
This allows you to experiment with composition, lens focal length and the angle of view from which you’re photographing to make more visually interesting images.
Is Antarctica On Your Bucket List?
What’s the point of a bucket list?
For some folk it’s the bragging rights associated with making it to a far flung destination like Antarctica and, perhaps, taking the plunge into the icy waters off the Antarctic peninsula.
I have no problem with that, though sometimes they’re the same kind of folks who love to tell you just how hot a curry they can handle.
Personally, while l love spice, I like to taste my food and just don’t see the point of burning a whole in my mouth just to impress people.
Needless to say if it hurts going in it’s going to hurt going out.
Bragging rights just aren’t a big deal for me.
I got to Base Camp on Mount Everest, on the Tibetan side, way back in 1988. But, outside of this site, I’ve probably only ever mentioned it to a handful of people.
It was an amazing part of a much bigger experience, including a road trip from Lhasa to Kathmandu, which in itself was a relatively small part of a 3 ½ month odyssey that became my very first overseas adventure.
But it all seems like such a long time ago and, frankly, I don’t have any decent photos to remember that trip by.
I lost all but a handful of images due to a camera malfunction and damage done to the film at the photo lab upon my return home.
Photography is the reason I travel so you can only imagine how devastating the loss of those images was to me.
But, even as the tears welled in my eyes, I’d committed myself to returning again next year. That decision is probably the reason I’m here today writing to you now.
Our lives are nothing but a work in progress.
Choosing the right path and doing what needs to be done to stay on that path is critical to being able to live a meaning rich and purpose driven existence.
It’s essential to prepare yourself, as well as you can, for your own adventure paying particular attention to why it is you’re undertaking the trip in the first place.
Even more important is not to let a bad experience, however devastating it might first appear, to prevent you from living the life you know you were born to live.
Tears, ridicule and doubt are of the moment, unless you choose to live in that state. I work hard to spend my time doing what it is I need to do to live the life I want to live.
It’s a life where I create beautiful, life affirming images and help other people along their own creative journey through the art of photography.
From own my experience the idea of being able to do something only sounds like a big deal until you’re actually doing it. After that it’s just meat and potatoes.
Antarctica is on many bucket lists, and with good reason. It’s one of the harshest and most remote places in the world.
But, more important is the awesome beauty of Antarctica and how insignificant one feels in the presence of such a wild and monumental landscape.
For me it’s inconceivable that you wouldn’t be overcome by the scale of the environment and that your world view wouldn’t, at the very least, be influenced towards a more empathetic view regarding the protection of wilderness.
I also think that, for many people, spending a few days crossing the immense Drake Passage will help prepare you for the gigantic scale and the silent, mournful beauty of Antarctica.
Once you’re in the right mindset for Antarctica you’ll be better able to make photos that express your own, personal response to the experience of actually being there.
Highly textured iceberg and its colorful reflection off Cuverville Island in Antarctica.
Antarctica: A World Of White, Grey and Blue
One thing that hits you in Antarctica is color. The color of the water, the sky and, in particular, the icebergs is simply amazing.
Those facts are showcased in this image of a highly textured iceberg, and its colorful reflection, off the coast of Cuverville Island in Antarctica.
It’s very much how I remember Antarctica, at least when it comes to cruising around making photos from a zodiac inflatable boat.
Those monochromatic grey/blue skies and dramatic ice-covered landforms, rising out of the dark blue sea, will stay fresh in my mind for years to come.
I remember working on some images in the ship’s bar one night while we were moored off the Antarctic coast.
Some members of the tour gathered around, most likely to see how I was post processing my images. I think what surprised them most was the fact that I’d decided to render some of the images in black and white.
Their comments, while complimentary, were a little guarded. I just don’t think they’d considered black and white as an option, given their preconceptions of how Antarctica would appear.
I've always loved working in color. However, since commencing formal studies in photography back in 1986, I became interested in the history of photography and really enjoyed looking at and creating black and white photos.
These days I feel any particular preference I may have for color or black and white is irrelevant. What matters is that I serve the needs of the image.
From a commercial point of view you might skew that statement to serving the needs of the customer. It all depends where you’re coming from and, ultimately, why it is you’re doing what you’re doing.
Let’s explore my thought process and why my approach didn't necessarily coincide with that from other members of the group.
Informing the Practice of Your Art
These days I try to dismiss from my mind any images or preconceptions about a particular location.
Naturally that can be difficult to do when you hear how surreal the ice blue color of icebergs can be off the Antarctic peninsula.
However, wherever possible, it’s good to make images that separate you from the crowd by the uniqueness of your vision as much as by the technical quality of your photos.
I certainly recommend that you aim to discover and cultivate your own unique way of seeing the world and let that inform the way you practice your art.
Building ruins at Port Foster on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.
Antarctica in Black and White
As far as photography is concerned it's a fact that some subjects or scenes look better in black and white.
The trick is to let the image you're creating speak to you about whether it’s best suited to a color or black and white rendering.
Lines, shapes, textures and shadows will appear more dominant in a black and white photo.
If those elements of composition are particularly important in your photo than a black and white photo probably makes sense.
That notion was very much in my mind when I composed this image of building ruins at Port Foster on Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands.
It’s a harsh environment and our visit coincided with a pretty significant snowstorm. Man was it fun!
There’s plenty of texture in the foreground created by the contrast between the light tone snow and the much darker volcanic earth.
Notice how I’ve used that little creek to lead the eye into the middle of the image from where it’s just a short visual jump to the ruins of the old whaling station at Port Foster.
Conversely it’s important to be aware when the color of the light, or the relationship between complimentary (i.e., opposite) or harmonious colors within the scene, may demand rendering in color.
For example a color photo of a red painted research hut can look pretty striking against a vivid blue sky.
The only question that matters is which treatment will best convey the feeling, mood, theme or subject you need to explore.
“The decision whether to opt for a color or black and white rendering of an image shouldn’t be about personal preference.
You have to serve the needs of the image.”
Rather than being seduced by bias, by pandering to your own personal preference, the photos you create need to express your own, personal response to the scene in question and the opinion, message or metaphor you want to explore.
Long ago kids would be beaten if they tried to write with their left hand. How stupid was that? Thankfully that kind of practice is long gone.
Most of us exist within certain parameters governed by the society we live in, and what’s considered to be appropriate behavior within certain cultural guidelines.
There are widely acceptable principals regarding aesthetics that govern what’s generally considered to be beautiful.
Of course commercial photographers have to remain aware of customer needs and current trends in the marketplace.
But, for everyone else, it’s important that the choices you make are governed by your own evolving world view and artistic preferences.
If in doubt let the image guide you.
