Apogee Photo - Home
Spread the News ~~ Click on this "Share
Button"
Send this Article to Your Photography Colleagues, Friends and Family
Spread It Around the World Instantly
|
|
Apogee Photo - Home
Spread the News ~~ Click on this "Share
Button"
Send this Article to Your Photography Colleagues, Friends and Family
Spread It Around the World Instantly
|
|
Photographing in Antarctica
by
Cliff Kolber
Photography by Cliff Kolber and Doris Kolber
|
If you are fortunate to have visited Antarctica then you know that words and photographs cannot describe the incredible beauty, immense vastness and remote desolation of the White Continent. It is a grandiose wilderness of ice packs, glaciers, volcanoes, mountains, and wildlife that seem to go on forever. It is the coldest, windiest and driest continent in the world. It is also the largest desert in the world with just 4 inches of precipitation a year. Since there is no evaporation, snow has stacked up over years, centuries and millennia, creating the tallest continent in the world with elevations of ice up to 10,000 feet. Near the shores and in the seas are wildlife not found anywhere else in the world. It is a magical place!
Adelie Penguins heading to sea in search of food for their chicks at Brown Bluff on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Insert:
Gentoo Penguins make their nests from a pile of stones and
both parents share the responsibility of taking care of the
chicks as they grow. Brown Bluff, Antarctica
Canon 30D; Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens at
150mm; f/11 at 1/100 sec; ISO 200; hand held
This adult Gentoo Penguin was caring for its chick at a
rookery on Brown Bluff on the Antarctica Peninsula. In
order to capture this shot at eye-level I sat on the ground
that was covered with snow and penguin guano. This is when
a poncho comes in handy to sit on. Nikon D300, Nikon 80-400mm lens at 400mm, f/5.6 at 1/400 sec, ISO 200, hand held
A trip to Antarctica will most likely be a “once in a lifetime” trip, so you want to be prepared photographically to capture memorable images. A little bit of advance preparation and knowledge will go a long way toward a successful portfolio of images.
Antarctica had been on our (my wife and I) travel “bucket list” for many years and we finally made it there in 2008. We chose an expedition that catered to adventure travelers in general, rather than devoted to photographers. As such, we knew we would be transferring from ship to Zodiac to shore more than once a day and we would have limited time during each landing. Expedition ships are small, holding 100 or less passengers. If you want to land on Antarctica you need to book with one of these expedition ships since, by international agreement, only 100 people are allowed onshore per landing in Antarctica. We made sure to look only at these ships. Larger cruise line ships “sail-by” Antarctica without making any landings.
The Antarctic Peninsula is accessible to visitors only during the Antarctic spring and summer months of November through March. This is when the ice packs surrounding Antarctica have melted, temperatures are in the 20’s to 40’s and penguin chicks have hatched and are growing rapidly.
Thousands of Adelie Penguins breed on Paulet Island, which
is actually a small volcano about a mile in diameter. It
has a frozen lake in the crater with extinct lava covering
the island. The black beach is a combination of volcanic
rock and penguin guano. Nikon D300, Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens at 160mm, f/5.0 at 1/640 sec, ISO 200, hand held
Our strongest advice is to shoot everything you see. This
is divergent from the normal order of photography, but
Antarctica is not a normal destination. It is sometimes
difficult to recognize and appreciate the beauty of this
continent until after you are gone. Also, be sure to shoot
from the deck of the ship. Of the 95 passengers on our
ship, less than a half dozen were consistently shooting from
the deck. It’s not always easy though. You might have to
bear the fury of freezing wind, surf and snow. But get out
on deck and shoot! The scenery and the landscapes are
incredible and they change from moment to moment. And,
shooting from the deck will also be your only opportunity to
photograph albatrosses and petrels soaring behind and around
the ship.
Our ship was rocking and rolling several days in heavy storms and it was difficult to stand upright without help. The seas can be “iffy” in Antarctica and can range from glass calm to typhoon conditions. But you get only one chance in Antarctica, so wrap your arms around the deck railing for stability and shoot. Of course, be sure to protect your camera from the elements.
We sailed through extraordinary straits and channels –
Bransfield Strait, Gerlach Strait, Antarctica Sound and the
most famous for its scenery, Lemaire Channel. The landscape
along these straits is stunning. Each day was more
beautiful and spectacular than imagined. On overcast days
(of which we had many) the sky flows into the mountains,
while clouds and fog blend together as one. We could not
tell where the sky ended and the sea began. And again, your
only opportunity to capture these scenes and landscapes is
from the ship, so be sure to spend your time on deck rather
than in your cabin or in the lounge.
You will be transferring from ship to zodiac to shore several times a day. Sometimes the landings will be “wet” where you swing out of the zodiac into the water and then walk a few steps to shore. Everyone wears knee-high waterproof boots so the landing is not a problem. Sometimes the landings are onto slippery or unbalanced rocks. Even though the crew assists in getting on and off the zodiacs, you want your photo gear compactly packed and protected during these forays. We packed our gear in Lowe Pro Mini-Trekkers and packed those inside rubber dry bags for the rides to and from shore. The Mini-Trekkers worked very well and kept our gear safe and compact with room left over for water and snacks, etc.
My gear consisted of: Nikon D300 body, D100 body for backup, flash and three Nikon lenses: 12-24mm f/4, 24-120 f/3.5-5.6VR and 80-400 f/4.5-5.6VR. Doris’s pack consisted of: Canon 30D body and three lenses: Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom, Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom and Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS zoom. We also carried circular polarizer filters, extra memory cards, batteries, chargers, and a few ponchos and shower caps. The shower caps came in handy to cover the cameras whenever it rained or snowed.
We used the ponchos to cover the wet or guano-covered ground so that we could sit or lie flat to photograph penguins at their eye level. This worked well since you do not want to find yourself sitting or lying in guano. Shooting at the subject’s eye level will always create a more intimate feeling, pulling your viewer into the picture.
|
||||
|
We did not bring tripods because of weight and space, but would opt to bring our small Gitzo tripods on the next trip to Antarctica. We also know a lot of people who have used monopods in Antarctica with good results. We managed well with hand holding the cameras, but there were a few instances when a tripod (or monopod) would have been a welcome addition. I normally carry a Gitzo Traveller 1155T tripod (2 lbs) with a Really Right Stuff BH-40 ballhead (1 lb), sufficient to hold a 100-400mm lens.
|
||||
I have a 500mm f/4 lens, but decided to leave it at home. I felt that we would be shooting in rapidly changing situations and close enough to the wildlife for our 400mm zoom lenses. In retrospect I am glad that I didn’t bring the longer lens. The 80-400mm was perfect for this trip.
To store and back up our files, we brought our Sony VAIO laptop computers, along with external pocket size 100GB hard drives. Each of the laptops weighs just over two pounds and they fit easily into our backpacks. For backup purposes, the little bit of time and effort that it takes to transfer files from a computer to an external drive is well worth the effort. We kept the backup drives with us in our backpacks during the day, while the laptops remained back at the ship. It is always a good idea to keep your backup drives in a location away from the computer, in case something unforeseen occurs.
A trip to Antarctica is definitely not for everyone, but if you have a sense of adventure and enjoy nature and the outdoors, this is an expedition not to be missed. Of all the destinations we have visited, Antarctica remains our favorite. We hope you have the opportunity to find out why.
~~~~~ About the Author: Cliff Kolber is a nature and travel photographer and writer based in Miami, Florida. He and his wife Doris have created a spectacular portfolio of images and articles from around the world, specializing in the Florida Everglades, the American Southwest, Europe, Australia and Antarctica. Visit their website at www.kolberphotography.com.
To find other articles by subject, just type subject in the Search Box.
Apogee Photo and Apogee Photo Magazine are trademarks of Apogee Photo, Inc. © 1995-2012 Apogee Photo, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
