Antarctica: Film and Filter Advice

Heading to Antarctica in five days, but am yet to buy film and

filters. What works best in this environment? I am looking at the

following:

 

Velvia and Provia film and

81A and 81B filters

 

Shots can get a little overwhelmed by the blue tones of the ice from

what I have read, hence the 81A. Is a polarising filter advised? I

have also read that some other, more neutral films provide better

color balance. Speaking to someone who has already traveled at this

time of year, I think there is a strong chance it will be grey and

overcast much of the time.

 

I am using 24mm, 35-70, and 70-300 lenses, all on a Nikon N90s body.

 

- Gavin

I have not been to Antarctica, but I've spent time on the North Slope of Alaska and other places in the arctic and the conditions are similar.

I'd recommend the Provia because of its speed, the likely overcast conditions, and its more neutral color balance. You've hit the filters exactly with the warming filters and the polarizer. You will find use for the polarizer, especially in sunny conditions. You may want to add a ND Grad to the list. These 3 are the only filters I carry.

One thing that will help is that the angle of the sun in the sky is always quite low, providing nice light for longer periods of time.

Don't forget fresh batteries and plenty of them!

Enjoy!

You should take a look at the forum policy again, especially the part where it says you should read all the articles on the <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/nature/">Nature Photography Pages</a> before posting questions.

I second Scott's comments. In fact, you may even consider taking a warming polarizer for the 24mm and the wide end of your short zoom. Two reasons why: first, stacking a warming filter and a polarizer may cause vignetting; second, one filter is always easier to deal with than two (especially in the Antarctic cold, I imagine). If you're using Velvia and a polarizer with all that blue and white, you will probably want to use a warming filter if you don't want the scene to come out excessively cold.<P>I have the Tiffen warming polarizer, which is essentially a linear polarizer combined with an 812; since I only use manual focus, this suits my needs perfectly. With your N90s, however, you will need a circular warming polarizer to avoid problems with autofocus. B+W, Heliopan, and Singh-Ray all make circular warming polarizers; <A HREF="http://www.bhphotovideo.com">B&H </A>carries all of 'em and could ship to you in time.<P>One last thing: carry lots of extra batteries, and keep one or two sets on you in a warm place at all times; they'll die quickly in the cold.<P>Good luck, don't freeze, and let us know how the trip went!

Thanks for the comments.

 

In response to Darron, I did search the database for relevent messages, but it did not turn up the articles shown on the page you listed. I did not jump in without making some effort to uncover the relevent information myself - in all my reading, I did not uncover answers to my specific questions. Maybe I should have taken a little more time. That aside, I also appreciate more than one point of view, from a single person. Posting my question achieved that.

 

- Gavin

I'd recommend Kodachrome 64 with no filters.

Excellent for all conditions where snow is present.

 

Ilkka

I was there last year. Although I brought a polarizer and some warming filters with me, I didn't need them. I did shoot a roll with a polarizer, but looking back - you really didn't need it. I was there in January, and the weather was bright and clear. We had a few overcast days, but they were short-lived. I recommend a wider than 24mm lense though. Extra batteries are highly recommended.

 

If you visit some of the historical sites, I would recommend some B&W film and a yellow filter.