Photography In Antarctica

[paul_kaplan2]

I'm going to Antarctica in January. I'll be traveling with a Nikon D80 and a Nikon digital 18-200mm lens. I will

also bring an additional battery, a few SD cards along with a plastic sleeve to hopefully prevent water damage to

the camera. Any specific suggestions regarding the picture taking end will be greatly appreciated, i. e.

exposures, filters, etc.

 

Thanks.

[garydem]

go to m reichman's website and sesarch for antartica. he has made several trips and has much info.

the site is-

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

[bob_flood1]

My own experience with batteries in cold weather is limited and I've had very good luck, but I wouldn't go to Antarctica with less than 3 batteries - I can't imagine coming back having missed some great (once in a lifetime) shots because even the spare battery petered out in that legendary cold. Another battery is cheap insurance.

 

Gepe makes waterproof plastic cases for memory cards - I have 2 and highly recommend them. Cards inside their cases won't get wet, and the cases come in bright colors so they are easy to spot if dropped.

[scott_ferris]

One obvious trick with batteries is to keep them inside your jacket to keep them warm and keep swapping them, they will last much longer. Haven't been to Antarctica but have done some mountain and ski photography in the cold, it made a big difference.

 

Take care, Scott.

[Jerry_]

You may need to find a way to 'condition' your camera when you take it from a warm place into the cold. And again, when you return from a trip outside to your indoor room (or shelter.) The effects of condensation will either make ice (going out-of-doors) with a warm camera. And a frozen camera will 'sweat' upon thawing out in a room that has some heat. [i was stationed three years in central Alaska, not quite the cold of Antarctica, but some days had -22 degrees F for the "high."]

 

 

You may consider taking a pair of D80 bodies. Keep one outside, in the cold. Keep the other inside so you can check your images once the SD cards have 'warmed' up some.

[jmarshall]

I was in Antarctica this past February.

 

It's really not as cold as you might think. Most days, it was hovering right around the freezing mark, so I never really had any issues with battery life. I typically carried one battery in an inside pocket in addition to the one that was in the camera, and never ran into a problem. Of course, we had really excellent weather; if it's ovecast and the wind blows, you might have a different experience. There are a couple of pictures in my portfolio from the trip, but they're really big and suffer from the compression. I'll try to post some more over the weekend.

 

Where in Antarctica are you going? Will you be on a big cruise ship, and mostly have "sail bys" or a smaller ship where you'll have the chance to actually do some landings? We were on a small ship (about 80 passengers), so we made 8 or 9 landings over the course of the 5 days that we were along the peninsula.

 

I took two bodies, but mostly ended up just bringing the 40D, and saved the 5D for shots from the ship. My most used lens on shore landings was the Canon 24-105; from the ship, I rented a 100-400, which was great for whales and birds. I occassionally used the 17-40 (on the 5D), but it the least used lens for me.

 

In terms of exposures, standard advice for shooting in snow (i.e., over-expose to keep the whites white) applies. The penguins are unbelievably tame. I found that if I just sat down on a rock, within a few minutes, they'd be coming over to investigate me. This is OK -- you can't approach the wildlife, but if it comes up to you ... no problem. Keep a safe distance from seals, though. They can be mean.

 

After the first few landings, I tempted fate by not carrying my waterproof backpack with me. Again, YMMV as we had relatively calm seas ... so calm that we were actually able to cruise far enough south to actually pass the Antarctic Circle, even though we weren't supposed to on my trip.

 

One of the expedition members has a website with his photos. I'll post it later tonight. You might also want to take a look at some of the advice I got when I asked a similar question last year.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

[alex_rostocki1]

1. It won't be terribly cold in January. When I was there in the first week of January there were times when it was near 50 degrees.

 

2. Standard procedure with snow- expose for the shadows

[SteveH]

I've been to the Antarctic 7 times on 25-30 day small ship cruises. Here's some suggestions for photography. Follow

Jennifer's advice regarding photographing penguins. They're really cute and can be quite friendly. Fur seals, on the other

hand aren't very cute (except the babies) and can be very unfriendly early in the season, but mellow out after mating

season. Your 18-200 is pretty minimalist but should do. For wildlife set your aperture around f8 and adjust the ISO to

keep your shutter speed fairly fast - 1/250 and faster. For the landscapes think f11 to 22. You may want a tripod for

some of the shots if it's cloudy and dimmer. A tripod is also useful for discouraging agressive fur seal males (tickle their

whiskers). For predominantly snow scenes adjust your exposure compensation to +1 to start and check your histogram

often. Do take more batteries and keep them warm. If you can, take a back-up camera body - accidents do happen.

Keep your equipment dry with a dry bag and zip-lock bags. When going from cold to warm, put your camera in a plastic

bag until it warms up - this avoids condensation. Be sure to include the ship in some of your pictures, it's helpful to give

scale. Take something to back up your files - accidents do happen. Have a great time: the Antarctic is a fabulous place

and you will surely enjoy whatever sort of trip you take.

[paul_kaplan2]

Thank you all for your helpful information. Steve-My 18-200 lens is a digital lens so the focal length is actually 28-300mm.

[jasminabalic]

I haven't been on Antartika, but I was for 3 seasons on Alaska, at the time when it was really cold...the only problem that I had was condensation....regarding batteries, keep them inside your jacket....I know some people who were on Antartika, they said it was really experience for them since they were all photographers...Penguins are there friendly and you can have some really nice shoots....enjoy and we are looking forward to see your photos!!<div></div>

[gordon_lukesh1]

You might try searching www.skitaos.org and try to find a link to Dave Hahn. Hahn is a ski patroller when he is not off climbing. He has done Mt. Vinson in Antarctica more than a dozen times, Ranier about 250, and unbelievably Everest 10 times. He may have links as to what equipment he carries as he is primarily a paid guide. And I am sure his clients want photos!

[rajesh_krishnan]

I am travelling to the continent this December leaving from Tierra Del Fuego - estimated persons on board approx 100. Curious to know whether we get any chance to come across any colony of Emperor Penquins - the trip takes us thru South Shettland Islands. I will be reaching there at least 5 days before embarkation.....are there any places nearby from Ushuaia wherein I can watch the emperor penquins.

 

My camera kit consists of a D-80 - body with 70 - 200 & 17 - 55 - both having max apperature opening of f/2.8. Hope this should be enough for some memorable opportunities. Any tips forthcoming would be greatly appreciated.

[tom_schonhoff]

You almost will not see Emperor Penguins on the typical route. There is a trip through Quark Expeditions (I took it this

past October) that takes an icebreaker through the broken pack ice to a place just east of the tip of the Peninsula called

Snow Hill Island, where a colony was discovered in 2005. That trip flies from the ship inland, anywhere from 5 to 30

miles across the ice, to reach the rookeries. Since the Emperors nest miles from open water you'll just not encounter

them - aside from spotting a lucky one or two coming or going near the water's edge - on most trips.

 

But don't be discouraged, because in many ways the King Penguins on South Georgia Island (which is included on many

itineraries, and hopefully yours) are slightly more photogenic and far more numerous in their colonies there. My only

advice would be to consider renting an 80-400mm lens (or a 200-400 or even a 500mm prime) if you can afford to do so.

Stopping 10 meters outside the fringe of any given penguin colony, you'll find that at 400mm or so you can isolate a

single bird far more easily than at 200mm.

 

Near Ushuaia you can and should spend time in Tierra Del Fuego National Park, which is close enough that you can

actually hire a taxi to take you there for a few hours. Find a way to spend the entire day there and park on the shores of

Lake Roca. Lots of beautiful birds there to photograph, including dusky and ashy-headed geese, black-faced ibis and

some ducks you won't see elsewhere. It's also pretty mountainous and pretty. Still, with that much time in Ushuaia I'd

consider heading into Patagonia for a day or two at least. I'm not sure you'll find quite enough to do otherwise, although

day trips via boat are commonly offered and I haven't taken any of those on my visits.

 

Max aperture concerns aren't really important for light gathering as the snow and daylight conditions will provide plenty of

illumination. However, shooting close to wide open helps to isolate your subject from the surrounding birds and can make

for much more dramatic shots.

 

Have fun. My guess is that you'll be blown away by Antarctica.

[david_burren2]

<p>All great advice. I know this is waay after the original post but it may still be useful to someone:</p>

<p>Note that if you have an extra day in Ushuaia you can take a trip out to a Gentoo penguiin colony (there's a mixture of bus and boat involved in getting there). However if you're about to head down to Antarctica you're sure to see lots of these guys anyway. As noted, the Emporers are much further south.</p>

<p>Also, the information about Antarctica on Michael Reichmann's site is quite spread out. I was on one of his Antarctic trips, and collated much of the information (including links to photo galleries from participants). You can find it tagged with "Antarctica" on my blog:<br>

http://blog.davidburren.com/search/label/Antarctica<br>

Information on each of Michael's three Antarctic trips is down towards the bottom.</p>