RickDB

Hi Alain, We sailed to 82.5 degrees north to reach the ice and once there I really had my doubts we would actually find a polar bear. It's a vast empty place, but the polar bears are curious creatures and sought us out. After staying overnight in the pack ice we awoke to several lone males eyeing us up. Unfortunately, we didn't come across any females with cubs and so witnessed no interactions. The ice boundary is well defined and is often quite misty/foggy making photography of distant polar bears all the more difficult. I agree these trips are costly and these small old research vessels getting more and more expensive to maintain/refit; perhaps these photo expeditions will become a thing of the past. Not a family vacation though, so to keep the cost down find a couple of photographer buddies and a triple cabin in the bilges. However, if I could do only one, I would, without a doubt, choose Antarctica over Svalbard; Penguins are a lot more accommodating since, unlike polar bears, you can be amongst them when you make a landing!

Great shot Alain - However, I think you make it look too easy! After hiking a mile up the mountain to Jigokudani Park, probably in deep snow, you need to be there well before the doors open for a prime spot on the narrow ledge around the small pool of warm water. It's wall to wall photographers and tourists. Portraits with a telephoto lens allows you to exclude the visitors, but the steam rising from the pool swirls about and always seems to be at it's most dense when the subject is at it's most alluring. Wide angle shots to place the monkeys in their environment will require a lot of cloning out of people, and then there are all the reflections in the water of their brightly colored jackets. Oh, and then be prepared for your head to be used as a stepping stone as the young monkeys chase each other about. A wonderful, but challenging, experience.

Thanks all for your comments. Two things you come away from Antarctica remembering are the stunning blue icebergs and the delightful penguins. Put the two together and you have a winning combination.

Thanks Dan and Pierre for your kind comments! I was pleased with this shot, the lighting was soft resulting in nice detail in both the black and white plumage. But to some of my photographer friends, an anhinga is just another bird and not very interesting. Actually, I think some of the most underrated photos on PN are panoramas, they just don't show well. Anonymous posting for rating is an interesting idea...

coordinates : 54°17'52.92"S 66°41'58.06"W