Photography tips for Antarctica

Antarctica offers many great opportunities for pictures: icebergs, glaciers, mountains, wildlife and blue sky or water contrasting with the white of the ice and snow under perfect conditions. These can make up nice photos, but there are a few things that you should keep in mind when trying to receive good photographs under the special conditions in the Antarctic.

General tips
Photography is not just taking pictures; to get good pictures from the travels it is important to practice and to know the equipment and its functions. Practice in advance, take pictures of wildlife and landscapes and consider why some are good, and others not as good. Also look in magazines and books for good pictures and study why you like them.

When you decided to buy new equipment, get to know your camera and its functions before the trip but consider also bringing the manuals with you. Consider bringing two cameras, or at least two cameras per couple. It may always happen that a camera gets damaged or even lost over a ship railing.

Expect to take mainly landscape, wildlife and landscape photos, as well as some of people and the boat and in the boat, to remember not only the sights but also the whole atmosphere of the trip. For wildlife shoots it is best to have a good zoom lens, for landscapes a wide angle lens. Plan carefully what equipment you really need, as you have to carry it around with you, not only in Antarctica (in the zodiac and on land) but also during (international) flights.

The Antarctic provides you with different conditions than normal land offers. It is often very bright with big contrast from background to the subject you are photographing. Therefore adapt the aperture when the light is bright and close when the subject is dark. Try out your film before at sunny conditions as well as under overcast conditions before the trip. You will need a flash at sunny days to fill harsh shadows. When the picture is taken from a moving ship, it might be necessary to increase the shutter speed; also when being on land, photographing a moving subject.

Look for the subject you want to photograph and frame it carefully. The right composition can make a huge difference to the result, as does the background of the picture. A wildlife picture with another tourist in the background is rather useless, so you might have to re-position yourself to get the background right.

Photographing wildlife
The Antarctic wildlife often appears to be unafraid of humans even when they actually might be afraid. The presence of humans can stress them, especially when humans are too close. Therefore make sure that you keep distance to the animals, also for photographing them. At least stick to the distances that your guide will tell you.

Remember that it's not worth disturbing and stressing an animal for a photograph. Moreover, it is important that you do not block the animals' paths to the sea or to its young. When approaching an animal, be quiet and calm and watch its reaction. When it moves or changes behavior it is a sign that you are too close. Try to sit down, be quiet and patient and the animals might approach you after a while on their own.

Generally it can be useful to use a zoom lens to not getting too close to the animals and to still be able to frame single creatures. Try having the animal's eyes on the picture and if possible consider the perspective that you take the picture from. Being at the same level as the animal works very well.

Also aim for variety of your photos! Even though every penguin looks very cute, try not to take the same kind of picture of each of them, as the photos will look very much alike. Rather try to get several shots, different in distance and amount of the animals but also in their behavior: standing, walking, running, swimming or interacting with others.

Landscape
For landscape and scenery bring our wide-angle lens. You will encounter glaciers, mountains and icebergs not only from far away, so the zoom lens used for wildlife may not work with this kind of subject.

The weather and lighting in Antarctica can change a lot and not only the bright blue sky as often seen in brochure is what you will encounter. It may well be foggy, overcast or stormy, so practice with your camera on how to make the best out of these conditions.

When using a digital camera, and equipped with plenty of battery, review your photos to see whether the exposure is correct. On sunny days, the strong light reflected by the snow, can be hard for a camera to deal with (when using automatic setting) and the result may be gray or too bright.

What to remember
Next to the normal photo equipment, it is necessary to bring some special equipment for Antarctica. Here a small reminder and tips:-

• The cold temperatures can make batteries going flat a lot faster than at normal temperatures, therefore do not forget the battery charger and/ or spare batteries. Carry spare batteries with you on landings and keep them warm on an inside pocket of the jacket.
• Bring enough films or memory cards to make sure you are not running out of them and then missing photo opportunities because of this. Expect that you will take a lot more pictures than normally.
• Bring a good protective case and a waterproof plastic bag for your camera or equipment to protect it from saltwater spray, snow, dust and rain. Bring cleaning utilities for lenses.
• A good idea is a camera bag with shoulder strap protecting your camera and making you having your hands free for walking on ships and when boarding the zodiacs. Generally, a waterproof bag pack can be of good use for the landings.
• Plastic bags help to prevent negative effects on your camera at the transition from warm to cold or from cold back to warm environments (when leaving or going back on the ship). The climatic changes can make the camera suffer under the effects of condensation. Wrap the camera in plastic bags in these situations and give time to adjust its temperature to the surrounding before unwrapping it.
• Bring a small tripod to avoid camera shake, especially when using zoom or a long shutter speed.