Tomorrow will close out the final shoreside visit to the Antarctic Peninsula. The light photographers dream of has been very elusive in the southern ocean. It’s now 10pm and our ship has been hanging out with a group of 20-30 humpback whales that have been gorging themselves on krill in the Bransfield Straight. That comes…
The forty hour ship journey from South Georgia Island to the South Orkneys fell under amazingly gentle seas. I woke up at 3:30am to the first views of giant icebergs so far. The light was not dramatic, but the vistas were thrilling and the icebergs on an epic scale in comparison to the thousands I’ve…
On the eve of Jan 6 we arrived at South Georgia Island after a few days of open ocean travel from the Falkland Islands. While artfully dodging a pathway through a beach littered with fur seals, elephant seals, and king penguins, my brain was in stimulus overload. This includes sight, sound, and smell. Two of…
Today (Saturday, Jan 26) concluded our second day of visits to the Malvinas Islands (Falklands). And both included multitudinous observations and photography of the humorous and artfully swimming penguins. Sorry I can’t share any pictures since the outgoing email on the ship is text only. Despite 3 applications of sunscreen, my reddened face reflects the…
I’m making this brief post in haste as our ship the Polar Star is about to depart Ushuaia, Argentina for the Falkland Islands, and the weather looks favorable for good traveling. That means less chance for sea sickness. The skiffs are docked on the top deck of the ship and I’ll be driving one of…
The internet is full of the “BEST OF” anthologies from any category one wishes to direct their voyeuristic energies. I thought, what the heck, I’d make a slight deviation from the norm and indulge in a self deprecating list of photography-related mistakes. After all, the mistakes we make often teach us best, even though the…
In a few days I leave for a month long trip to Antarctica as a staff member of Cheesman’s Ecology Safaris. Based on a 300 ft. Russian Ice Breaker, 100 passengers will voyage to the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, the Orkney’s and the Antarctic Peninsula. I’ll be giving photo instruction and operating an inflatable boat…
I’ve been reviewing some files from the summer, and thought I’d share this image of Cascade glacier, taken from a rock island prominence in Barry Arm, in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The sedimentary layers reveal and amazing pattern of lines and the surface rock has been ground quite smoothly from the ancient work of an…
Monitor calibration borders on an evil word for many who sit in front of these light emitting monsters. Its one of those things that all photographers know they should do, but take the guilt over the trauma and complexity of color profiling and monitor calibration. Well, to replay the mantra one more time, yes, you…
The pursuit of northern lights photography led me to the purchase of Canon’s 24mm 1.4L, and the following updated version II of the same lens. My comments are derived from experience with this lens in the field and are not a comprehensive review by any measure. Here is what Canon has to say about this…