Super detailed introduction to Antarctic photography

Antarctica is unfamiliar to most people because of its extremely harsh climate and its remoteness from the mainland. Going to Antarctica requires a lot of time, energy and money, so if you are lucky enough to go to Antarctica, how to take photos becomes the first consideration. Below is a detailed tutorial on taking photos in Antarctica.

Antarctica is the last continent discovered on Earth and the only continent without indigenous inhabitants and human settlement. It is completely covered by huge glaciers, with an average altitude of 2,350 meters.

Antarctica and the surrounding islands make up Antarctica, covering an area of ??about 14 million square kilometers; generally speaking, "Antarctica" refers to the area south of 60 south latitude stipulated in the "Antarctic Treaty", including Antarctica and surrounding waters , with a total area of ??approximately 52 million square kilometers.

Antarctica is the farthest place on earth from us. With its magnificent natural landscape and unique wildlife, it is an attractive destination for photographers. With the increase in charter flights from Chinese travel companies, more and more photography enthusiasts are beginning to list Antarctica as their destination. So, how to plan your Antarctic shoot? How to seize this rare opportunity?

1. Travel time and route selection

The winter and summer in Antarctica are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere. The suitable travel season is from November to March of the following year, which can be divided into three distinct time periods.

(1) November to mid-December: In Antarctic spring, you can see big icebergs, and penguins and other birds begin courting; at this time, the weather is good and prices are relatively cheap. However, because the ice has not completely melted, the locations that can be reached are limited.

(2) Mid-December to mid-February: Antarctic summer, with high temperatures, long sunshine hours, active animals, and many places with conditions to land. The highest number of tourists and higher prices.

(3) Mid-February to mid-March: At the end of Antarctic summer, the temperature is getting lower and lower, and the penguin chicks begin to molt in preparation for the winter. This is the most active period for whales, and travel prices are moderate.

Currently, the area available for regular travel in Antarctica accounts for only 3% of the total area, mainly concentrated near West Antarctica. There are two main routes - the Antarctic Peninsula and the three Antarctic islands.

There are relatively few other routes, such as a trip to Antarctica, which requires flying and costs several times that of regular travel.

Antarctic Peninsula Tour: A very classic and efficient route, usually starting from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world in Argentina, or Punta Arenas in Chile. After passing through the Drake Passage, we reach the South Shetland Islands (the location of the Great Wall of China Research Station) and the Antarctic Peninsula. During this time it cruised and made landfall along the coast before returning via the Drake Passage.

This route can enjoy the representative scenery of Antarctica, come into contact with penguins, seals, whales and other wild animals, and save time. It usually takes about 15-17 days from domestic departure to return, which is very suitable for lovers of exploring Antarctic scenery.

Antarctic three-island tour route example

Antarctic three-island tour: Generally starting from Ushuaia, based on the peninsula tour, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands are added. There are a large number of penguins, seals and other wild animals on these two islands, allowing you to enjoy more abundant flora and fauna, special scenery and Antarctic adventure sites. The total time required generally takes 23-25 ??days, and the cost is relatively high. I hope they have enough time.

2. Shooting method

During the Antarctic trip, the main life and activities will be carried out on the cruise ship. The open-air deck of the cruise ship itself is a very good viewing and shooting platform, where you can enjoy the view of the bay and icebergs, and watch various animals from a distance. Occasionally seals and penguins drift past the ship's side. If you're lucky, you may even see whales on board.

[Sunset shot on the outer deck of the 9th floor]

Generally, cruise ships have outer decks of different heights for shooting. For example, the "Midnight Sun" we shot had outer decks on the 6th and 9th floors. The higher position has a better view and can better show the entire scenery, while the lower deck is suitable for photographing wildlife close to the water.

In fact, shooting on a cruise ship can be said to be very comfortable and even luxurious for photographers like us. We don’t need to carry big bags over mountains and sleep in the wind. When the light is good, it only takes two minutes to rush from the room to the deck.

[Assault Boat Cruise]

If you want to get closer to the Antarctic, you must take an assault boat cruise to land.

Cruising is to take a Zodiac boat to travel around the waters near the cruise ship. Generally, we choose areas with good scenery and many wild animals. The time is 1-2 hours, during which you can shoot on the assault boat, but the space is limited.

Landing, that is, taking a Zodiac to a nearby island or the Antarctic continent, where you can get up close and personal with penguins and other wild animals. The expedition team members are required to survey in advance, plan the route, and display signs of the activity range. The landing process is also carried out under the command of the expedition team and generally takes 1-2 hours. You can take pictures with a tripod.

Cruise ships also often offer additional activities, some of which require an additional fee, such as snow hiking, kayaking, etc. One of the most recommended is the photo cruise, where a photographer stationed on the boat leads a kayak cruise. Because photographers will look for more valuable targets and give suggestions, they are more suitable for photography than ordinary cruises.

Three. Equipment Selection

What kind of equipment do you need to bring to take satisfactory photos in Antarctica?

Antarctica has vast scenes, and the chance of using a telephoto lens is much greater than that of a wide-angle lens, while penguins, seals, whales, albatrosses and other wild animals mostly appear in the distance. At this time, the focal length of 70mm-200mm is somewhat out of reach. It is recommended to bring a 400mm telephoto zoom lens. For example, EF100-400mmf/4.5-5.6LISIIUSM is the most common lens on cruise ships. A dedicated photographer among our colleagues even brought a 600mm telephoto lens and carried it with him at all times. He even attached a 2x lens and used a 1200mm focal length to capture the whale in the distance.

In addition to leisurely shooting on the deck, the pace of cruising and landing shooting is relatively fast, especially when the ship is bumping in the waves, shooting opportunities may appear at any time. At this time, it will be difficult to replace the lenses if possible. Therefore, a lens with a large zoom ratio is very suitable for cruising and landing photography, such as 28mm-300mm or similar focal lengths.

If you want to have a wider focal length coverage and have higher image quality requirements, you can prepare two bodies with wide-angle and telephoto lenses respectively. This time I brought an EOS5DMarkIV to take into account both 4K video and photo shooting. Can give full play to the advantages of high pixels. Usually the two lenses are EF11-24mmf/4LUSM and 100-400mm lens. In addition, I prepared a 20mm and 50mm large aperture focusing head for photographing people and celebrities.

Because you often have to capture photos in motion and bumps, the focusing ability of the camera and lens is particularly important, which can help you better track targets and capture wonderful moments. Likewise, image stabilization is valuable. Wildlife is an important photographic content in Antarctica. Their appearance and movements are unpredictable to some extent, which also requires equipment with better focusing capabilities and high-speed continuous shooting capabilities. The Canon 5D4 performed exactly as expected.

High-speed continuous shooting is helpful for capturing action

To sum up, if it is for photography purposes, it is recommended to carry at least two bodies, one main body and one spare body, as well as a telephoto Heavy focus lens combination. A stable tripod is also required. At the same time, carry as many memory cards as possible, as well as laptops and mobile hard drives for backup, as many scenarios may only be encountered once in a lifetime. At this time, don’t be stingy with the shutter. Storage is already cheap compared to the trip itself. During my two-hour photography cruise, I took thousands of photos. While in Antarctica, the amount of data captured every day was around 150-200G, with videos and images accounting for half each.

Be careful to protect your equipment during the trip. Antarctica is very clean with very little dust, but seawater is highly corrosive to photographic equipment. If the equipment is splashed by sea water, it should be cleaned immediately.

Four. Shooting Suggestions

Because we often need to capture photos in motion and turbulence, the targets we shoot are also in motion. At this time, in order to ensure the clarity of the image, a high-speed shutter is recommended. It is recommended to use shutter priority mode and set the sensitivity to automatic, or in aperture priority mode, increase the upper limit of the automatic sensitivity (I set for ISO400). In general, the Antarctic landscape is not very contrasting. While increasing the sensitivity has an impact on tolerance and noise, it's worth it to get a sharp image.

The camera should also be set to high-speed continuous shooting and the fastest way to adjust the focus point.

The rate of sunny days in Antarctica is very low, and continuous cloudy days are common. Be prepared to shoot under cloudy skies, the sun may appear at any time. When encountering wonderful light, be sure to seize the opportunity to take more photos.

Search more, observe more, and shoot more: Antarctic scenes are very rich, which will test everyone’s observation ability. There is no need to conform to others. Pay attention to the opposite direction. At the distance of sight, there may be unexpected gains, and every image from different angles may be unique.

Use contrast to express scale: Antarctica is so vast that it is easy to lose the sense of scale. At this time, place some familiar objects in the picture, such as people, boats, etc. It will highlight the sense of scale.

In addition, be sure to ensure that the device is in shooting mode at all times: including battery, memory card, focus settings, etc. And wonderful pictures may appear at any time. One time a whale suddenly appeared next to the boat. My memory card was full at the time, so I had to take pictures and delete them at the same time. Very embarrassing.

Fifth, ensure the security of photos

Daily backup and maintenance: During the Antarctic period, I set a rule for myself, and every day I had to ensure that the data taken that day was stored in the Back up the card to a portable hard drive, even in the throes of seasickness. And I prepared two mobile hard drives for double backup. On the return flight, the two hard drives were stored in different luggage to maximize data security.

This is not unfounded worry. The energy invested in data backup can avoid "missteps that will lead to eternal regrets". Many people suffered data loss on this trip, and some had their memory cards damaged or lost on the ship. One group member even lost his camera as soon as he got off the plane in China. The memory card filled with all the pictures from the trip also disappeared with the camera. This may be a greater loss than money.

"If Antarctica is music, it must be Mozart; art, must be Michelangelo;

It is literature. It must be Shakespeare. And, it must be greater than these. Existence. “I hope photographer friends can set foot on the Antarctic and use their own lenses to show these greatest existences.