Svalbard Kingdom of the Ice Bear Packing and Departure 2022

Tomorrow I will be heading back to Melbourne airport for the long-haul journey up to Oslo and onto Longyearbyen for my 2022 expedition to photograph Polar Bears on the pack ice north of Svalbard. This expedition was originally scheduled to run in 2020, but was subsequently delayed until 2021 and then 2022 due to the COVID pandemic.

It has been a little over two years since I was last in Svalbard in the Arctic summer (I was there in April this year for my Winter expedition – Trip Report) and I am super excited to be returning to the land of the midnight sun and the opportunity to get back to photographing Polar Bears in their natural habitat. I have been watching the sea ice chart with a high degree of interest and am hopeful we will have some incredible encounters during this expedition.

For this expedition, I will be packing the usual assortment of cameras and lenses including 2 x Canon EOS R3 cameras along with my RF 600mm f4L IS, RF 400mm f2.8L IS, RF 70-200mm f2.8L IS, RF 24-105 f4 IS and RF 14-35mm f4 L IS. All of the above fits into a combination of my SKB hard case and Gura Gear Chobe camera bags (just!). Whilst it might seem excessive to travel with both 400mm and 600mm prime lenses, experience has shown me that having both on hand really ensures opportunities can be made the most of. Of all the above lenses, the 14-35mm has actually proved the most versatile to date – offering a do-it-all wide-angle lens for landscape that is incredibly sharp corner to corner. I really fell in love with this lens in Africa, photographing Elephants and Cape Buffalo from the overnight hide (See trip Report). I will also be packing the new Canon RF 85mm f1.2L

I will be offline for the duration of this expedition – from the 6th until the 15th of July. If you contact me during this time please be patient and I will get back to you on my return to Longyearbyen.

If you are interested in photographing Polar Bears in their natural environment – on the pack ice, then I will be offering two expeditions in 2023. Details included below. Just drop me an email for more information or to register your interest. See you in Svalbard in a couple of days.