Photograph of the Month January 2024 – Ride the Storm

The first photograph of the month for 2024 (January) comes from my recent 2023 Antarctica Return to the White Continent Expedition (Read the Trip Report) and is of a group of Adelie Penguins riding a beautiful iceberg under heavy, overcast skies in the Weddell Sea region of Antarctica. What makes this photograph so evocative is the combination of the soft, heavy clouds, still dark waters and luminesce ice under the water. Of course, the penguins provide the much-needed sense of scale. These sorts of opportunities are the stuff dreams are made of on any Antarctic expedition. Photographed from Zodiac, the illusion of height was created by standing up on the bow box of the Zodiac and using an ultra-wide-angle zoom lens (RF 14-35mm F4L IS) at 14mm held up high over my head. This perspective enhances the glow of the ice under the water and adds a lot of depth to the photograph. This is a technique I have used extensively when photographing icebergs.