In part one of this series of articles on choosing an expedition to Antarctica we looked at the option of choosing either a fly or sail expedition. This critical decision will have a huge impact on both your wallet and your overall Antarctic expedition experience. In this second part of the series we are going to look at what you need to know about choosing a ship suitable for your needs if you have made the decision to sail to Antarctica. If you have made the decision to fly then you will likely already have chosen an operator (there are not many to choose from).
The first and most important consideration when you are investigating the multitude of ship options for sailing to Antarctica is how many passengers does the ship take. This very critical piece of information is going to have very significant impact on how much shore time you can expect whilst you are in Antarctica and what sort of photographic opportunities you can expect. Before we discuss this in further detail it is important to understand that the IATTO (International Antarctica Treaty Organisation) body is responsible for the protection of Antarctica and managing tourism to the continent. Their regulations are continually being refined, expanded and updated. The critical regulation you need to consider when choosing your ship is the maximum number of passengers permitted to land on Antarctica at any given point in time is limited to no more than 100 people (including ships expedition staff). Therefore, if you choose a ship that carries 100 passengers or more you will be forced to wait your turn and rotate on landings in order for the expedition company to comply with IATTO restrictions (they will make no exceptions to this rule). This will be extremely frustrating having travelled all the way to Antarctica and being made to wait your turn. You may well miss landings (in fact you will), miss wildlife opportunities and miss the best light of the day as you sit with increasing impatience waiting for your turn.
My recommendation is therefore that you choose a ship with as fewer passengers as possible. Anything less than 100 is acceptable with something around fifty or less being ideal in my experience. In fact, the fewer the better – period. Keep in mind that fewer passengers also decreases the potential for other guests walking into your photographs during landings. Note if you are considering a very small sailing vessel for your expedition then the total number of passengers will already be very small.
Once you have made the decision to choose a ship that carries fewer than 100 passengers the next thing I recommend you check with your expedition company is what ice class the ship has been rated. You want to make sure that your chosen vessel is capable of going into broken sea ice and that it is able to push ice out of the way. This is going to ensure that you can get nice and close to icebergs for the best photo opportunities and that you can get into ice filled bays and coves that other ships simply cant access. There is an important distinction between an ice breaker and being ice hardened. You are unlikely to find an ice breaker for your expedition as such ships are usually reserved for commercial operations and are far from comfortable for crossing the Drake (they roll and wallow in high seas because of their hull design). Instead you want to select a ship that is rated ice class 1. Ice Class 1 is the next class down from an icebreaker and ships with this rating are capable of pushing not insignificant pieces of ice out of their way. I have quite literally driven one of these ice hardened ships into the pack ice; parked it, and got out and walked on the frozen sea. That is an experience not to be missed.
A word on ship stabilisers. Some expedition companies market the fact that their ship has stabilisers to help keep it from rolling around too much as you cross the Drake passage. Whilst stabilisers can and do make a difference to ship movement you should be aware that ships equiped with outboard stabilisers are usually not suitable for use in the ice. Stabilisers are easily damaged by large pieces of ice so the captains of these ships are usually going to avoid taking the ship into the ice or too close to icebergs. Therefore I recommend you avoid ships that are sold and marketed as being ‘stabilised’.
Once you have chosen a suitable ice class ship that carries fewer than 100 passengers the next thing you need to ensure is that the ship has sufficient zodiacs (small rubber boats that you will use for cruising and landing in Antarctica) for all passengers to be transported at the same time. On average you can comfortably accomodate up to ten photographers (8 is better) on a Mark V Zodiac and still have sufficient room to comfortably photograph. Therefore a fifty passenger boat is going to need not loss than five (and preferably six) zodiacs. Ships will always want to keep one zodiac in reserve for safety purposes so always bank on the total number of zodiacs on the ship being one less than advertised. The number of zodiacs available for operations is as important to your photographic experience as the total number of ships passengers and the ships ice class rating.
A not insignificant consideration in choosing a vessel is the amount of deck space available on the ship for photographers. You are going to be sharing this vessel with up to one hundred (or possibly more) other photographers who are all going to be jockeying for the best position to make photographs during your expedition. Find out if there is an open bridge policy and if you can venture out onto to the bow and stern of the ship for photography when it is safe to do so (many ships have closed bow policies and forbid passengers to access this area of the ship). Ask your expedition company about the places on the ship you can and cannot go so that you have a good understanding of exactly how much space you will have available. If possible, try and obtain a deck plan for the ship so that you can analyse potential shooting locations. Don’t underestimate the importance or manoeuvrability on board the ship for photography. When the ship is under steam and you are passing icebergs you need to have ample deck space and to be able to move quickly to obtain the best angles.
One thing you should be acutely on the look out for is generic expeditions that offer a photographic component as part of their overall program; or expeditions that comprise in the majority of general tourists with what is marketed as an additional small dedicated photography group that plans to co-exist on the same ship. These expeditions are disasters for photographers who are dedicated to their work and who want to achieve the best possible photographs. Any expedition that comprises in the majority of general tourists will first and foremost have to cater to this majority (and not the much smaller group of photographers). Such groups will not be able to rearrange their schedule to suit the best light for photography and will not be able to suitably serve the needs of the dedicated photographers. I can tell you from experience that these sort of expeditions are incredibly frustrating as you are forced to photograph during midday landings in harsh light in order to meet the standard meal times when the light would be optimum for photography. If photography is your primary goal avoid any sort of mixed expedition at all costs.
You should also do your research on your expedition leader and photographic leader. Try and find out what sort of experience they have working in Antarctica. It is of critical importance that your expedition leader have experience working with photographers and that they understand the needs and requirements of photographers looking to capture stunning images in the best light of the day. The expedition leader is in charge of daily operations and therefore is going to make all of the decisions pertaining to shore landings and zodiac cruises. If those operations are planned for midday light to accomodate standard meal times you can expect a very poor experience from a photographic perspective. You absolutely must have an expedition leader who is willing to shift meal times to ensure you are out in the best light of the day. Typically in Antarctica this is very early in the morning and very late in the evening. It is the responsibility of your photographic leader to liaise with the expedition leader to ensure you get the best opportunities.
It is not uncommon for photography guides to have little to zero real world Antarctic experience. Such guides should generally be avoided as they are likely to be far more interested in their own photography than in helping you or others on the expedition. If possible, try and select an expedition that includes a photography guide who specialises in polar photography or who otherwise has significant experience operating in Antarctica. Such guides know what to look for in terms of subject and know how to position a zodiac for the best backgrounds and to take advantage of prevailing light. Such leaders also know how to liaise with expedition leaders to deliver the opportunities you would otherwise miss.
The photographic leader and expedition leader you choose are going to have as much bearing on the success of your expedition as the ship you choose to travel on. They are critical elements to your success that should not be overlooked. In fact, you should equally weight your leader and ship choice for any expedition to Antarctica.
In part three of this series we are going to look at the very important decision of what time of year you should travel to Antarctica in order to achieve your desired outcomes.
My gear pick of the year for 2016 is split this year between the outstanding Canon EOS 1DX MKII and the brand new 
In 2016 I was extremely honoured to be asked to join the 
2016 was also the biggest year yet for me both with destinations visited and sheer number of international miles travelled. 2016 also marked my first visit to the Lofoten Islands in Norway; a location I am very much looking forward to returning to in 2018 (details to be released soon). I have no idea how many actual miles I covered in 2016 in total, how many aeroplanes I boarded, how many times I went through airport security or how many tens of hours I spent waiting around in airports for connecting flights, but it was an awful lot. 2017 is shaping up to be an equally hectic year and I am trying to work through as much office work as possible in the next two weeks before I board the next plane in mid January.
After Antarctica I returned to the extreme northwest of Iceland and finished the work on my Arctic Fox Project. This personal project spanned three years of winter photography in Iceland and was published as the Limited Edition book 
After Iceland I travelled to Lofoten to lead a brand new winter workshop to these spectacular islands (
After Lofoten I travelled to Namibia where I lead a 
After Namibia, I ran my annual two week New Zealand South Island workshop which saw us circumnavigate the South Island via private 4-wheel drives and that included significant helicopter time over the spectacular southern Alps as well as the Teanu region. We also visited Milford Sound, Queenstown, Fox Glacier, Mount Cook and a great many other off the beaten track locations during the workshop. This year I also included an optional extension to the northern coastline region of the South Island which proved very fruitful for coastal scenery (
After a short break, I then travelled back to Svalbard for my Wild Polar Bears expedition (
In November I lead a brand new expedition to a very remote area of Antarctica to camp with Emperor Penguins on the sea ice in Gould Bay (
After the expedition to the Emperor Penguins I guided one final trip to South Georgia Island and Antarctica – 
2017 is shaping up to be an even bigger year than 2016 in terms of both miles and locations and I am really excited about whats in store. In January I will be heading back to Italy (I was last in Italy back in 2012) to be part of a new television series being filmed about photography that will be screened across Europe next year (more on this later). From Italy I am travelling to Finland on a private project to photograph Great Grey Owls and Hawk Owls (and hopefully Wolverine) in winter. I am really looking forward to this trip as I have not visited Finland before and to be heading there in winter is very exciting. I hope I can also offer this trip as a future workshop at a later date.
After our winter Iceland workshop I am leading a small group of photographers on a sold out expedition to the remote northwest peninsula to photograph Arctic Foxes in winter. This expedition will take us by boat to one of the very the same locations on which I worked on my 
After I finish in the north of Iceland I am heading further north to Svalbard to make a new short film with good friend Abraham Joffe from Untitled Film Works (videographer from Kingdom of the Ice Bear). We have planned a snow mobile expedition out into the frozen winter landscape of Spitzbergen in search of Polar Bears. It is our hope to photograph and film both newborn cubs emerging from their dens and a seal kill on the frozen fjords. Look for this new short movie around the middle of next year.
On return to Longyearbyen I am leading a new sold out winter expedition by ship to photograph both the frozen winter landscape of Svalbard as well as Polar Bears, Reindeer, Arctic Fox and Walrus in winter light. I have been looking forward to this expedition for more than two years now, having conducted a scouting trip back in 2013. The opportunities in Svalbard at this time of year for golden winter light are truly superb.
In May I am going to make the short hop across to the South Island of New Zealand to co-lead a 
After New Zealand I will lead a private workshop to the Great Ocean road in Australia and then down to Tasmania for photography down both the east and west coasts. Look for a future photography, food and wine workshop to Tasmania in 2018.
In July I will head back to Svalbard to lead my Polar Bears of Svalbard Expedition. We will depart from the small town of Longyearbyen and sail up to the edge of the permanent pack ice where we will spend out time searching for and photographing the king of the Arctic.
In September I am travelling to the east coast of Greenland with Daniel Bergmann for two new back-back expeditions into the spectacular Scoresby Sund fjord system. Home to some of the most extraordinary geology to be found on earth, the red and orange glacial scarred landscape of Greenland stands in stark contrast to the electric blue icebergs that carve off its many glaciers and drift slowly down its precipitous fjords. It is a remote land of untamed and unbridled beauty that is rarely visited and even less rarely photographed. It is an incredible place to inspire the imagination and fuel your photographic desires.
Finally in November I am heading back to 
Amongst all of the above I hope to get back to Greenland in Winter after my Svalbard expeditions (we will see if time permits) to photograph with the Arctic Arts group.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 