WILD Magazine Features Antarctica Portfolio

Wild magazine has remained my favourite Australian outdoor adventure magazines over the years and I am very pleased to have a portfolio of my images from Antarctica featured in the current issue. This is the second time WILD have featured a portfolio of my photography. The first was back in February 2011 when they published a series of images from Iceland under the title ‘Fire and Ice‘. This 2nd portfolio of images from my 2011 Antarctica expedition includes some of my favourite images from that trip.If you are interested in joining me on an expedition to Antarctica there are still a couple of spots remaining on the November trip I am leading with my good friend Daniel Bergmann this year. This promises to be a very special and unique expedition. You can download a detailed PDF flyer and itinerary from the Workshops Page on my website or contact me for further information.

FootNote:

Wild magazine was founded and originally owned by Chris Baxter – a well respected climber and outdoorsman in his own right who was largely responsible for a significant portion of the early climbing scene in Australia. I had the privilege of knowing Chris and climbing with him briefly during my youth at both Mount Arapiles and The Grampians. Chris forged many new climbs at both of these world famous locations as well as Mount Buffalo and was a full time character in the Australian climbing scene. Chris subsequently sold Wild due to health issues after building up a very successful publishing company that became the outlet for all things bush walking and climbing related in Australia. Unfortunately  Chris passed away in 2010 after a long fight with cancer but ‘Wild’ and ‘Rock’ continue to be published under new new ownership.

Antarctica Expedition 2013 – Limited Places Available

Daniel Bergmann and I have had a couple of places become available on the Antarctica Photographic Expedition we are leading in November this year. There is one triple share male space remaining, one twin-share and one-twin private place before the trip is sold out.

This has been a trip more than 8 months in the planning and has been designed and structured to provide the very best possible photographic opportunities. It also includes some truly unique features and opportunities that we are really excited about. The expedition is for a strictly limited number of 50 participants plus leaders and expedition guide and will offer an extended period in Antarctica (15 Day / 14 night Expedition). Whilst most trips to Antarctica take 100+ tourists we are capping the trip at a maximum of 50 dedicated photographers in order to ensure the best possible experience and photographic opportunities. We will be using an ice hardened expedition ship with a highly experienced crew in order to ensure we can get as close as possible to big ice and place you in the best locations for making photographs. Our expedition ship the ‘Polar Pioneer’ is equipped with sufficient zodiacs and crew for all photographers to be shooting simultaneously with plenty of room to spare for camera equipment.The expedition departs on the 9th of November 2013 and returns on the 23rd of November 2013 and includes very special access into areas normally restricted to scientific research, as well as taking in amazing locations such as the breathtaking Lemaire Channel, the Gerlache Strait and the surreal geothermal Deception Island, to name but a few. There is a fly return from the Falkland Islands; which avoids the worst of the Drake Passage and allows us more time in Antarctica as well as the opportunity to visit and photograph in the the wildlife rich Falkland Islands. There is also an option to stay on in the Falklands for each person for as long as they wish. Flights run once a week out of the Falklands with LAN Chile.

KEY FEATURES OF THIS EXPEDITION

  • Strictly Limited to a maximum of 50 participants (much smaller than most other trips to Antarctica, more personal space and the ability for everyone to go ashore and work from zodiacs simultaneously)
  • Ice Hardened Expedition Class Ship
  • 15 Day Trip (Most trips are only 10 days), which means more time for photography
  • Access to areas of Antarctica dedicated to scientific research
  • The expedition is dedicated to photography first and foremost; which means we will be spending the maximum amount of time possible shooting from ship, shore and zodiac.
  • Added experience of Wildlife in the Falkland Islands and the ability to stay on after the trip in the Falklands.

Weather dependant there will be the added option to spend a night ashore camping in Antarctica. Should the weather favour us we will select a suitable location at the end of a days photography and head ashore via zodiac where we will make camp. All overnight camping equipment will be provided (including sleeping bags) and all you need to do is to make the decision to either spend the night ashore or on ship. Zodiacs will be kept ready throughout the night in case there is any need to return to ship. Of course if you choose to spend the night camping there will be non-stop opportunities for photography throughout the night. This is a fabulous opportunity to not only tick one of the seven continents but also to spend a night ashore.

In addition high end medium format camera manufacturer Phase One has joined this expedition. Kevin Raber, ex Vice President of Phase One PODAS workshops and now part owner of Luminous Landscape will be joining us for the duration of the expedition and will bringing a number of complete Phase One camera systems for everyone on the expedition to freely try and use throughout the trip. This is a truly extraordinary opportunity for all participants to experience the very best medium format digital system on the market today in what is in all likelyhood the most remote and amazing landscape on the planet. Not only will we be travelling to world class locations such as the geothermal Deception Island, the breathtaking Lemaire channel and the Gerlache Strait; but we will also be making photographs with some of the highest quality camera equipment available today.

To get an idea of the sort of photographs you will be able to take on this expedition please visit the Antarctica portfolio on my website at www.jholko.com You can download a detailed flyer and itinerary HERE .

If you are interested in joining us on what is going to be a unique and wondrous expedition to Antarctica then please drop me an email to secure one of these last remaining places. These last places are secured on a first come, first served basis ad once they are spoken for and booked thats it.

Canon 200-400mm F4L IS w/ 1.4TC Unboxing

I am not normally into ‘unboxing videos’ but I could not help myself this afternoon when I found myself with a few minutes to spare and a large cardboard box containing the new ‘Canon 200-400mm F4L IS USM Lens’. I field tested a prototype of this lens late last year (You can see the Video HERE) and have been eagerly awaiting its official announcement and release in the hopes it would arrive in time for my Arctic workshops this July and August. Thankfully, it was delivered today which gives me a week to test it before I take it to Svalbard and Greenland in search of Polar Bears. So, just for giggles, HERE is my first (and probably last) unboxing video of the new and hotly anticipated Canon 200-400 Lens. In keeping with what seems traditional with unboxing videos – its faceless.

Glacial Details at the Svínafellsjökull Glacier – Iceland

One of the things I love most about photographing glaciers and icebergs is the incredible colour and textural detail to be found in the ice. On my last winter workshop to Iceland earlier this year I made a conscious effort to really focus on the intimate landscape much more than the grand vista and the glaciers were the ideal subject and source of inspiration (as they always are). I have always been attracted to glaciers, but as I spend more and more time with them I find myself drawn more and more by the details and seductive beauty of an ever-changing ice landscape. There is an incredible beauty in glacial ice that is bought about through time, immense pressure and environmental considerations. These intimate photographs from the Svínafellsjökull Glacier in Iceland I feel illustrate the beauty and color to be found in just this single rapidly disappearing glacier in the south of Iceland.If you are interested, I would strongly encourage you to beg, borrow and watch the National Geographic documentary Chasing Ice. This follow up documentary to Extreme Ice documents the catastrophic effect global warming is having on the glaciers across the planet. As someone who regularly spends time in Iceland and the Polar regions I have witnessed first hand the dramatic melting that is underway. The worlds glaciers are not just slowly melting. They are melting at an accelerated rate as global warming speeds the process along. Rates of glacial deflation are at never before seen levels and if we do not act now to curbe the amounts of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere we may well lose these magnificent glacial beasts forever.Higher resolution versions of these and more photographs from Iceland can be seen on my website at www.jholko.com

Gura Gear – Bataflae Around the World

As the cool fall air breaks free of the summer heat, thousands of cocooned Monarch butterflies begin to hatch and ready themselves for their migration journey of roughly 3000 miles (4,828 km). Monarch butterflies are said to have the most highly evolved migration pattern of any species of butterfly on the planet. Every year the Monarchs that are born in the fall set off from as far north as Canada on a long journey to Mexico. Monarchs are truly a butterfly built for traveling. Since its inception, Gura Gear has focused its efforts on photography backpacks for the traveling photographer. The original bag featured a butterfly style opening and after many phases of design, the bag has evolved into what is now the Bataflae. The 26 and 32 litre Bataflae bags still retain the same butterfly style opening capability and are my camera bags of choice for all my photographic needs.

This shouldn’t be news to most of you. So what is the point?

In honor of the obvious influence butterflies have had on the Gura Gear bags, the folks at Gura Gear are sending one camera bag on a Monarch style adventure to as many corners of the globe as possible. A brand new grey 32L Bataflae which has been appropriately named “The Monarch Bataflae“, recently completed its maiden journey in the deserts of Africa with my friend and  professional African wildlife photographer, Andy Biggs. You can follow his travels with the bag on his Google+ page. After an exciting few weeks with Andy, the same bag returned to the Gura Gear head office before winging its way to me down under in preperation for my summer workshops to Iceland, Svalbard and Greenland. In a few days time I will start the long trek to Iceland with The Monarch Bataflae. It will take three flights and over 24 hours of travel to reach Iceland from Australia. Over the next two months it will travel across the Icelandic landscape during my midnight sun summer highlands workshop. I will carry it from the city of Reykjavik to the spectacular Jokulsarlon lagoon, onto the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and into the stunning multi-coloured geothermal highlands of Landmannalaugar. After its sojourn through Iceland the bag will travel with me to Longyearbyen in the Svalbard Archipelago (via Oslo) where I will take it aboard the expedition ship M.S Origo to cruise the Arctic waters around Svalbard in search of Polar Bears and dramatic Arctic landscapes.  It will then board the ice hardened expedition ship Polar Pioneer and cruise the Arctic waters to Greenland to photograph giant icebergs, polar bears, reindeer and carving glaciers. At it’s northerly most point The Monarch Bataflae will be only 600 miles from the North Pole. On my return home in September The Monarch Bataflae will be shipped back to Gura Gear in the USA where a couple more pro photographers will be waiting to take the bag onto more exotic destinations – each one signing the inside of the bag to track it’s journey across the planet. This Monarch Bataflae is going to rack up some serious miles over the coming year and reach some truly wondrous destinations for photography.

Then its Your Turn!

Gura Gear want your help to get the bag to as many places in the world as possible and you are invited to submit an application to participate (applications are now open! Click here to apply.) You will also be able to sign your name inside the bag alongside those pro photographers who have travelled before you and help The Monarch Bataflae complete a truly worldwide migration.

Keep an eye on the Gura Gear blog and their social channels to see when it’s your turn to have a chance to take the bag. Also follow along as each photographer and destination will be highlighted with stories and images from their travels.

Stay tuned for a list of equipment The Monarch Bataflae will be carrying on my two month journey to the Arctic.

Of course, if you can’t wait and need a new camera bag for your next adventure you can order one now from Gura Gear.