Departing for Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard 2014 Workshops and Expeditions

Posted in Arctic, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Workshops and Expeditions4 Comments

This is my last post for a while as I will be piling  into the taxi shortly and heading to the airport to make my way to Iceland for my 2014 back-to-back Ultimate Iceland workshops. I have been looking forward to these two workshops for some time as we are circumnavigating the island during both these tours and taking in a great many of its incredible locations. I am particularly looking forward to returning to Dettifoss and Selfoss waterfalls as well as well as the geothermal highland regions of Landmannalaugar and Vedivotn. Both of these areas are more or less inaccessible in winter and both are two of my favourite areas for photography in Iceland. We will have hours of golden light under the midnight sun which is going to give us lots of opportunities to make incredible images in this amazing country.At the conclusion of these two Iceland workshops I will be boarding the expedition ship Polar Pioneer and sailing to Greenland and Svalbard on the Jewels of the Arctic Expeditions. Greenland and Svalbard offer incredible opportunities and the high Arctic is a breathtaking landscape to experience and explore and I am very much looking forward to returning. You can read a report on last years Jewels of the Arctic expedition HERE. Peter Eastway who accompanied me as my co-leader also had a Feature Article in Better Photography magazine on this exciting adventure. We are looking forward to monolithic icebergs, glaciers, towering mountains that guard the fjords and with a little luck we will see and photograph the King of the Arctic – the Polar Bear. If you are interested in photographing Polar Bears then Daniel Bergmann and I are running an expedition for just twelve photographers in August next year dedicated to photographing the King of the Arctic. You can read more about that expedition HERE. Places are now very limited.

I usually make a dedicated post on what equipment I am taking with me on each trip but I have just not had time over the last few weeks so am including it here: The Canon 1DX will remain my primary camera of choice for these trips. I will also carry a back up Canon 1DS MK3 and a couple of spare batteries so that I can shoot with both cameras when on ship and zodiac in the Arctic. Experience has shown me that I can pretty much go an entire day without a battery change but I like to have spares on hand just in case. I have long pondered the idea of taking a camera with more mega pixels with me (particularly for Iceland) but I have ultimately decided that the quality of the pixels in the 1DX are more than good enough for my requirements. I have been making really wonderful 20 x 30 and 40 x 60 inch prints from Canon 1DX files and have now sold quite a lot of large prints made with images taken with the 1DX. The 1DSMK3 is somewhat long in the tooth these days, but it still makes excellent photographs at low ISO and in its rugged 1-seris body its the ideal 2nd body for photography in the Arctic regions.

In terms of new equipment for these trips I am taking the new Canon 16-35mm F4L IS lens and am looking forward to shooting with this lens from ship and zodiac in the Arctic. Canon has long needed a high quality wide angle zoom and the new 16-35mm F4L IS lens has finally plugged that gap. You can read my thoughts on Canon’s current lens line-up HERE.

Gura Gear Bataflae 32L: (carry on luggage – Believe it or not this does all fit in the one camera bag!)

  • Canon EOS 1DX Pro Body Camera
  • Canon EOS 1DS MK3 Pro Body Camera
  • Canon 17mm F4L TSE Lens
  • Canon 24mm F3.5L TSE MKII Lens
  • Canon 16-35mm F4L IS Lens
  • Canon 24-70mm F2.8L MKII Lens (The MKII version of this lens is an amazing piece of glass)
  • Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS MKII Lens
  • Canon 600mm F4L IS MKII Lens
  • 2 x Spare Batteries for the 1DX and 1DS MK3
  • Canon 1.4 TC MKIII Tele-Extender
  • Leica Ultra-Vid HD Binoculars
  • Cable Release and Bubble Level
  • Assorted CF and SD Cards totalling around 100 Gigabytes
  • Rocket Blower and Dust Cleaning paraphernalia
  • Complete LEE Foundation and Filter Kit with Soft and Hard ND Graduated filters and LEE Polariser – includes LEE adapter for the Canon 17mm TSE Lens

I am carrying the two TSE lenses specifically for landscape photography in Iceland. I expect to use the new Canon 16-35mm F4L IS when on my Jewels of the Arctic expedition when shooting from ship and zodiac. I am primarily carrying the 600m and 200-400mm lenses for Polar Bears and other wildlife in the Arctic, but also intend to use them to photograph birds at Jökulsarlon in Iceland.

Gura Gear Chobe Bag: (carry on luggage)

  • 15″ Macbook Pro with Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6 with the Nik Plugin suite
  • MacBook Power Adapter
  • Canon 200-400mm F4L IS Lens with inbuilt 1.4 TC (Watch the Unboxing Video) This lens ‘just’ fits inside the Chobe!
  • 1 x LACIE Thunderbolt External 1TB Hard Drive for in the field Back Up.
  • Various Power Adapters / Chargers and Associated Cables
  • Canon 1DX / 1DS MK3 Battery  Charger
  • iPad Mini (e-books and movies for the long flights)
  • USB CF and SD Card reader
  • Passport / iPhone / Wallet
  • Astell and Kern AK100 MK2 High Definition Portable Audio Player & Inner Ear Stage 2 Driver Headphones
  • A lot of these items I store inside Gura Gear Etcetera cases inside the Chobe. (These cases are fabulous for organising accessories)

North Face Thunder Rolling Duffle: (checked luggage)

  • Arctic Sport Muck Boots
  • 66º North Wet and Cold Weather Outer Shells
  • Arc’teryx Kappa and Atom LT Jackets
  • Devold Expedition Base Layers
  • Mid Layers – Trekking Pants and Tops
  • Light Weight Long Sleeve Shirts for Namibia
  • Gloves and Hat
  • Miscellaneous clothes
  • Personal items and toiletries – including Sunscreen

Tripod: (checked luggage)

  • Really Right TVC24L Tripod
  • Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head
  • Really Right Stuff Tripod Spikes (For mossy ground and rock claws for ice and rock)
  • Jobo Jnr. Deluxe Gimbal Head with Really Right Stuff Dovetail Base Plate

I am going to do my best as always to update my blog whilst I am away; but posts may be somewhat sporadic, particularly when I am at sea in the Arctic. For now, I have nearly thirty six hours of travel ahead of me and it’s time to make a start. See you in Iceland.

Kingdom of the Ice Bear Expedition : August 20 – August 30 2015

Posted in Arctic, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Wildlife Photographs, Workshops and Expeditions1 Comment

Icelandic Nature Photographer and good friend, Daniel Bergmamn and I are very excited to announce a new expedition to the very edge of the permanent pack ice north of Svalbard to photograph Polar Bears living and hunting on the sea ice – The Kingdom of the Ice Bear.The High Arctic is a place to inspire the imagination. Nowhere is it more accessible than the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, located deep within the Arctic Circle. With the reduction in Arctic sea ice the Polar Bears in Svalbard are dwindling in number and the number of years left to photograph them is unfortunately limited. July and August are the ideal times to photograph Polar Bears north of Svalbard due to the dwindling ice around the archipelago. We will be photographing Polar Bears under the midnight sun and as such we will work late into the evening when the light is best. We are highly manoeuvrable on our small ship and our experienced captain and expedition leader will place us in the best possible position for photographing the bears we encounter.

The expedition is for a strictly limited number of just 12 participants plus leaders and is dedicated to the photography of Polar Bears living and hunting on the sea ice. Our intention is to sail directly north from the small town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard to approximately 80 degrees North to the very edge of the permanent pack ice. At our northerly most point we will likely be less than 600 miles from the North Pole. We will be using the ice hardened expedition ship M.S Malmo (the sister ship to M.S Origo) which will enable us to skirt the edge of the pack ice searching for and photographing Polar Bears. M.S Malmo and M.S Origo are widely regarded as the best ships in the Arctic for Polar Bear Photography. With low decks and operable portholes a mere 50cm above the water line we can photograph at eye level with wild Polar Bears. Our expedition ship is also equipped with sufficient zodiacs and crew for all photographers to be shooting simultaneously with plenty of room to spare for camera equipment  – So bring what you need!
On this expedition we will also search for walrus, arctic fox and other wildlife of the region including the rare and angelic Ivory Gull. Dramatic glaciers, plunging cliffs and beautiful drift ice formations will be present as well. To get an idea of the sort of wildlife photographs you can take on this expedition please visit the Svalbard portfolio at www.jholko.com
If you are excited by the idea of travelling to the edge of the permanent pack ice to photograph Polar Bears in their natural environment with a small group of dedicated photographers now is the time to register your place. The first expedition Wild Polar Bears sold out in just two days. Due to the waiting list for this expedition and preliminary bookings there are only six places remaining on this new expedition before it will be sold out. You can download a detailed itinerary and PDF information flyer HERE. Please contact me if you would like additional information.

Photo of the Month July 2014: Ghost Forest Namibia

Posted in Africa, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel PhotographyLeave a comment

My photograph of the month for July is from the desert of Namibia in Africa. I shot this image on my recent overland Safari workshop by the roadside at Sossasvlei late in the afternoon. I recall being instantly drawn to the incredible texture and folds in the giant red sand dune juxtaposed against the fossilised dead trees.  I was fortunate to also have some wonderful afternoon light and blowing sand to add atmosphere. This is one of my favourite photographs from my recent trip to Namibia. I used the Canon 200-400mm F4L IS Lens with inbuilt 1.4 Teleconverter at 1/400th of a second at ISO200 on the Canon 1DX.

Elected to the AIPP Victorian State Council – 2014

Posted in Media, News and UpdatesLeave a comment

I was honoured this week to be elected for the second year in a row to the Victorian State Council of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP). Serving on the Victorian council is a privilege and I am looking forward to working with my fellow council and Victorian members over the coming year. The AIPP have some very exciting events coming up over the coming months and the council has some great plans to continually improve it’s events and membership return on investment. It is an exciting time to be continuing with the council and I am looking forward to the year ahead. If you are considering joining the AIPP I would strongly encourage you to attend one of the upcoming events and get involved in the peak Australian body for Photography.