Antarctica – Just Getting There (And Back!)

Posted in Antarctica, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized4 Comments

Antarctica is now less than nine months away and I am already starting to seriously think about what to take with me in the way of equipment as well as how to plan for the trip. Outside of the obvious must take items such as warm clothes, layers of goretex, dramamine, ipod, camera gear and gigabytes of storage just how does one plan for such a trip?

Logistically just getting to Antarctica from Melbourne Australia is no small feat. Getting there involves a flight to Sydney to catch a connecting plane to Buenos Aires in South America (around 20 hours of flying). From Buenos Aires one catches another flight to Ushuaia at the very bottom tip of South America – a roughly three and a half hour flight. From Ushuaia its two days steam aboard an Antarctica cruise ship across one of the roughest stretches of water in the world – the notorious Drake Passage. Add all that up and its a whopping 72+ hour journey not including airport waiting around time and layovers. With waiting around time its well over 80 hours. And that is just way to much time to be on the move. Of course it would be possible to get some sleep amongst all of that travel – but I don’t much like the idea of trying to get over jet lag on a ship being tossed about in huge seas. Especially not when finally arriving in Antarctica sleep is going to be hard to come by with so much to see and photograph. I learned somewhat the hard way on my travels to Iceland last year the value of layover time to rest and recuperate – I wont underestimate its importance again.

In order to make this a manageable endeavour I am going to stay a few days in Buenos Aires and meet up with my friend Martyn with whom I photographed in Iceland last year. A few days in B/A should help break up the trip and provide a little time to soak up some local atmosphere and explore some photographic possibilities. This will be my first time to South America and I am looking forward to it very much.

After three days in Buenos Aires Martyn and I are flying to Ushuaia where we will spend another couple of days exploring the small town and local surroundings before we board the ship for Antarctica. I am hoping that all of this additional time will be sufficient to overcome any jet lag and inevitable travel weariness, since we will be spending huge amounts of time awake once in Antarctica. In fact, sleep will most definitely not be on my agenda whilst we are cruising the Antarctic shoreline, so it is of paramount importance to arrive rested and ready to photograph for long periods of time during the long Antarctic twilight hours.

I have read voraciously and watched as many documentaries as I can get my hands on about photography in Antarctica. I like to research my travel destinations extensively before I arrive so that upon arrival I know where to go and what to do. This time however, much is out of my hands as we will be cruising along the peninsula with occasional zodiac landings when possible. And that makes things very difficult to formulate a plan. Unlike Iceland where I could plan to go and photograph Dettifoss and spend time there in Antarctica the target is moving. Or rather I will be moving past the target. To this end I believe the best approach is going to be to take and heed the advice of photographers who have gone before me. Listening to what they took with them in the way of cameras and lenses and what did and didn’t work for them is probably going to be the most valuable advice for a successful expedition. This is something I am curently researching and will continue to do so up until I leave in November.

The return trip post Antarctica will see a rapid departure from Ushuaia lunchtime the day we dock for Buenos Aires. I will them have to spend a couple of days in B/A waiting for a connecting flight to Sydney and then back onto Melbourne and home.I feel very privileged to be visiting one of the earth’s last true wild places. It has been a boy hood dream to visit Antarctica and it should be quite the adventure. I cant wait…

Playing Favourites : Icebergs

Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized2 Comments

Without a doubt my favourite two subjects for landscape photography are Icebergs and Glaciers; and this photograph from the Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon in Iceland last year has both. Icebergs have a magical ethereal quality that I find extremely appealing and photogenic. I made a special effort whilst in Iceland to spend extra time at the lagoon so that I could photograph the many icebergs that have carved off the Vatnajokull glacier. There is great beauty in icebergs – each one a unique sculpture by nature and I am very much looking forward to more iceberg photography later this year in Antarctica.

The combination of Ice and fog is truly magical and I was lucky enough to experience this wonderful combination on a couple of occasions during my visit. A fog was building on the glacier in the distance and began it’s slow roll down to the lagoon as I took this photograph shortly before sunset at 10:30pm. By sunset conditions had deteriorated and I headed back to my accommodation to grab a couple of hours sleep before sunrise.

Birth of a Rainbow – Landmannalaugar Iceland

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Rainbows are just about one of the most interesting atmospheric phenomena a landscape and nature photographer can hope to capture when out making images in the wilderness. They usually form at the ‘edges of weather’ and are almost a guarantee of great light. The combination of arctic sunset light and passing rain showers at Landmannalaugar provided a wonderful opportunity for me to capture some stunning light at the beginning/end of a rainbow. The combination of soft whimsical light, rainbow and volcanic landscape has an ethereal other world quality that is quite evocative. Landmannalaugar is one of my favourite locations in Iceland and I am very much looking forward to going back – Sooner rather than later.

Wild Magazine Folio February 2011 – Iceland

Posted in Iceland, Landscape Photographs, Media, News and Updates, Photographs, Travel Photography, Uncategorized3 Comments

If you are a subscriber or reader of the excellent Australian outdoor magazine ‘Wild‘ then please look out for a four page photographic folio of my photography from Iceland in the new and current February 2011 edition – Issue 122 Titled: Land of Fire and Ice. It is a great personal thrill for me to have my work published in Wild as both Wild and its sister publication ‘Rock‘ were two of my favourite magazines as a young ‘whipper-snapper’ rock climber.  This folio contains some of my favourite photographs from the month I spent in Iceland last year 2010.

Some of the photographs in this portfolio will be on display as Fine Art Prints as part of my new Iceland exhibition beginning this March at at Source Photographica in Melbourne and, at the end of 2011 and most of 2012 at the Wilderness Gallery adjacent to the Cradle Mountain Chateau in Tasmania.

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 – In fact it was Chris who first taught me how to climb on one of the infamous newbie test pieces on Castle Crag Mount Arapiles. I think I was about twelve at the time. 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 last year after a long fight with cancer but ‘Wild’ and ‘Rock’ continues to publish their magazines under new the new ownership of Prime Creative Media.

Cradle Mountain Tasmania – The Ballroom

Posted in Landscape Photographs, News and Updates, Photographs, Tasmania, Travel Photography, UncategorizedLeave a comment

One of the most accessible and easier walks/treks at Cradle Mountain is the 2 hour stroll around Dove Lake at the base of Cradle Mountain. The walk is relatively flat (only a short uphill section – depending on which way you walk it), well sheltered from the weather for most of its length and takes you through an area known as the Ballroom Forest. This very pretty area consisting of mountain streams, old gnarled moss and lichen covered trees and logs is a great location for forest photography – especially when the weather is inclement; as it was for most of my trip. Overcast skies and mist are ideal for this kind of photography. The dark skies help tame the extreme dynamic range of nature. Bright sunlit days just don’t work photographically under a forest canopy. The extremes of light and dark are to great for the cameras sensor to record; and indeed to great for the human eye. Whilst photography in these conditions is still possible through judicious framing and cropping – and even HDR (although I don’t do HDR) I far prefer a thick cloud cover overhead. Overcast days  add an effect I like to refer to as ‘Natures Soft Box’. The extremes of light and dark and gone and the light is softer and more subtle. In overcast conditions the challenge shifts from having to deal with dynamic range to a compositional battle with nature. The photographer is forced to contend with yet another of my favourite photography sayings ‘Nature is inherently Messy’. It takes a good eye, time and patience to make sense of it some times but the results can be very rewarding.