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Topside Photography

Overexpose for white snow/ice if you want it to look white. Don't rely on the camera's evaluative metering if the scene has a lot of white in it. The camera's evaluative metering will set for medium gray so it will shoot a white snow scene with gray tones unless you overexpose to ensure the white snow will be white in your pictures. This depends on how much white snow and ice is in the scene; pay attention to how much white is in the scene. Use spot metering on medium gray somewhere to set the proper exposure if you wish. If there is an abundance of snow/ice in the scene, manually set an overexposure of at least one half stop. Norbert Wu tested and advised overexposing 0.7 stops. Also you might want to take some critical shots overexposed one full stop for security. If the scene has a lot of blue sky and isn't dominated by snow, then the camera's evaluative metering should work okay; however shoot some of those a half stop overexposed for security. I used a UV filter to avoid a blue cast, and to catch wind-blown splash and spray; I didn't want to continually wipe off my lenses. Norbert doesn't use filters.

I found myself shooting mostly wide-angle shots or zooming way in for closeups with a long zoom. Primarily I used a 17-35mm zoom and a 75-300mm image- stabilized zoom which I would also use in conjunction with a teleconverter. I was shooting wildlife mostly which influenced these choices.

Since there is usually an abundance of bright light, one can usually handhold a long telephoto lens and still set a sufficiently fast shutter speed to avoid camera shake or stop the animal action. Except on overcast days, there was plenty of light so the loss in F-stop by using a teleconverter wasn't an issue.

You don't need fast prime long lenses --- there is so much light that slower zooms worked fine and afford some flexibility in composition, etc. On the first trip, Norbert brought a fast 300mm prime lens and it was an unnecessary weight; he didn't bring it on subsequent trips. Mostly Norbert handheld and that's all I did. Of course you can take better pictures with a tripod if you are shooting scenics but with the wind that is usually present, it won't help unless you have a heavy tripod with a strong camera mount. Set a fast shutter speed when shooting from a helicopter or on board a ship. If you are taking wide-angle pictures of a glacial cliff or something really big, shoot some of your pictures with a human near its base to give the photo some scale.

For closer subjects, shoot with fill flash in bright sunlight to bring out more detail in the shadows. Shooting in such strong light is a problem so a fill flash is helpful for outdoor shooting of closer people, wildlife, etc. We carried everything in Lowepro fanny packs or Lowepro backpacks; these really worked great, carried the load well, kept snow out, and cushioned our gear from the inevitable bumps. For slide film shooting, we used a lot of Fujichrome Sensia 100, and Norbert also used Fuji Velvia and Kodak Ektachrome.

Our cameras worked fine in the cold. We used lithium batteries or nicad rechargeables -- do not use alkaline batteries since they don't last long in the cold. We had cameras out when using them or put them away when they weren't used. Don't take your camera between temperature extremes. Don't take it inside to a warm hut and then outside to the cold. Leave it outside in a cooler but not a freezing area if you intend to dash in and out taking pictures. The biggest problem is like the tropics -- going from cold back into warmth and then expecting to take a picture right away -- the lens gets condensation.

I used REI Windbloc Glomitts, finger/mitten convertible mittens, to allow me to expose bare fingertips to operate camera dials, settings, etc when I needed manual dexterity. These mittens easily convert to fingerless glove by folding a fingertip cover back over the knuckles and securing it in place with Velcro® tabs. You really need your fingertips sometimes and you don't want to remove an entire glove just to use your fingertips. You should wear these inside an outer water/snow proof shell when you aren't shooting. Norbert used the Lowepro Photo Gloves and really loved them; he wore them constantly and raved about them.

The above advice can be subject to discussion since mileage will vary among photographers. The bottom line is to shoot liberally, taking more pictures than you ordinarily would, and vary the exposure and other parameters. Shooting black and white penguins in the sunlight surrounded by a snowy scene requires that you vary your exposure to ensure you get the shots you want. Use your brain, evaluate what you are seeing, and don't totally rely on the camera's automatic settings. Shoot liberally for security since you may not have another chance to get it right.

Several of the Antarctic recreational dive trip operators offer photography advice as do non-diving Antarctic trip operators; you can link to the diving operators' sites from this site list.

Peter Brueggeman

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Peter Brueggeman.