Today I'm recording a podcast on the Polar Latitudes Antarctica trip. I thought it'd be nice to get together with some of the photographers I brought on the trip to discuss lessons learned. So we'll start with introductions. Barbara Rista, San Francisco. My name is Les Smith. I live in Frederick, Maryland, in the foothills of the Appalachians. Meg Landis, Boston, Massachusetts. I'm Jim Haswell from Tracy, California. Vicki Hibbert, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Lori Holmes from Ottawa, Canada.
And I'm Zen from New York City. So first up, how was everyone's experience? What did you think about the trip? It was great. It was a trip of a lifetime. It was beyond any expectations. The photography opportunities were beyond expectations. I was amazed by the mass quantity of ice that we got to drive through. I didn't think that was going to happen just based on the season that it did. And it was a wonderful experience. I loved seeing penguins and the seals in the wild. That was really something I never imagined I'd get to do.
Nothing prepared me for the vastness of the area and the light and everything was so bright. It was breathtaking. It sounds cliche, but it just was unimaginable. Couldn't have thought of it beforehand. That brings up light. I was told that there would be a lot of light here. We wouldn't need tripods, et cetera. We'll talk about why we brought tripods in a little bit, but there was a significant amount of light.
Even when we were shooting at 1 over 500 or 1 over a thousandth of a second, our ISO was still pushing down at around 100. You guys agree? Yes. So let's talk about the equipment we brought. I brought the Holy Trinity, the 16 to 35, the 24 to 105, and I also brought a very long lens, 100 to 500 millimeters. I felt like I used all of my lenses. What was the most helpful lens for you guys?
I used the telephoto lens. I have a 150 to 600 Sigma lens. That was the lens that I predominantly used. I did use the wide angle a few times, and on one day I used my mid-range 24 to 105, but I had another lens, 70 to 200, which I did not use one bit. So what I brought with me was a 70 to 200 with a 2X telecom that meant I could shoot at 400, but 600 really offers the challenge of a smaller frame and proposition keeping that, but it also reaches further and far too often we found those critters to be pretty far away.
I predominantly used my zoom lens. I found it was great to be able to get close up and see the animals without disturbing them and my wide to capture the immense expanse of snow and ice and water. The lens I used the most was my Sigma 150–600 because we couldn't get that close to the animals. We could only get within about 10 meters of them. I got some really great portrait shots at 500 millimeters or whatever. It was fantastic. I would agree with Dory. I think I used sort of long lens, selfie lens for the majority of the thing, and then probably the ultra wide and the mid range, sort of equally about 30% of the time.
I felt like I used all of my lenses, certainly had use for the 14 millimeter. Actually, mine was 14 to 35. We came into some passages where we were very close to mountains and icebergs where that 14 is very, very helpful. I had a different tactic than a lot of the other people. I actually came with two camera bodies. Originally it was going to be just the backup camera body. Then I found it very helpful to have my 60 to 600 lens on one camera and my 24–105 on the other.
As other people were changing lenses, I was just lifting up my other camera and taking a shot. You know, the previous podcast with Jen Keister, she said she brought two bodies because she didn't want to have to change lenses out, and that's a solid strategy. However, it does add a lot of weight to your bag. What was the most challenging position that we had to shoot in? Quite often we were out on Zodiacs. The animals are far away; as you lift up your 600 millimeter lens, the boat's bouncing up and down. People are shifting their weight in the boat trying to get a better position.
And quite often I had a hard time trying to actually find the object within my frame to get it to be centered. It was very difficult and challenging. Polar Latitudes tries to put us on land twice a day, but it's weather permitting. So if the water is a little bit too rough and they can't land us, what they do is they put us on a Zodiac and take us out for a cruise. So we can't land because it's too rough, which means we're in a Zodiac that's equally rough.
And so what Jim was saying is you're pointing your 600 mil at a penguin, but you're bobbing up and down inside the Zodiac. Yeah, I think it made— it almost made me a better photographer because it was a more challenging situation and, you know, you had to stay focused on the object and where you were and your settings. If the animal started moving, you might need to change shutter speeds or mode. So I feel like it sort of sharpened my skills a bit. I was a little more focused, not exactly what I was shooting, how I was shooting.
I think if you have the opportunity before you come, you get on a boat and shoot some, just to practice under those motion conditions. I think that would be really helpful before you came down here. Had I thought of it, I would have brought knee pads. So kneeling on the bottom of the Zodiac, while it was a stable shooting position, got pretty uncomfortable bouncing up and down on your kneecaps. So if I'd had something to cushion that a little bit, I would have been more comfortable.
In terms of kneeling, when I would kneel, I had a tendency to rest my elbows on the Zodiac. That's not a sound tactic because now you're setting yourself to the motion. Once I freed my elbows and floated, then I had a little better chance of getting my subject in the frame. So one of the reasons why we had to kneel in the Zodiac is that they load the Zodiac up with 10 people, five on each side. If the animals or the thing you want to shoot is, let's say, on the starboard side of the Zodiac, those people had to kneel down so that the people on the port side could stand up and shoot over them.
It wasn't always guaranteed that it'd be on one side or the other. So what Laurie said, having knee pads for Zodiac rides is really important. I actually brought one knee pad because I have a bum knee, but yeah, next time probably two knee pads. What other challenges did you have on the Zodiac? Getting in and out could be a challenge if you're not positioned right or the boat shifts as you're trying to swing your legs over. Take the assistance of the crew; when they offer an arm, take it.
So what about the waterproof bags I had worn by? Absolutely essential. They kept everything dry, made it easy to access from the top. To me, it made it easy to pull different lenses out. Although I will reiterate and second Jim's suggestion of having two bodies with different lenses. I would also suggest being generous with the size of that. Not crazy, but if you've got a 30 liter camera bag, don't try to bring a 30 liter waterproof bag. Go a bit large.
I had purchased a waterproof backpack that just fit my camera bag, and it turned out to be a bad strategy. I thought I'd have to keep my backpack with me at all times, but when you land, they put out a tarp for all of their gear where you can also leave your gear. So you can take your camera bag out of the waterproof bag and leave the waterproof bag on the tarp and retrieve it on the way back. I borrowed Lori's gigantic waterproof bag and discovered that was a lot more useful because I could get my bag in and out of the dry bag quickly and easily.
Now, one other strategy I saw was Barbara's. Barbara brought a waterproof duffel bag and not a backpack, which means that she can zip down the center and pull her stuff out. Now, when we're on the Zodiac cruises, you don't get a lot of splash because you're not moving, so you can take a picture. If I had a duffel, I could have just pulled my gear out very, very quickly. And that wasn't the case with my backpack. But also should they say, okay, we're going to get into rough water here; we're going to get some splash. I would have been able to shove my camera back into a duffel bag much faster than the backpack I had.
My duffel bag doubles as a backpack. And the bag itself is just a shell, and inside the bag I have one of the Peak Design cubes. So it fits my lenses. It has all the Peak Design dividers. So I can just unzip that Peak Design cube, grab my stuff, and everything holds shape really well. But the duffel itself is just a shell, and it has really good zippers that lock airtight as well.
Oh, I was going to say that I had bought an inexpensive backpack that rolled at the top. And I just didn't feel that was very secure. And I think I would have gone with some sort of a zipper bag that closed more completely. I'm going to go with personal preference. I loved the roll-top online. I opened it up and if splash was coming or we needed to move quickly, I could just open the lid, shove it in, and kind of fold over as opposed to with a zipper.
Another thing I was going to add about the Zodiacs and the Zodiac shooting is that one of my recommendations is to shoot a lot of frames because in respect for the wildlife here, they do not want to hover too long. So when you're there, shoot as much as you can and just get a lot of shots because you don't know when the guide is going to decide that that is enough time really and that you're moving on. So Meg, is what you're saying spray and pray?
Do not spray and pray. Not spray and pray, but be generous in the amount of frames that you take while stopping here and there to check. Speaking of, how wet did you guys get on the Zodiac? Just a few splashes here and there. Wasn't that bad. The waves were too large; the staff had to ease off on the throttle a little bit, try to steer properly so that we didn't get very wet. So there were a few splashes here and there.
I didn't get wet nearly so much on the Zodiac as I did walking around on shore and overheating. We had some stellarly beautiful days and it was warm. We did have one Zodiac experience where it was snowing. Beautiful and beautiful to shoot through, but having, I guess, the variety of ways that people dressed—some had plastic wraps—but having something of a waterproof cloth or to just maybe cover or drape over your camera when you're not shooting, I thought was helpful. People would address that in various ways. Even a shower cap. Yes, even a shower cap is helpful. They do have shower caps on board.
Jim, Laurie, Vicki just said they didn't get splashed very much. Well, Les and I sat at the front of a Zodiac and a wave came over and hit me in the back. I was soaked. My waterproof pants were not waterproof. So make sure you check that your waterproof gear is waterproof because lesson learned. As Les was saying, we got pummeled by water, but remember this is saltwater. You don't want any of that near your gear. If you bring a little plastic bag, you can very quickly put it over your camera equipment and just cinch it up with your hand. Just hold it until we got back to the boat or wherever we were traveling to.
Speaking of waterproof clothing, what did you bring that was most helpful, waterproof and other layers? I brought a heated vest and heated gloves and heated socks. And the heated vest was really, really useful, as were the heated gloves. The heated socks, I think, less so because the muck boots are pretty sturdy, and if you have decent socks underneath, my feet never really got cold. But having the vest was a nice added touch.
For pants, I bought a ski bib secondhand off eBay. I don't ski; I don't live anywhere where it's cold. So I didn't want to pay big bucks for ski pants. So I did that. I thought that was great. Instead of wearing multiple layers of socks, I got snowboarder socks. And my feet were just not cold between that and the muck boots. The muck boots are lined, and I found those to be quite warm. So one of the things I bought even just on Amazon was a balaclava.
But it was waterproof on the outside. It went over my head and had a belt or fleece that went over my mouth and nose. And that was really nice when you're on the Zodiacs and the wind maybe was whipping. And it was nice because I could just pull it down when I needed to shoot and then pull it up on the return. I also bought ski gloves that had a zipper. There was a liner inside the gloves and then there was a zipper on the side down the length of my index finger. So I could pull my hand—my hand was still in the glove—out from the mitten part of it and use it to manipulate my camera. My hand stayed warm. If they started to get a little chilly, I could tuck them right back inside the mitten. That worked out great. And the glove bit had texture to it, so if I wanted to take a picture with my phone for whatever reason or take a little video, I could do that fairly easily. I was a little worried about the mitten part being in the way when I was trying to use my camera, and I found that to be pretty minimal.
Speaking on gloves, my gloves had flaps on the index finger and the thumb. And this actually worked really great because to manipulate the camera, I could just remove the flaps, but the rest of my hand and fingers were in the glove. And I found that I didn't really get cold, but the thumb and the index finger were fine. I had a pair of heated gloves, and what I did before that was sprayed them down with a nanotechnology waterproofing. So if they did splash, everything still stayed dry.
And then once on shore, I moved to a slightly lighter-weight pair so I could feel the trigger and buttons on the back of my camera. Another thing I found beneficial was a knitted baseball hat. It was kind of fleece-lined. It had ear flaps. If I didn't want the ear flaps down, they would button up, but otherwise that's what kept my ears warm. I bought pants that were advertised as waterproof; the brand is a reputable brand. Took them at their word. I'm not convinced they actually were, and they certainly weren't up to the expedition grade of the jacket that Polar provides. I didn't have heated items. I used hand warmers. On the day that looked coldest and windiest, I used toe warmers. They're adhesive; they stick. They go between the liner socks and the heavier socks that I wore and stayed in place very nicely in the boots. Also on that coldest day, I took two of those toe warmers and put them on the outside of my mid-layer around my kidneys. And that was a warmth inside my jacket.
Hand warmers also went in my pockets. That's where my batteries were. These pockets zip up, so I wasn't going to lose them. I could put my hands in my pockets to warm up a bit. And my batteries were also always nice and warm. And consequently, battery consumption due to the cold, I never found to be an issue. I just wanted to circle back on the gloves. I think all of us would say we got a lot of use out of a thin sort of sturdy glove. And then I recommend bringing at least a thin glove and a thicker glove. In my case, I had thick, medium, and thin, but I think it's vital to get a good pair of gloves that you can still manipulate the experience rather warm, but having the other two on would be smart.
I want to address the heated glove that Barbara and Lori had. By heated, they mean that it's electrified. It comes with a battery and you plug it into your glove, your socks, or your pants or whatever, and there are wires running through that heat up. I opted not to go that route because the batteries were so heavy. If you've got room in your luggage, it's a great way to go. We're hearing it right now. But for me, having hung out in the cold quite a bit in New York City, I didn't feel the need for it. And I certainly did not want to carry the extra weight of those batteries. So that's why I opted against it.
Now, all this advice depends on whether you run hot or cold. Some people run really cold. That's me. So I've got multiple layers on. Some people run a little bit hot. Al, who's not on the podcast, was practically in a t-shirt the whole time. Les's point too: he bought pants that he thought were waterproof and not necessarily so. Some of the other people also bought pants that they thought were waterproof from reputable organizations. My suggestion is buy the gear, jump into the shower, and spray your pants down. It sounds extreme, but under certain situations when we got hit by waves, that was not extreme. That would have been like being in the shower. But also the muck boots. You're not providing your own muck boots. Polar Latitudes is providing them to us. I also feel like none of you needed the toe warmers because we had extraordinarily good days. I mean, just perfect, right? On our last excursion though, we finally got Antarctica.
And since the weather is so squishy here, you've got to be prepared for both. If it's sunny out, you don't need that many layers on. But on that last outing, I had pretty much everything I owned on plus, you know, the hand warmers and the toe warmers. That's how I kept comfortable. It just depends, right? We got really, really lucky. As far as packing, I brought some stuff for warmer weather. Not exactly super warm, but just warmer weather. When I got back to the boat after the expedition, took a shower, I found myself putting on t-shirt shorts to go to the next meeting or to go to a meal. And I've been very comfortable that way. It's not very cold on the boat, in my opinion, but I also run hot. So don't forget to pack some clothes that are just casual t-shirt shorts because you're going to want that comfort.
The number one item that people seem to have regret in not bringing enough of are t-shirts to hang around. I would also have brought, for the boat, some slip-on shoes. You're not really supposed to leave your cabin without footwear. Something like a low-profile Ugg, or I think Teva makes a warm little shoe that you can slip on that has some tread to it because the deck can be slick. That's the one thing that I really wish I had packed. Yeah, just to follow up on that, very often, especially as we were going through the Gerlache to Neko, there would be announcements on the PA that there are whales on one side of the boat or in front of the boat. And so having warm, rushed sort of slip-on shoes and keeping your camera in shooting condition and having something you can kind of throw on quick would be very helpful.
Yeah, this is where my heated vest and I have these really comfy slip-on shoes with some lining on the inside. It came in really handy because sometimes if we see orcas on the side of the boat, the crew would come on the intercom and say, "Hey, there's orcas off to the side." And so it's a mad dash to get your camera. And I could just throw on my heated vest. I don't need to change any clothes, get my shoes on, have my camera, get out there, and then just find them. Yeah. So that was a big lesson learned for me in that I finally halfway through the trip realized: always come to the common area with a jacket. Always come with your camera because if they come on the PA and say there's a whale on starboard side, you're now rushing outside to take a picture, but the boat is in motion, which means it's cold out. It took me quite a bit of time to figure out that I should always have a beanie with me and a jacket with me because if you're shooting out there, it was really cold. You know, we're talking about not needing stuff while on the landings. We didn't need much because we had sunny days. But if we were moving around, standing at the front of the boat, taking all that wind, it was freezing.
I found the times I was coldest were trying to shoot from the boat while it was moving. Like if we were trying to hurry to the harbor, I wasn't necessarily dressed appropriately. Yeah. So having something like Barbara has, again, like a slip-on shoe that's warm, a vest that you could get on quickly. And sometimes when they said over the PA that there were whales about, I'd have to run to my room to grab my camera equipment. By the time I got back, they were basically gone.
So always being prepared at all times with your camera equipment is really helpful. And especially having something warm to put on because it's just too cold. The crew did a really good job on the Zodiacs spotting animals. So on our first day, I felt like all the animals had read the memo and just showed up. And there was a whale off in the distance. So a lot of us got some really cool shots of the tail of the whale as it was splashing and penguins and seals. And between the different Zodiac boats, they're in communication with each other via radio. So you can hear if someone spots a whale, they'll tell the others where it is. So they did a very good job of doing their best to navigate us to the animals.
One of the things that I observed from our group and others was we had our cameras and then a lot of people added a GoPro. On top of that, I think I had a little GoPro envy on this trip, especially for this because there's so much to experience and capture that, or maybe not even a GoPro—something that can capture both your still frames but also something that can capture movement or action, either with the animals or what's going on on the boat when we do the polar plunge.
All of that, I wish I had more capability to capture video. And even when the penguins are walking, it's harmless. Walking on land and hopping on the rocks. One of my recommendations would be: I'm happy with the equipment and the lenses that I brought, but something either GoPro or some better case for my iPhone to capture that motion. I did purchase a GoPro before the trip, but I didn't really know how to use it. And I'm still glad that I brought it, but I probably could have gotten more use out of it. Like what you're saying—on land, having the video of penguins—I just didn't have the comfort with it. So I used it for the underwater shots, and that was cool, but I probably could have gotten more out of it if I had taken the time to learn it properly.
To Barbara's comment about the expedition staff, their ability as helmsmen: don't be reluctant to ask them to go in a direction. Don't be reluctant to ask them to back up 10 feet. They were always happy to do it. Many of them expressed how they themselves were photographers, and so they had a sense of what we were trying to accomplish. Didn't take long to figure out and get on the same wavelength and really assist in positioning.
Safari Gift Certificates
