How should I carry a camera during Zodiac boarding?
Packed away, with both hands free. That’s the crew’s instruction on most ships and it’s the right one. An expensive camera should never hang from your neck while you’re stepping between a moving ship and a moving Zodiac. Once you’re seated and the driver says it’s safe, get it out. Before you approa
What are the rules for photographing wildlife in Antarctica?
The expedition team’s instructions come first and they override any photograph you had in mind. You generally stay at least 5 metres from wildlife ashore, with greater distances for some species, behaviours and sites, and South Georgia and the Falklands have their own rules. The sentence worth memor
What lenses should I bring to Antarctica?
Two zooms cover almost everything: one general purpose or wide zoom for landscapes, people, shipboard scenes and close wildlife, and one telephoto zoom for distant wildlife, birds and whales. On full frame that’s often something around 24 to 70mm or 24 to 105mm paired with 70 to 300mm, 100 to 400mm
Do I need a 600mm super telephoto lens for Antarctica?
Most travellers do not. A very long lens is heavy, expensive, hard to stabilise and narrow in field of view, and keeping a fast subject inside the frame from a moving Zodiac is genuinely difficult. Wildlife also has a habit of approaching until a 600mm is far too tight.
Why does snow look grey in my Antarctica photographs?
Because your camera’s meter is trying to push a very bright scene toward a middle tone, so it underexposes and the snow comes out grey. The fix is exposure compensation: dial in somewhere around +0.3 to +1.0 stop as a starting point and check the result. There’s no universal number, metering systems
What camera settings work best from a Zodiac?
Shutter speed above everything else. The boat, you, the water and the subject may all be moving at once, so start around 1/1000 and go faster for birds, splashing wildlife, rough water or a long lens. Keep image stabilisation on, use continuous autofocus and burst, and let Auto ISO adapt as the Zodi
What camera settings should I use for Antarctica wildlife?
Prioritise shutter speed and let the camera handle the rest. Shutter priority at 1/1000 with Auto ISO, continuous autofocus and a medium burst is a solid general wildlife starting point. Push to 1/1600 or faster for active animals, and 1/1600 to 1/2500 for birds in flight. These are starting points
Should I shoot RAW or JPEG in Antarctica?
Whichever matches how you actually work. JPEG is simplest and the camera does the processing for you. RAW keeps more information for recovering highlights, adjusting white balance and handling bright snow against dark wildlife, at the cost of storage and the need for software. RAW plus JPEG gives yo
How do I protect my camera from salt spray in Antarctica?
Keep it in a dry bag whenever the Zodiac is moving through spray or the weather turns, and deal with the salt the same day. Salt is worse than fresh water because the residue stays behind after the moisture evaporates. Back aboard, inspect the exterior, lift the salt with a cloth lightly dampened wi
Is a smartphone good enough for Antarctica photography?
For many travellers, yes. Current phones are strong on wide landscapes, people, shipboard scenes, video, panoramas, close wildlife and scenes with difficult contrast, and their processing handles bright snow against dark rock with very little effort from you. For sharing online, photo books, normal