Our Antarctica Expedition for December 2018 began with large tabular icebergs as we approached the South Shetland Islands. Further south we saw even more tabular icebergs, in spectacular light. We had a perfect landing in gently falling snow, at Cierva Cove, where we spent time with gentoo penguins. Another calm landing was had in Paradise Bay, surrounded by gentoos, feeding humpbacks, nesting cormorants, and even a leopard seal. We followed this up with a traverse of the legendary Lemaire Channel, freshly blanketed in snow, and festooned in gleaming rime ice. We experienced more dramatic light through Neumayer Channel, passing a pair of killer whales, and icebergs laden with hundreds of crabeater seals, before landing at historic Port Lockroy. After a blustery entrance through Neptune’s Bellows, we landed at the black beaches of moody Deception Island. Our final landing was at Half Moon Bay, where the glorious sunshine made up for some of our less ideal weather conditions early on!
Onboard our ship we delivered classes on Lightroom library and develop module, on The Art of Seeing, and on Wildlife Photography Techniques. We had naturalist lectures on all of the wildlife, geology, ice, and ecology of the region. We had several of our signature image review and critique sessions, covering images from all guests that wanted to share.
All in, we had 13 landings and zodiac cruises. The first two were cut short due to rough conditions, but then great weather and conditions allowed for amazing photography for the rest of the expedition and 11 more landings and zodiac cruises. And all the while we had great photography from onboard our ship as well. And the dreaded Drake? On the way to Antarctica, it was about normal for one day, and calm the second day. On the way back, it was a “Drake Lake”.
We’re headed back to Antarctica in December of 2020, and we have only a few cabins remaining onboard our private ship. Join us!
