Before traveling to Antarctica over the 2013 Christmas Holiday, I wanted to know a lot about photography in Antarctica. Sure, I knew there would be a lot of beautiful wildlife and scenery to shoot but I didn't know exactly what conditions I was going to be in nor what types of cameras or gear I should bring. For instance, should I bring one camera or two. If I bring two, what kinds of lenses should I bring? How do I keep the cameras protected? Do I need a dry bag? What kind of camera bag should I get. I mean the questions go on and yet, I only found a few websites that truly answered my questions.

Well look no further folks, I'll tell you exactly what you need to know. At least I'll tell you exactly what I wished I had known before I went. I will tell you, that everyone is different so what my recommendations are, may not apply to you but I think I can give you a pretty good idea without having to carry too much bulk half way across the world. So let's begin.

First, let me tell you a bit about me. I'm an amateur photographer through and through. I've made a few bucks here and there on photo's but if I relied on income from photography - I could never afford to travel to Antarctica - much less anywhere else. That said, I'd classify myself as an "advanced amateur" who likes to shoot often and post most of my work online. My main area of focus is street and landscape photography. Since I live in San Francisco, most of my work is inspired by, and come from, this area - not a bad place to shoot if you asked me. In terms of my hardware, I have a DSLR's (a Canon 6D), two Fuji mirror-less cameras (X100s and XT-1) as well as a Canon G15. Every time I go on a business trip, I throw in the G15 because you never know what interesting places and people will surface.

Let's start with the gear. One of the best articles I read was this by Dave Bouskill. For sure give his article a read as he has some excellent advice on gear. My challenge was that, I was hoping to travel a little lighter than he did. So here's what I ended up packing.

Cameras

A Canon 6D. Sure, I wish I could have afforded a 5D Mark 3 but I wanted to have some spending money in Buenos Aires after the Antarctic adventure. It is a full frame camera, has GPS and is weather sealed - what more could you want. To fit on the 6D I brought two lenses - the EF 24 - 105 and the EF 70 - 200 F4 IS. These lenses were both utilized greatly and I recommend them (or similar focal length) in a heartbeat. The only disadvantage of having two lenses is that you have to switch them on an off - often in less than perfect conditions. I didn't find this to be too big of a deal since I typically had my Canon G15 with me for the shorter focal distances while using my 70-200 for the longer distances. The 24-105 rarely made it to shore but was greatly utilized on the ship. Among my fellow passengers, the 5D Mark 3 was probably the most common camera I saw. I also saw a number of travelers that had super zoom lenses - something like a 24 - 300 mm. These are good options but have some compromises that need to be considered such as weather proofing and barrel distortion. That said, if you bring only one lens, a super zoom might be a good option.
The Canon G15 with a 28-140 mm range and nice "bright" aperture of 1.8 to 2.8. It shoots RAW as well. I used this along with the underwater housing to keep the camera nice and dry while kayaking as well as for Zodiac rides. The housing also has easy to press buttons and dials making them relatively easy to manipulate with gloves on.
The G oPro 3+ Black Edition. This this was pretty much attached to my head during all the shore excursions as well as the kayaking outings. The footage is stunning. I took primarily video but the stills give you a very wide angle - which works well when trying to capture the gorgeous scenery all around you. The beauty of this camera is that it is small and light - thus making it easy to pack and carry around with you. It only shoot's JPG - no RAW.

Accessories:

Overboard Adventure Backpack. I looked long and hard for the perfect camera bag but just couldn't find anything that fit the bill. Instead I decided to get a water resistant backpack with a internal camera unit (ICU) made by f-stop gear. It worked out great as often I would put the DSLR into a dry bag and into the backpack. Keep in mind, the bag I used is not waterproof but did a great job resisting the sea spray that will be inevitable on your Antarctic adventure.
I bought along my nice Benro carbon fiber tripod that could also serve as a monopod. Did I use it at all - No. Never made it out of the ship. Unless you are sure you're going to take some long exposure photography, my advice is to leave the tri-pod/monopod at home. You are going to be spending the bulk of your time hiking around as your time on the shore is relatively limited. In addition, you are working in a generally bright, snowy environment. The last thing you need to worry about is a lack of light.
Joby GorillaPod - I did bring this small, versatile tripod for the GoPro and used it a few times. This was perfect in that it's lightweight, small and works with the GoPro and the Canon G15.
XShot Camera extender. A great tool for extending your GoPro for those selfies with you and the penguins. It's small and compact for travel.
A Drybag. I can't recommend this enough. I picked up a 20 liter bag by Outdoor Research but anything near this size will do. This is critical. You will use this bag. I had my DSLR in it on each Zodiac ride because YOU WILL GET WET! Don't leave home without a dry bag and keep your camera in it. On clear calm days, you may not need it but have one ready just in case.
OP/TECH Rainsleeve. This is nice to have in case it's snowing or sleeting. It's not a substitute for a dry bag but it's an easy item to toss into your camera bag.
Extra Batteries - I had two for each device and that was sufficient. If you take thousands of photo's then you may want more but I made sure I was charging a battery each night whether it was drained or not. More on batteries preservation later.
Extra storage - This will be highly subjective but for the Canon's, I brought 4, 16gig and 2 32gig SD cards. I shot RAW and JPG and had plenty of room to spare. For the GoPro, I had 2, 64gig MicroSD cards. Again, I had no issues with capacity. I also brought along a USB stick so that I could exchange photos and video with fellow passengers.
A Laptop - I didn't bring one but lots of passengers did. In a way, I wish I would have brought my MacBook Air but in an effort to travel light, I left it at home. My advice - bring it if you have room and a good enough back.

Camera Settings

We were fortunate in that we had a resident photographer Simon Bottomley, on our trip (This is a benefit of Quark Expeditions). It was nice as he was able to give passengers advice on the best settings for the bright snow as well as the dark rocky outcroppings where the penguins build their stone nests - yes, that's what they are made of. He also was able to get amateurs past the "Auto" setting and on to more advanced functions like Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority. I tend to shoot Aperture Priority most of the time. The simple thing to keep in mind is that when you are photographing subjects on snow and ice, it's best to dial your EV Setting +1 to +2. Alternatively, when photographing something dark like the rocky nests, it's best to dial your EV Setting down to -1 or -2.

Preserving your Batteries

As i indicated earlier, I recommend bringing at least 2 batteries per device. I brought two and never had a need for a third. Of course it's important to know that cold weather can be a battery power sucker. As such, keep the extra battery in your inside pocket where it's right next to your body. While camping, I actually put the batteries in a cloth case and stuck them in my sleeping bag with me.

Keeping your Camera Dry

As I said before, bring a dry bag. Not only will it keep your camera dry during the zodiac ride but it will help your camera adjust from one extreme temperature to another. For instance, if you go from the cold outdoors to the warm interior of ship cabin, you run the risk of developing fog on the interior of your camera or lens. To combat this, simply keep the camera in the dry bag and leave it there for an hour or so. This will allow any condensation to form on the exterior of the dry bag rather than on (or worse - inside) your camera.

RAW vs. JPG

My advice here is pretty simple - shoot RAW. This allows the camera to take in more scene information so that you can adjust later in a photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture. Our ship had a photo contest and took submissions only in JPG so I adjusted my camera to shoot both RAW and JPG. I might recommend this as well since this will give you pictures to exchange and share immediately while at the same time allow you to edit them in the future from the RAW file.

Take a lot of Pictures (but not too many)

One thing that I can't stress enough is to put your camera down every now and then and enjoy the experience. Smell the smells (there is nothing like the smell of whale spout or penguin guano). Listen to the birds and the rumblings of distant glaciers. In looking at my photo's now, I keep thinking to myself - "this barely captured the scene". Plan your shots rather than photographing everything scattershot. You'll thank yourself when you come home and only have a few thousand shots to edit rather than tens of thousands.

Conclusion

Your trip to Antarctica will be the trip of a lifetime. If you benefited by one bit of advice then I have done my job. Safe travels and when you return, send me a link to your photos! Safe travels!

Photography in Antarctica