First, a quick update on the Herndon ArtSpace Fine Art Photography Competition. I was quite pleased on Saturday evening to receive a 3rd Place Award for my “Clearing Storm, Yosemite Valley” image (see my previous post here). Maybe I should do this more often…or should I quit while I’m ahead? Anyway, back to the saga of the White Continent……….
It seems that every Antarctica trip veteran we met before our departure had a different story about the weather. Although we’ve been there only once, it’s pretty easy to see why. Even when conditions are not extreme (i.e., enormous waves, huge storms), the weather is still volatile and often localized. This combination can make things very interesting. The following sequence of images on our passage through the Lemaire Channel is just one example.
Lemaire Channel, Looking South at Sunrise
Lemaire Channel, Looking East (One Minute Later)
Lemaire Channel (25 Minutes Later)
Lemaire Channel is about 7 miles long and a mile wide at its narrowest point. Because of the closeness of the sheltering mountains, it can be as smooth as a lake. Icebergs, however, can block the passage especially earlier in the season. Our destination was Petermann Island, home to another colony of Gentoo penguins and no iceberg congestion interfered (two images below).
Gentoo Penguin Surveys His/Her Domain
Gentoo Penguins on Petermann Island
Petermann Island was the southernmost point of our expedition, even though we would not have complained had the captain decided to break ranks and continue on. But such was not the case and that evening we retraced our route through the Lemaire Channel. On the positive side, we were treated not only to some very nice evening light by the setting sun but also the spectacle of a rising full moon (images below)
Sunset, Antarctica
Moonrise, Antarctica
Next—Paradise Bay and Beyond
Congratulations on your award!!!
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Thanks, Susan. I was pretty excited about it.
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Exciting experience, interesting reportage, and beautiful pictures!
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Thanks, Alexander. I appreciate your comments. What with the long days, I wasn’t getting much sleep, but I certainly wasn’t complaining with scenery like that.
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Congrats on the 3rd place! These are some stunning pictures of the southern continent!
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Thanks very much for visiting and for your comments. I appreciate your thoughts.
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Awesome photos. And congratulations on your Herndon competition award! Cheryl Z.
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Thanks very much, Cheryl. And thanks for visiting.
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What MAGNIFICENT captures – what an experience – and congrats on your award, the first of many I’m sure! 🙂
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Thanks, Joanne, very kind of you. It was a fantastic experience, so it’s been fun to write about it.
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These pictures are amazing!!
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Thanks!
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Congrats on the award. I love hearing about he trip. Your images are wonderful as always
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Thanks very much, Janice. Always good to hear from you and I am excited about your exploration of still-life photography.
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Congrats on your award! Very happy to hear that.
The images are amazing, especially the one with that solitary penguin, that is my favorite.
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Thanks very much. That little guy was quite the poser. He/she gave me 3 different looks while standing in the same (perfect for the composition) place.
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Congratulations Robin! Well deserved 🙂 I just ADORE the image of the lone gentoo and all the mini bergs. Wonderful composition!
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Thanks, Sarah. I appreciate the comments. We didn’t have much time on the island, so there was a fair amount of luck involved.
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There’s always an element of luck in photography 😉
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All these images are just beautiful. I love the one with the Gentoo…amazing to see life in that area with the broken up icebergs or chips. They are all so well done!
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Thanks, Laura, Those are very kind words. The Gentoo image seems to be quite popular;-)
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You’re welcome. I can see why!
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Amazing and beautiful!! and Congratz on your award!!!
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Thanks so much for visiting and for the comments.
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This is amazing, what a beautiful gallery !!! Congratulations for your award, you deserve it !
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Thank you very kind of you to say. I was hoping to get the final chapter out today, but Mother Nature dumped 10 inches of snow on us, so I was out shoveling.
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This is crazy, you’ve had such a harsh winter ! I’ve seen posts of people from West Michigan, it looks bad over there as well 😦
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Well, actually we can’t complain too much. Others are enduring conditions far more extreme compared to what is normal for them. And the view out my window at this moment is wonderful.
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Congrats on 3rd place, Robin 🙂
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Thanks, Dani. Good to hear from you.
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I’ve been hiding under a rock since my father’s stroke, Robin. Every waking minute has been about him and his recovery…so I’m trying to take a few for me and mine.
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I’m so sorry to hear about your father, Dani. Family, as you have so eloquently written in your postings, comes first and I wish you all the best in this difficult time and I hope your father has a full recovery.
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Wow! They are stunning. Especially Lemaire Channel, Looking East -Dee
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Thanks very much for visiting and for the comments. I had to move fast to get that one because the boat was moving. Most of these images with a panorama format are actually several images (two in this case) merged together on my computer. The computer doesn’t have too much trouble when all of the images are taken from exactly the same spot. But since I couldn’t expect a 500-foot long ship to stop every time I saw a good scene, my only option was to shoot the sequence as quickly as possible (about 1 second for this image) and hope for the best.
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Robin, there are just no adequate words to convey how beautiful these images are! Each and every one I scrolled to, I just continued to gape. What a fantastical area of the earth, and how blessed you are to have seen it with your own eyes. Thanks for sharing these remarkable photos. I will definitely revisit them!
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Hi, Stacy: Thanks so much for those very nice words. I plan to start making some exhibition prints fairly soon. Even though Open Studio is more than 6 months away, I am getting excited about it already.
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Oh Robin, these images are stunning. I have been debating about going to Antarctica before I give up work – images like yours are certainly making me think about this more seriously!
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Thanks very much for the visits and comments. After the trip, I would highly recommend it for anyone who likes travel and discovery. Unlike many trips, one feels they have wandered into a different time, that the vessel carrying you and your fellow passengers are alone in a strange land equivalent in size to the lower 48 states.
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Congratulations on your award Robin. I’ve just caught up with all your Antarctica posts, they are all amazing and it seems such a wonderful experience! Thank you so much for sharing your marvellous photos and travel stories with us.
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Thanks, Katie: Thanks for checking out the posts and for the kind words. As you say, it was a memorable experience, and I’m glad I had the opportunity. It was also kind of Mother Nature to provide some fantastic conditions. But as we were about to leave the last stop, she gave us just a little taste of what it could be like. And that was fun too.
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