Planning for a trip of a lifetime
It’s all in the Planning and Timing
Back in 2022, I was between my full-time IT jobs, taking some time off before deciding what to do next.
I knew Nigel Danson, Mads Peter Iverson and James Popsys were running a trip to Antarctica and I tried to get a last-minute spot on it but unfortunately, registration had already closed so I began planning my next move.
Thankfully, that trip was such a success it wasn’t too long after their return, they announced a plan to return in 2024 taking over the entire Aurora Expeditions ship, if interest warranted it
Signing up in 2022 for the Aurora Expeditions trip to Antarctica in 2024
I immediately registered my interest as I knew I wanted to make this trip of a lifetime, and seeing all their YouTube videos and Instagram posts only confirmed my desire!
Knowing how much of a photography opportunity this would be, and wanting to ensure I had the highest chance of capturing as many moments as possible, I set out with some planning and opportunities to put me in the best possible position. Maybe not being able to go to Antarctica in 2022 had been a blessing in disguise!
My Kit
I decided now was the time to switch from my trusty and hardworking Canon EOS 5D Mark IV to Mirrorless.
There were several reasons for me doing this; firstly I wanted to reduce my camera bag weight. The trip had strict carry-on weight restrictions for the charter flights we would be taking to King George Island, and I knew with this being a trip of a lifetime I would be loathed to leave any of my lenses at home!
My trusty Canon EOS 5D Mark IV which accompanied me on many an adventure as I found my love for photography.
I had also recently been diagnosed with quite severe osteoarthritis and a torn meniscus in my right knee (but that’s a story for another blog!) and trying to reduce the weight I was carrying could only help with the severe pain I was experiencing when walking relatively small distances.
I became obsessive - looking at the technical specifications for all of my gear I owned and calculating what weight I would save switching to mirrorless, but also considering how ‘all-in’ I wanted to go with mirroless and whether I would be switching my Canon-EF lenses or keeping them and using the RF-Adapter.
The second reason for switching was to take advantage of the superb eye auto-focus in the Canon mirrorless range. Having had no experience of wildlife photography at this point, I wanted to stack as much advantage in my corner that I would return with some in-focus wildlife shots!
I was incredibly fortunate, because I found an outstanding deal for a used Canon EOS R5 body, with an incredibly low actuation/shutter count from Park Cameras. All of my Canon kit to this point had been purchased used, and I’ve found some excellent prices and customer service from various retailers, so I had no hesitation that this was a good route for me.
The second part of the puzzle was the lenses, I had looked at my Lightroom catalogue to see which were my most frequently used lenses, but also the aperture I was using.
I often hired a telephoto lens from Lenses For Hire for many of my trips and really enjoyed capturing detail shots of landscapes during my travels, but I also knew for wildlife photography this would be a must. I had calculated how much hiring the lenses would be for my forthcoming trips and what my break-even point would be if I really wanted to invest in some of this kit.
Again, Park Cameras came up with the goods with a discount on the Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Lens but also at the time Canon had their Winter Cashback scheme on, so the cost of buying this lens brand new with the cashback was comparable to some of the second-hand items I was seeing - so this was my first ever brand new Canon purchase and what an investment it has been! I think this may actually be my favourite lens for shooting with.
I also had a heavy Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L III USM but I realised I had little use for f/2.8 and if I ever wanted one, I would just go back to trusty Lenses For Hire.
With this in mind, I decided I would invest in a Canon RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM Lens - again I took advantage of the Canon Cashback scheme, making this another great investment to my Shimoda Camera Bag.
The final part of the puzzle for my kit upgrade was selling my DSLR kit to help pay for my shopping spree. Again, because I love research, and finding the best options, I compared the websites that offer to buy your kit from you, to the likes of eBay/Facebook marketplace. In the end, the convenience, fair pricing and previous customer experience mpb won, and I packed up my Canon DSLR kit to take new adventures with another photographer!
My Skills
As I mentioned, I had never really attempted wildlife photography and I knew this would be a huge opportunity to capture penguins, whales, seals and sea birds. Whilst I am very much about enjoying the moment and soaking up the memories - I did want the cherry on top with some wildlife shots I would be proud of.
To give me the best chance of success, I invested in a trip to the remote island of Grímsey in Iceland to photograph Atlantic Puffins in the midnight sun with Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove and Anja Robanke in June of 2023.
This would be my opportunity to use the kit I had invested in and learn from some photographers whose work inspires me. Of course, photographing the Atlantic Puffins in the beautiful landscape and midnight sun of Iceland would be no hardship either!
I learned the importance of trying to shoot wildlife at eye level and I found I enjoyed trying to capture environmental shots of the puffins and seabirds, as well as the portrait style. Puffins in flight were more elusive and definitely a challenge! Needless to say, this trip was everything I hoped for and more, and I captured some beautiful puffin photos, giving me the confidence that I had learned some skills to help me in Antarctica. There will be a separate blog on this trip in future, so keep your eyes open!
I wanted to capture some environmental shots of puffins in Grímsey, so I was pleased when I found this puffin near it’s burrow surrounded by delicate white flowers.
You can’t photograph puffins without wanting to get a portrait shot, especially with a bill full of sand eels!
The second trip I booked, which I justify to myself as ‘improving my skills’, was a trip to Greenland also in June 2023 with Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove and Nigel Danson. Now I say this tongue in cheek, but this trip wasn’t strictly necessary, but Greenland had been on my wishlist and I don’t need much of an excuse to travel!
However, with hindsight, I did learn techniques during this trip to Greenland that helped me with my approach to photography in Antarctica. Again, I will write a separate blog about Greenland in future as it has been one of my favourite trips so far.
This shot from Greenland was taken from a moving boat. I wanted to line up the moon within the gaps of the icebergs, so I waited with my camera poised on continuous shooting mode, ready to take the shot when it aligned best - but because I had also shot in burst mode I could select the image that works best.
The trip to Greenland taught me to anticipate shots. The photography in Greenland was mainly from a moving boat and I knew in Antarctica we would be shooting from the Aurora Expeditions ship, but also zodiacs. Being predominately a landscape photographer, I tend to favour shooting with a tripod, but I knew this wouldn’t be the case in Greenland and Antarctica, so I wanted to improve my handheld photography - but also from a moving boat.
Finding compositions can be challenging as you are moving, and they are fleeting. So you learn the art of anticipating and planning the shot you may want to get - seeing an interesting iceberg as foreground but also the shape of the mountain or peak in the background and anticipating when the two will align to give something planned and thought out, rather than just a snap.
The other skill I learned, was trying to find opportunities to demonstrate scale in a vista so large and humbling. The icebergs and mountains we encountered in Greenland were enormous - but this is hard to articulate and demonstrate in photographs unless you can include something that gives the viewer that sense of enormity. Again, anticipation and planning comes in to play here as we watched sea birds fly amongst the icebergs and using them in compositions to show just how tiny they are against these icy beasts.
Another technique I used was to include a human element, such as a boat or hut in the shots - again by anticipating the composition that might work ahead of time as the landscape changes before your eyes on the moving boat. This also taught me to switch into continuous shooting mode at quite a high shutter speed, which as predominantly a landscape photographer was a mindset shift - this gives you the most options for compositions, or positioning of birds when you are looking back through your images later and the high shutter speed helps compensate for the moving boat.
This trip to Greenland left me giddy with anticipation of what might lay ahead for Antarctica!
I tried to use birds from my shots in Greenland to demonstrate the scale and majesty of the Icebergs
Take Aways
I appreciate not everyone has the opportunity to travel or participate in some of the adventures I am fortunate enough to find myself in, so here are a few suggestions of other ways to practice some of the skills I’ve mentioned
Visit your local park, zoo, wildlife preserve, or even your pet at home to practice your wildlife photography
Practice trying to get eye level with wildlife (without getting too many funny looks from passers-by!)
Think about the style of wildlife photography you enjoy and what your goals might be from the shots you want to get
Look into boat trips, or river cruises
If this is in a city, consider using the skyline or buildings to anticipate the type of composition you might want in your shot - wait until you have the alignment of the buildings where you want them
Keep an eye out for subjects that could add scale and perspective to your shots, such as birds or humans and consider where you might want to place these in your frame, using the anticipation of the composition again.
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