Live from the Wind(s) of Antarctica. Dec. 19, 2023.

[twangster]

Day 11 Chronicle:

29 DEC - At Sea.pdf

[twangster]

Starlink report:

Day 11 and the premium speeds are holding steady.

It does appear one of the Starlink systems isn't performing as well as the other.   When my phone lands on that antenna I experience one quarter of the speeds above.  Fortunately my laptop where I am uploading this thread from has been glued to the better Starlink antenna so far.

[twangster]

Here is a discussion of the camera kit I put together for this sailing.

My main camera is a Sony A7R IVA.  

I brought two lenses for this voyage.  A general purpose Sony f4 24 - 105mm G OSS and the Sony f2.8 70 - 200mm GM OSS II.  In addition to these two lenses are a 1.4x and a 2x teleconverter.  

I always bring my trusty old Sony RX100M VI pocket camera.

Lastly I have my Insta360 One X3 360° camera.

Plus of course my iPhone 15 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra but I rarely use those for the photographic effort of this voyage.

 

[twangster]

The A7R IV is a high resolution body taking 61 megapixel full frame images.  While I loved my Sony A7 III I've become addicted to the high resolution images of the A7R as this provides the luxury to crop my way to appear to be a better photographer.  

I have the Sony 200 - 600mm and the Sigma 60 - 600mm which is a beast of a lens.  It's also the weight of a beast and while I would have loved to bring it along I wanted to travel light and be agile.  Slinging a beast of a lens for hours from a bouncing zodiac would be a workout on my poor arms.  I believe the key to expedition photography is being light and nimble.   

The Sony f2.8 70 -200mm is an impressive fast lens.  Coupled with a teleconverter it moves me into the range of those longer lens I left at home while being nimble and lightweight.  Add in the cropping capability afforded by the high resolution "R" series body and I can produce images that exceed what my 600mm lens on my old non "R" body would have achieved while reducing weight.  

The teleconverters charge a hefty light penalty but the 200 - 600mm and 60 - 600mm are not fast lenses to begin with so the teleconverters simply level the playing field of the 70 - 200mm in terms of aperture. 
The combination of the A7R IV body and the 70 - 200mm with 2x teleconverter put me at 140 - 400mm in a form factor I can carry around and use for hours without fatigue.  It is also easier to manage the smaller 70 - 200mm lens on a bouncy zodiac. 

The 24 - 105 lens is a great general purpose travel lens that I tend to take everywhere just because.  At f4 it’s not a fast lens but the noise profile of the Sony bodies allows me to cheat a little with ISO and dealing with it later in post.

The “Blackrapid” camera strap has been one of the best investments I’ve made for carrying a full frame camera around the planet.  It takes the weight of the camera from the neck and moves it to a shoulder.  It allows you to walk or hike more naturally leaving your hand free for when you need them.  

Full frame camera bodes use full frame lenses which are bigger and heavier compared to crop camera bodies.   The Blackrapid camera strap has been a game changer for me.  

[twangster]

I try not to change lenses in the field.  

This leaves me with a dilemma.  How do I capture wide angle photos when my working lens is effectively 140 - 400mm?  

The answer is my proven travel buddy the Sony RX100M IV.  It's small yet powerful capturing RAW images just like my main camera.  It goes easily into a pocket so when I need a wide angle landscape photo the RX100 comes out to save the day.  

Let's face it, wide angle landscape photography doesn't need pixel peeping fine detail.  Would I rather have my A7R IV capture those wide angle shots?  Absolutely.  It's just not practical to be changing lenses on a moving zodiac or outside with dust, humidity and sea spray in the air.  So the RX100 is a compromise losing some image quality but not enough to be really noticeable for wide angle landscape photography.   

The RX100 has been in the right pocket of the Silversea red coat for every excursion.  I can quickly pull it out, snap a picture and have it back in my pocket within twenty seconds.  That means when we are pulling along the ship or getting ready to disembark on land I can have my hands free yet when I see a scene that captures my eye I can quickly take a picture and equally quickly be ready to load or unload hands free and ready to do a sailors grip with the crew.

The RX100M IV boasts a full frame equivalent 24 - 200mm zoom lens with a pop up viewfinder in a very small form factor so it fulfills my required use case for it very well.  The buttons and sensor are small.   While the functionality to use it as a main camera is a little lacking for my use case to supplement my main camera the RX100 works out very nicely.

When I leave my suite the RX100 is usually in a pocket.  It’s my everywhere camera just in case.

[twangster]

The 360° camera is a novelty camera.  

Coupled with the telescoping pole it captures a perspective that can’t otherwise be achieved.    Capturing everything in 360° produces very large image files.  Capturing in video mode produces really large files.  However seeing the bulbous bow while underway from the bow of a ship in 360° is absolutely unique.  

It can be used just like a Go Pro action camera using a single lens capturing 4K video that is motion stabilized.  While I own two older Go Pro I’ve pretty much left that platform in the closet for a few years now.

Capturing everything around you in a single frame allows you to choose the perspective you want to display later in software.   This takes some adjustment and getting used.  

The Insta360 app on my phone is a little buggy at times and has its own learning curve so it’s not something to try to master a day before going on an epic voyage.

[twangster]

Pulling it all together on my 14” MacBook Pro with 4TB SSD is Adobe Lightroom Classic.  In the past I’ve had laptops with smaller SSD and used external storage but that’s a pain.  My laptop is a critical tool in my photography toolbox so I splurged for the larger internal SSD.

I color grade each photo individually.  I have a work flow down from years of travel blogging.  I quickly rate each photo giving it two or three stars then based on how many photos that yields I run quickly scan through them a second time to whittle it down to a manageable number.  Then I more carefully color grade each of the three star rated candidates usually dropping a couple more where the focus was off or there is something else I don’t like.

I prefer to go through my photos of the day on that same day.  The benefit of forcing myself to manage the plethora of photos I take on a daily basis in near realtime is that they are fresh in my head.  I can easily recall comments that a guide has made associating it with that moment.  It also helps to break it down into small pieces rather than going home and having a mountain of photos that I’ll get to someday.  Someday never seems to come.  

A benefit to posting threads like this one in near real time is that it documents the journey for me.  I can come back and re-live this trip years from now just as I have gone back and reviewed my other threads like a visit to the Galápagos Islands.  That was an amazing experience.   However it’s also amazing how quickly you can forget small details that are captured for me (and others) to come back to when ever I feel the need to re-live the experience.

There is a level of effort to the manner I post a live thread but as a solo traveler it’s gives me something to do.  

[Lovetocruise2002]

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

A benefit to posting threads like this one in near real time is that it documents the journey for me.

This is pretty much why I like to blog too! It’s a good way for both the kids and I to re-live each trip. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Are these small [recent] islands considered to be "Antarctica" or are these still other independent locales ?

[twangster]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Are these small [recent] islands considered to be "Antarctica" or are these still other independent locales ?

South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands are sub-Antarctica so not actually part of the continent.  

Elephant Island is 150 miles off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, part of the South Shetland Islands.

 

[twangster]

Round two of the seabird soaring competition started this morning.

A new player has entered the arena.

It has the appearance of a petrel but I can't find a good match online.  

Slightly larger than the Cape Petrel.

I'll have to ask later.

[twangster]

More whales spotted in the distance.

Theres from the expedition kayaking team was outside on deck 9 and took some time explain the difference between Fin and Humpback whales.

Fin whales are the second largest behind Blue whales so much larger than humpback.

Fin whales are longer and more slender while humpback are shorter and more broad.

Fin whales don't tend to reveal to their flukes when diving like humpback whales sometimes do.

Fin whales are more likely observed out in the open ocean like this.  As we later approach Elephant Island the sea floor rises towards the land.  We should expect to see many more whales and more likely to see Humpback whales closer to Elephant Island.

[twangster]

I decided to eat lunch in a venue that is currently jackets required.

The Grill for lunch.

Wholey iceberg.

[twangster]

Expedition staff discovered this is a Southern Fulmar.

[DDaley]

My husband loves his Insta360 and gets comments on it wherever we travel! Do you use a chest mount at all? He’s got a necklace he can put under his shirt and then the Insta360 just attaches to his shirt via magnet from the necklace. Then he’s hands-free but still capturing everything!

I was also wondering if you can batch-color grade per location/activity or do you have to manually adjust each shot in Lightroom? I am a Creative Suite power user but never use Lightroom. Might be handy to download for my next round of vacation photos. I took 2,800 in Greece but only 1,300 in Alaska, basically child’s play! 

[twangster]

Enrichment talk covering the types of penguins we are likely to see in Antarctica.

One more biosecurity check of our outer layers because we are changing regions.

[twangster]

5 minutes ago, DDaley said:

My husband loves his Insta360 and gets comments on it wherever we travel! Do you use a chest mount at all? He’s got a necklace he can put under his shirt and then the Insta360 just attaches to his shirt via magnet from the necklace. Then he’s hands-free but still capturing everything!

I was also wondering if you can batch-color grade per location/activity or do you have to manually adjust each shot in Lightroom? I am a Creative Suite power user but never use Lightroom. Might be handy to download for my next round of vacation photos. I took 2,800 in Greece but only 1,300 in Alaska, basically child’s play! 

In lightroom you can create presets.  There are some settings I apply commonly to all imported photos using a custom preset then I color grade each one that makes the final cut.  I am using content from three sometimes four cameras so I aim to make them all appear consistent.

[twangster]

Okay I’ve submitted my bids for the SGHT silent auction.   There are a few hours left, get those bids in!   

[twangster]

Top side on whale watch this afternoon.

In the distance appeared a mirage that almost looked like land yet I knew there was no land out here.

More small bits of ice were present in this area.

The wind was ferocious but that isn't a mirage. 

It's a really big iceberg.

It's iceberg A23a.

[twangster]

A23a is a very large iceberg that broke off in 1986.  It quickly grounded and stayed in place until 2020 when it floated free and began moving.  Over the course of 2023 it has really picked up steam and began making a move North to where we found it, or the Captain and bridge team found it, today.

It's hard to capture the scale of an iceberg this large.  It just goes on and on.

Once again the deck 5 bow area was open for our viewing pleasure.

There is little point trying to capture all of it in a photo because you can't unless you are in space which is where scientists are following it using satellites.  It's 3,900 square kilometers or 1,500 square miles in size.

Naturally I brought my 360 camera with me.

[twangster]

Our position when we encountered A23a.

Then later as we moved off to continue towards Elephant Island.

[twangster]

Daily briefing for tomorrow at Elephant Island:

The goal or hope is to visit two locations on the island.  In the morning Point Wild in the North is where Shackleton left his men to go and find help leading to the now famous story. 

In the afternoon somewhere in the South depending on weather.    

However visiting Elephant Island is highly weather dependent and we won't know if either is going to happen until we get there.

[twangster]

After dinner I suited up and ventured upstairs to see if there was any marine life out there.  It's pretty cold now so looking for wildlife requires dressing up for the occasion.

No sign of anything so I might as well enjoy the view from my suite.

From on board the Silver Wind.

[twangster]

Day Twelve - Elephant Island

Position report:

[twangster]

Day 12 Chronicle:

30 DEC - Point Wild and Elephant Island South Antarctica.pdf

[twangster]

We've arrived to Point Wild and the first zodiac groups are off.  I'm waiting for my group to be called.

More to come on our approach and the beautiful scenery here where Shackleton's men spent 135 days waiting rescue.

[twangster]

Super busy day.  Just back from our afternoon session and the daily briefing is starting soon.  More on today soon

[twangster]

I woke up to discover land outside my balcony.  

As we had been told in the briefing, Elephant Island is not a hospitable environment.  

The island is mountainous with steep, sharp rock faces. 

A number of glaciers or snowfields filled the valleys in between peaks.

I was fairly certain Point Wild lay straight ahead.

[twangster]

Point Wild is where twenty two men of the Endurance spent four and a half months waiting to be rescued but eventually they were.

 

Gert, our expedition leader was surveying the scene from the bridge wing one deck down.

A visit to Elephant Island is never a sure thing.  Swell is often a cause to cancel operations.  Wind and low visibility are common.

It looks like we are a go.

With a late zodiac group today I was able to relax and have a leisurely morning.  With a zodiac now in the water you can get an idea of the scale and size of the mountains.

[twangster]

This is another day when the weather became better as the morning progressed.  A later zodiac time was a good thing today.

A zodiac nudges some ice out of the way.

[twangster]

Soon enough my zodiac group was called.

Stunning scenery especially with the blue sky contrasting the snow and ice.

We encountered some brash ice we had to slowly navigate through.

Back up to speed towards the penguin colony.

[twangster]

Despite the inhospitable environment and steep rock walls these penguins seem to thrive.

They nest high above the water and make the commute down to the waterline to jump in, feed, and bring a meal home to the chicks they are raising.

These are Chinstrap penguins, so called for obvious reasons namely the thin black line that resembles a chinstrap.

Stains on their chests are from feeding their young back in the nests.

 

[twangster]

They are a lot more graceful swimming through the water where they "porpoise" as they skim along near the surface.

Throughout the morning this was occurring all around us as the colony went to sea to feed and return with full bellies to feed their young.

[twangster]

We repositioned to see different areas of the colony.

All the while the busy penguins left to feed and returned.

A small group made their up way an iceberg.

The ultimate game of King of the Hill.

Very good at climbing steep inclines.

[twangster]

[twangster]

It's very interesting to watch these penguins as they prepare to jump in.  They thinlk about it brielfy and then just go for it.

Coming back onto land from the sea...

Once they stick their landing it's like they are glued to the slippery rock.

Time to feed!

[twangster]

High in the hills where the nests are they make their way up and down the steep rock faces all day long.

Now onto the next reason we came here... 

[twangster]

With very little coastline or a beach there isn't a lot of space to land.  Could you imagine spending four and half months living under the remnants of lifeboats?

This little spit of land is all there was.

Now there is a monument to the pilot of a Chilean Navy boat that led the fourth and finally successful attempt to rescue the men of the Endurance that were marooned here.

Luis Pardo Villalón was a pilot in the Chilean Navy.  His Captain refused the mission so Villalón gathered volunteers and set off to effect the rescue after three previous attempts by other resources had failed.

Some Elephant seals rest on the only resemblance of a beach in the area.

[twangster]

Anyone fancy a shag?

The Antarctic Shag.

Time to head back to the ship.

Stunning scenery.

[twangster]

On the departure from Point Wild we had been informed we would sail through a whale hotspot.  They didn't lie.

I spent a lot of time up top until I was so cold I couldn't stay longer.  I've still need to go through those pictures.  

Coming soon...