3AM, Antarctica
Daily Photo – 3AM, Antarctica
Exploring the ice on Antarctica under the 3AM sun.
27
February 2024 : Tuesday
Feb 2024 : Tuesday
Penguin Ice
Daily Photo – Penguin Ice
Here’s one from a fun day in Antarctica where I spent the day with thousands of penguins. You can see a few of them that ventured away from their “nest” (basically a circle of rocks) down onto the ice flows to go fishing. Even though I thought the penguins were cute, I was kind of hoping for an Orca to come up so I could see a takedown.
Full Frame Sony Mirrorless
Daily Photo – Full Frame Sony Mirrorless
The NEX-7 was awesome. It went all over the place with me, even shot a campaign for Air New Zealand with it but it was always a steppingstone for Sony taking them towards full frame mirrorless and for me that meant the a7R. Here it is, doing its thing, in Antarctica.
The Glacier Wall
Daily Photo – The Glacier Wall
I stood at the edge of the glacier, my heart pounding in my chest. The ice stretched out before me, a vast and seemingly endless expanse of white. I was filled with a sense of awe and wonder, but also a touch of fear. What if the ice gave way? What if some fell and I was crushed? I took a deep breath and stepped forward. The ice was surprisingly solid underfoot, and I quickly found my rhythm. I walked for what felt like hours, my eyes taking in the vastness of it all. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a deep blue, textured with wispy clouds. The only sound was the crunch of my boots on the ice.
As I walked, I thought about the power of nature. The glacier was a force of nature, and it was humbling to be in its presence. I felt small and insignificant, but also connected to something much larger than myself as I touched the walls of ice. After a while, I came to a small stream of water. The water was clear and cold, and I took a few sips. It was refreshing, and it helped to quench my thirst. I continued walking, and soon I came to a bend in the glacier. I stopped and looked around. The view was breathtaking. The glacier stretched out in all directions, and the mountains rose up in the distance.
I stood there for a long time feeling a sense of peace and tranquility before starting the long walk home.
Endless Glaciers
Daily Photo – Endless Glaciers
I must have seen dozens of glaciers in Antarctica while flying around in a helicopter with my friend Hef. When not in Antarctica, he flies for Southern Helicopters on the South Island of New Zealand. I’ve flown around some glaciers there with him too! Small world!
Sailing Across Antarctica
Daily Photo – Sailing Across Antarctica
This was quite the surprise! I was out about an hour’s snowmobile ride from the base in Antarctica camping out. The New Zealand base (Scott Base) puts out a series of flags to mark “roads” across the ice. After building our little camp, I went on a mini Photo Walk to explore the starkness. Out of nowhere, i saw this random Kiwi with a huge sail in the air while wearing skis. He went whizzing by almost too fast for a photo!
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February 2023 : Saturday
Feb 2023 : Saturday
Sleeping in an Ice Cave
Daily Photo – Sleeping in an Ice Cave
On my first day in Antarctica, I was shipped off to survival training. This was a great idea because I’m not much of a survivalist and I could do with a bit of training. We spent most of the day building an ice-block kitchen to block the wind so we could cook some food, set up some blizzard-proof tents, and digging out an ice-cave to sleep in. Now, I didn’t dig out most of this cave, but I definitely got down inside to enjoy its benefits. By the way, in the winter it never gets dark there, so this is what it looks like around midnight.
15
February 2023 : Wednesday
Feb 2023 : Wednesday
Morning in the Ice Folds in Antarctica
Daily Photo – Morning in the Ice Folds in Antarctica
Of all the crazy things I did for the month I was in Antarctica, probably one of my favorite nightly rituals was a hike out on the ice fields. Sometimes those nights would go all the way into the morning. It’s hard to tell since it’s bright all the time and my watch was often under layers of coats! But it’s a good place to let time drift away and take photos forever.
Emergency Pickup in Antarctica
Daily Photo – Emergency Pickup in Antarctica
After being stuck out in the Dry Valleys for days longer than expected, our friend Hef finally came in with a pickup. There’s actually a ton of equipment that has to be picked up too in addition to all our poop and pee. They take poop and pee very seriously out there… not one drop left behind.
Shackleton’s Hut
Daily Photo – Shackleton’s Hut
Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.
We got to spend the day here after a helicopter dropped us off from the main New Zealand base. It was amazing to be here and I can’t imagine living here 100 years ago. It has been meticulously re-done by an incredible group of people committed to showing exactly how it was during the time of those original explorers. It’s too bad that it is almost impossible to visit… but hats off to the tremendous work that went into it!
Antarctica
