LEXsample :: photography tips for Antarctica

How much film or memory should you take?

To start with, you should look at your travelling schedule to learn how many days the trip is going to take, how often you will be going ashore or which sites you can expect to see. While moving from one place to the next, you'll have many photo opportunities too - these days should also be included in your count. Some books advise to double the amount that you were originally going to take with you.

How much film should you take with you?

A summer's day on the Antarctic peninsula can be very sunny, but also very misty or rainy (bad weather is likely to occur more frequently in the early and late season. So it is advisable to take sufficient 100 or 200 asa film rolls, as well as 400 asa. Some types of 400 asa film can be 'pushed' (set you camera to over-exposure that roll of film) to 800 or even 1600 asa, providing you more flexibility.

In Ushuaia you will find a couple of camera shops where you can buy film, but if you have a preferred brand or type of film then you better bring your own.

How much megabytes (gigabytes) should you take with you?

The amount of memory you will need not only depends on the amount of photographs that you will take, but also the quality (resolution) that you will save them in. Photo files of 6 megabytes or more are good enough for enlargements up to A4 size. You can always reduce the quality (file size) of your photograhs afterwards, but you can never increase it. So it is recommended to set your camera to the best quality. I find 1-gigabyte memory cards quite useful for shooting high-quality photographs. If your files are up to about 3 Mb, then 512 Mb cards will be sufficient. Do take extra memory cards with you - it sometimes happens that memory cards get corrupted and cannot be used anymore. Therefore, rather take 2x 1 Gb than 1x 2 Gb cards.

Once back on board you can sort out your digital pictures. Using a notebook PC (big screen) allows you to judge, much better than using the camera's LCD screen, which photographs you want to keep and which ones you want to delete.

Delete all photographs that failed. Burn the good ones onto a CD or DVD disc. If you 'close the session' (whilst burning the disc) you cannot accidentally delete the photographs, and so this is a safe (non-magnetic) way to store them. Since you need a notebook PC for all this, you may be able to use one from a fellow-passenger. If you bring your own computer, you will be sure to have your own (image-editing) software and other applications and utilities.

Many (semi-)professional digital SLR's can save the images in RAW format (Nikon calls it NEF): I certainly recommend setting your camera to RAW if you can, since it provides more control over your images that you can over- or underexposure slightly. Working with RAW/NEF does require a computer with your camera software installed, to convert RAW to JPG (or maybe TIFF). If you are used to working with RAW files you probably carry a notebook with you already!

I save my own photographs in chronological order, creating a new folder for each new day which includes a brief description. Once I have enough images (data) to fill a CD disc, I burn them onto a CD. I avoid editing them while I am travelling, it costs too much time and there is too much to do and to see!

A disadvantage of digital photography is that all too soon you end up with a lot of cables, adapters, chargers and other accessoires. What alternatives do you have should one of these items break or get lost? Ensure that everything works and fits (test it!).

Batteries

Cold will reduce the battery life. The camera will indicate that it is running low on batteries, but you may also get unexpected errors or malfunctioning.

Keep your camera and your spare batteries underneath your jacket, or at least sheltered from cold wind.
Use reachargeable batteries and recharge them every day. Take an extra set of batteries with you.
Avoid using the cameras LCD screen to take or to review your images (switch off automatic display) since LCD's use a lot of energy.

Burning CD or DVD discs

When you have enough images you can burn them on a CD or DVD disc. Close the burning session so new files cannot be added, but more importantly: existing file cannot be accidentally deleted. 'Closed discs' are also easier to read by other computers. Instead of keeping the discs in jewel cases, purchase a spindle which saves space and waste.

Portable hard disk

Portable hard disks are small flat boxes with a battery, photo card readers and a hard disc with typically 20, 40 or 80 gigabytes. These devices can transfer data from full memory cards to the hard disk, so you can re-use your memory cards for new photographs.

If you have the possibility to use a notebook, you probably do not need a portable hard disk. It is more practical to bring extra memory cards for extra capacity (or even a high-capacity USB stick).

A portable hard disk is practical in case you (a) do not have a notebook, (b) you really take a lot of photographs (such as sequences) and (c) you want to use it as an extra backup besides the one on CD/DVD discs.