Viking Cruises

30 | Viking Explorer Society News CREATIVE COMPOSITION Antarctica is one of the most beautiful and environmentally important places on our planet. Therefore, when taking photos, it is vital that you capture, and project the compelling spirituality of the region. Strong pictorial appeal, good composition and lighting are key factors that go towards making a powerful and emotional story. Spend as much time as possible on the ship's decks when not on excursions and remember that you are in the land of the midnight sun. Soft light and sunsets will add real beauty to your landscapes. We regularly saw whales, penguins and a wide variety of birds from the decks. Any weather is great weather for photography. Photographing in the snow and rain adds real impact, emotion and atmosphere to your photos. Try to photograph wildlife and landscapes in the falling snow. The effect is amazing. Zoom out. Use context by including the Viking ship, Zodiacs and kayaks in your landscapes. Add the ships bow or stern to landscapes. Use Viking explorers in their bright red jackets to add context, character and scale to some of your landing's photos. Take plenty of photos of yourselves and new friends to show that you were there. Photograph structures, research stations boat wrecks, moss and bones. They are all part of the Antarctica story. Photograph penguins and seals close-up to get a few portraits but remember to zoom out and capture some of the natural beauty of the snow, ice, rocks and sky. Shooting penguins, get down low, if possible, rather than shooting from above, down on them. Try to capture landscapes of a penguin colony with a Viking ship or Zodiac in the background. Try to capture a whale tail with an iceberg as background. Photograph from different perspectives and try different land positions. Be polite, but do not be shy to speak to the expedition guides and drivers. If it is safe and there is time, they will try to accommodate your special requests such as moving closer to seals on an iceberg or capturing swimming penguins from your zodiac. CAMERA SETTINGS Finally, this trip is starting to become a reality for you and to really make the most of it you need to plan well in advance. Get to know your camera. You should know how to quickly change settings in the camera menus. Go on field trips near home and experiment with different light conditions using your filters. Visit your local zoo or photograph your pet at different shutter speeds and ISO. You will usually be photographing with movement from the toys and ship as well as moving wildlife and people. Therefore, a fast shutter speed is essential to prevent blurred pictures. We never shoot below 1/1000 second even if it means raising ISO. Blurred images can never be fixed, and the importance of high-speed settings cannot be stressed enough. For wildlife the camera focus should be set to continuous servo rather than single shot. We shoot birds in flight at 1/4000 second, f-stop around 6.3, and ISO as low as possible. Setting the camera to manual allows the shutter speed and aperture to be fixed with ISO floating. High ISO that creates 'noise' can generally be fixed in post processing with good results providing the image is sharp. If you're keen on post processing and maintaining image quality, then set your camera to shoot in RAW. Otherwise set the camera to shoot in jpeg. Post processing offers the flexibility to correct and fine-tune various properties such as exposure, sharpness, clarity, saturation and white balance. There are some awesome YouTube videos that explain in more detail these technical settings. Mobile phones these days can take great photos close by but to get the best results, take a crash course and learn how to use it. It has many features that most people don't know about. Be prepared to have an amazing time and remember to occasionally put down the camera and just marvel at the spectacle before you. Bon voyage. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Michael and brother Bob Lewy, born in South Africa and living in Australia, have spent many years behind the camera photographing wildlife and landscapes around the world. Recently, they made trips to Antarctica, Alaska and the Arctic where they put their photographic knowledge and experience into practice. They embrace Viking and have been regular guests on river, ocean and expedition voyages. In this article they share some advice for capturing memorable images to take back home. Bob - boblewy.myportfolio.com. Mike - photoearth.com.au Images by Michael Lewy "A back or front pack is useful and remember you are wearing up to four layers of clothes, so your movement is somewhat more difficult."

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