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

[twangster]

The daily recap was scheduled for 18:15 in the theater and it was almost time to head down when... an announcement.  

 

We've been invited to the bow on deck 5 for a special iceberg viewing.

 

Normally closed to the public because it is a working crew area the Captain has made an exception for this occasion.

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

I brought my 360 camera as well with the 3m pole.

 

 

Selfie time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

A 360 photo from the bow.  Click or tap in the picture and move it around.

 

Silver Wind Bow Iceberg Viewing Experience in 360

[twangster]

Back in my suite to put my camera gear to bed for the night we had begun to move off the iceberg.

 

 

 

[twangster]

On with the daily recap.

 

Various expedition team members had put together some short presentations that ranged in topic.  Sort of a mini-enrichment series.  Very interesting.

 

They also announced a charity fundraiser silent auction of some items offered by the South Georgia Heritage Trust.

 

 

 

https://www.sght.org

[twangster]

Now on to Elephant Island.

 

 

Weather is always the unknown along the Antarctic peninsula.  Simply put the expedition team doesn't yet know what our experience will be. 

 

We'll find out in a couple of days.

[twangster]

Day Ten - Sea Day enroute to Elephant Island

 

Position report:

 

 

 

Balcony observations:

 

 

Another beautiful sea day.

 

 

[twangster]

Day 10 Chronicle:

 

28 DEC - At Sea.pdf

[twangster]

Sunny then... snow.  

 

While having breakfast in The Restaurant we passed into a storm and it was snowing.

 

 

Then it cleared up again.

 

The weather changes quickly down here.

[Pumblechook]

On 12/26/2023 at 6:42 AM, twangster said:

Apparently there was some drama recovering the zodiac tours when that snow arrived yesterday. That storm also brought 40 knot winds and it was difficult to move guests from the zodiacs to the ship.  The ship had to reposition and another attempt was made.  Guests were stuck on the zodiacs briefly where they broke out the cold weather emergency kit and passed out hand warmers.  They also have a routine which includes exercise to keep the blood moving.  Eventually everyone was brought back on board safely.  I missed all this drama being in the first grouping yesterday.

 

Just catching up.

 

An Expeditionist told me, and this gelled with something one of the others mentioned earlier, that a small 'growler' piece of ice drifted by the zodiac landing platform and damaged something.  That, together with the high winds at the time, necessitated the 6 or so zodiacs that were about to dock, to head back to the bay and shelter.  I saw them all zooming back in the wrong direction from my suite and wondered what was up.  After about an ?hour, they came back to the ship and they used the port side platform, for the first time, as the starboard side was out of order.  The starboard platform was repaired promptly and both are now being used.

 

 

[twangster]

It's been a pretty nice day overall.

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

At one point the ship slowed and they announced there were both Killer and Fin whales spotted.

 

By the time I got upstairs they were in the distance, the Orca's well aft of the ship and the Fin off the port side.

 

These are not the best whale pictures.  Maybe someone else got a better photo or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by twangster

[twangster]

Revised Chronicle with new lectures and times:

 

[twangster]

Noted a time change tonight.

 

Going one hour back.

[Aussieflyer]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

At one point the ship slowed and they announced there were both Killer and Fin whales spotted.

 

By the time I got upstairs they were in the distance, the Orca's well aft of the ship and the Fin off the port side.

 

These are not the best whale pictures.  Maybe someone else got a better photo or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I reckon it is almost impossible to get really good photos of whales as they mostly do look like floating lumps of wood. Exciting to see but hard to photograph. Love the SGHT fundraising auction idea.

[twangster]

11 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

I reckon it is almost impossible to get really good photos of whales as they mostly do look like floating lumps of wood. Exciting to see but hard to photograph. Love the SGHT fundraising auction idea.

 

True.  Especially when they aren't breaching.

 

The initial auction bids have been posted.  I'm currently planning my bidding strategy.  Bids are due tonight.  Just wish I didn't have to make room in my luggage which is already at the weight limit.

 

The South Georgia Islands were a great destination and now I've got to figure out how to come back.  I joined the SGHT while at Grytviken.  

[twangster]

The Captain had suggested earlier to expect a slight increase in swell to 4m.  It arrived late afternoon or early evening.

 

After dinner I saw dozens of seabirds playing along the waves and soaring between the peaks and troughs.  Collectively as a group they moved along the surface hardly ever flapping their wings.  It was quite mesmerizing to watch.

 

 

I have found references to Antarctic Petrels and to Cape Petrels. 

 

 

I think they may be Cape Petrels.

 

 

Very striking patterns.

 

 

An Antarctic Prion following a petrel.  This gives you an idea of the size difference.

 

 

It was getting dark and I've pushed the ISO of my camera to have any sort of shutter speed to work with but the results are evident.  I'll try again tomorrow in the daylight if they are still out there.

 

 

Until tomorrow it's another beautiful night aboard the Silver Wind.

 

[twangster]

Day Eleven - enroute to Elephant Island

 

Position report:

 

 

 

Balcony observations:

 

 

 

[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.

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by twangster

[twangster]

As promised 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 hands 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.  

Edited December 29, 2023 by twangster

[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.