Picture Tales: Landscape - Image 03

This picture was taken from the deck of a ship as it passed through the Neumeyer Straits off the coast of Grahamland, Antarctica. The magnitude of the scenery is difficult to grasp because the Antarctic continent has no significant vegetation or buildings to give scale. However, the ice-cliffs along the distant water's edge are typically three hundred feet high.

The camera was hand held because the vibration of the moving ship made the use of a tripod impossible. Contrast was high, so I exposed mainly for the snow and let the water go dark. The bottom of the image has been cropped because there was little interest in the foreground.

The most significant element of the scene is, however, not directly visible - the temperature. The picture was taken at about 0400, which was possible because midsummer daylight continues for 24 hours per day at this latitude. The temperature was around -15^oC at the time - almost a heat-wave in this part of the world. However, camera batteries and cameras can fail in unexpected and spectacular fashion in such cold conditions. Spare batteries must be kept warm inside clothing and swapped with those in the camera every 30 minutes or so. Many cameras mechanisms also fail because lubricant is unsuitable for polar conditions - read the temperature specification before setting off. My Nikon F5 kept going - perhaps that is part of what you pay for!