Antarctica

I am narrowing in on my Antarctica camera kit. I am thinking a lot about what sort of options I will want as far as lenses, etc., but also I’m thinking about how I will carry it all.

Landings are made via inflatable zodiac boats that take you from ship to shore, and sometimes you cruise around in the zodiacs as well (for getting up close to icebergs, etc.). It’s cold. Although everyone says, “It’s not as cold as you think it will be!” But you still wear expedition-weight long underwear and serious layers on land. I need my gear to be protected from water (splashes while on the zodiac) in some sort of waterproof bag. I need it to be easy to carry while I’m getting on/off the zodiacs. And then I’ll need it to be easily accessible when I’m on land. I will also need to protect it from condensation when bringing it back onto the ship from the cold after landings.

Here’s what I’m thinking, lens-wise:

16-35mm f/4
35mm f/1.4
24-70mm f/2.8
80-400mm f/4.5-5.6

This list is a work in progress.

We just booked a vacation that has been at the top of my bucket list for years. The seventh continent. (Although it’s actually only my sixth continent–eventually Africa will be my seventh continent, but no one calls Africa the seventh continent.) Next winter, I will be going to Antarctica with my husband and my uncle. It all came about after a random conversation at my dad’s funeral, of all places, a month ago. And now we are doing it.

The trip we decided on is a 13-day expedition that includes crossing the Antarctic Circle in February 2015, leaving from the tip of South America, on a ship that carries about 100 passengers.

“Excited” doesn’t convey how I actually feel. I have been OUT OF MY EVERLOVING MIND. Penguins! Icebergs! Seals! Whales! MORE PENGUINS!

Is this really happening??

ANTARCTICA. What?

Camera kit

Antarctica–for real