After such an action packed day yesterday, I slept
like a log and woke refreshed and energised for another big day of landings.
Jason had given a slideshow presentation last night,
at the request of our expedition leader Chris. We had been getting a bit of
special treatment - disembarking
first and coming back on the last zodiac from every landing. Jason needed to
maximise his shooting time, so it was a good idea to explain to everyone why we
were in Antarctica.
Not surprisingly, his photographs were received with
great appreciation. There are quite a few serious amateurs on board, so Jason
has become an instant celebrity. He get’s cornered everywhere he goes and
there’s always someone knocking on his cabin door.
What really astonished me was how patient he is with
everyone, no matter if they had a little point-and-shoot or a lens kit to rival
his own. If someone had a question for him, he would always do his best to
answer and educate. This is a rare quality in a professional photographer, so
lucky for me again!
We had a landing at Prospect Point in the morning,
where we encountered a small colony of moulting Adelie penguins. It was
difficult to shoot as there were brightly clothed people everywhere, but I did
manage to compose a few clean frames before it got too crowded.
In the afternoon we took a zodiac cruise around the
Fish Islands, were we saw more Adelies and a big gaggle of inquisitive
cormorants. They swam right up to the zodiacs, diving under and around. Good
thing we were cruising with the motors off.
I had been taking mostly portraiture up till now; it’s
what I instinctively look for. But under Jason’s direction I applied myself
more to the natural history side of photography today, trying to find simple,
architectural compositions among the ice and glacial formations. There were
definitely more misses than hits, but I thinks there’s a couple of solid frames
that will end up in my final selection.
