Luminous Landscape - Crossing the Antarctic Circle - 2009

This series of images was captured during a trip to the Antarcica in January 2009.

We set sail from Ushuaia on board the MV Ocean Nova and crossed the dreaded Drake Passage. Our first stops after crossing the Drake were the South Shetland Islands, but the weather wasn't the best for good photography. Weather conditions didn't improve much as we travelled south into the Gerlache Strait and the Lemaire Channel. So, agreement was reached that we head out into open sea to go as far south as ice conditions would allow rather than follow the planned route. We crossed the Antarctic Circle, which brought us into Marguerite Bay. We had gone pretty much as far south as it's possible to go at this time of year and a lot further than most from the expedition team had ever been before. We were very lucky in Marguerite Bay as a high-pressure system brought much improved weather conditions. Many photos were taken from the ship and zodiacs, and we even managed a few island landings. With 24hr daylight and lots to photograph we didn't get a lot of sleep. The Captains' next trick was to navigate "The Gullet", which is an ice crammed channel between the mainland and Adelaide Island. It took us about 6 hours to make our way through. Actually, we were told that it's VERY rare to get near "The Gullet", let alone through it. Unfortunately, the weather was again closing in on us. We also spent a couple of days cruising the Errera and Neumayer Channels, and again had the opportunity to land on islands such as Petermann Island, Useful Island and Port Lockroy. Overall the trip was a great success with the poor weather at South Shetland being more than compensated for by everything that followed. In each location we had the opportunity to explore and photograph the unique landscape and wildlife found at the bottom of the world. The following images are a small selection of the 5500 plus images I returned with.