Mud, rain and guano. That was our first landing in Antarctica, at Hannah Point on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. The landing was wet on tumbled stone, and we hurried to assemble cameras and lenses after carrying everything ashore in drybags.
Up the shore and on to rocky climbs ranged a colony of Gentoos, and higher up a tight huddle of Chinstrap penguins, concealing a few slightly lost Macaroni penguins. Giant Petrels were perched on the heights, glowering down at us. Visions of pristine penguins on a background of snow and ice were gone – although that was to come later – and we were surrounded by a sloppy combination of mud and guano. At least we weren’t covered in it, like some of the penguins!
For the first few minutes I think I was in a daze, wanting to get to my business of photographing, but too overwhelmed by sights and sounds to do much yet. Antarctica is a place I’ve been dreaming of for a long time, and being there, being surrounded by it was almost too much – I forgot a few basic things like wearing gloves, and my fingers didn’t thank me for that! The first landing was always going to be overwhelming though, as much as you dream about and anticipate it, there’s nothing that quite prepares you for it.
A Chinstrap propelled out of the water and crash landed on the shore. A brief struggle to regain posture, a shake, and then an industrious waddle up the rocks back to the rest of the colony. That was enough to get me out of my daze and start shooting. I had to let go of worrying about missing a moment, and focus on composing nice photographs. Balancing that with sheer excitement was quite difficult, but despite this, I got some of my favourite photos at Hannah Point.
After that landing we decided that it would be best to carry two camera bodies – one with a long lens and one with a wider one. The Fujifilm X100 was permanently glued to me, but it wasn’t ideal for the landscapes I found myself wanting to take. It was much more useful for the Zodiac rides, and also panoramas.
So what’s it like, landing for the first time in Antarctica? I don’t remember it being cold, although it probably was. Afterwards others were complaining about the smell of the penguin colony, but that didn’t phase me either. It’s wild and remote, and there’s nowhere else that I’ve felt like more of an alien on my own planet.
