It was 18 months ago that we started planning the Ultimate Antarctica trip. Now the time is here, and photographers from all over the world are heading to Ushuaia where we will all join up and board the Ocean Nova for a 21 day trip to South Georgia Island and then Antarctica. We only do this trip every five years or so because it is a long trip and its hard to book a whole ship as I have for this trip.

The Ocean Nova is the perfect expedition ship. It’s comfortable and capable and has one of the best crews in the industry. The crew on the Ocean Nova has been on the ship as long as I can remember. They are so friendly and will go out of their way to make clients comfortable and happy, especially at the bar.

The Expedition team is the group that drives our zodiacs and are all individual specialists in various polar expertises. They have all been with us before and know how to work with photographers. Their goal is to make sure we get the shot. They’ll make sure we are in the rights spots and the right time for the best light.

I am fortunate enough to be traveling with my wife Debra on this trip. On the last Antarctica Voyage in February 2015 we got married on a beach at Neko Harbor. That had to be one of the best days of my life. Along with me this year we have some great instructors. Steve Gosling, Peter Cox, Hans Strand, Carr Clifton and Ignacio Palacios. This group represents some of the finest talents in the field. This trip is a full-time learning experience as we will have lectures, critiques and we just talk photography the whole time.

We’ll see some of the most incredible sights along the way. We can expect whales, many varieties of birds, penguins in the thousands, old whaler bases, and pristine landscapes. Antarctica has a habit of throwing visual scenes at you non-stop. There will be many very long days as we get in as much photography as we can.

Meals on board are top notch, and everyone enjoys the day end cocktail hour and wrap-ups and debriefings. I’ll be off the grid from the 9th until the 30th. We have scheduled articles for the duration we are away. Chris is staying behind to maintain the shop and work on a large number of ongoing video projects. December will be a busy month with more gear report and some interesting articles and essays.

We’ll see a wide variety of camera gear on this trip. I’ll report after the trip on the gear that worked and also what didn’t work.

I am bringing Fuji gear on this trip. This will include a Fuji X-T2, X-Pro 2, 10-24mm, 18-55mm, 16-55mm, 50-140mm, 100-400mm, and 23mm 1.4 lens. This should allow me to cover just about anything I encounter in Antarctica. Of course, I have a load of batteries and chargers. I am carrying all of this in my reliable Dakine 30L Reload backpack.

My wife Debra will be shooting with the Olympus system shown in my previous video. She has the 8mm, 7-14mm, 12-40mm and 40-150mm plus the 300mm lens. She’ll be shooting with an O-MD E-1 and EM5 as well as a Pen-F. She carries her kit in the same Dakine 30L Reload bag.

When I return, I’ll have an extensive trip log – article. We just announced our 2018 Antarctica workshop. The next trip is a visit to South Of The Circle. It’s a fly-over-the-Drake trip and is an excellent opportunity to experience Antarctica without the five days at sea crossing the Drake Passage. Check it out and consider joining us.

We are both downloading to Mac Laptops. I’ll be using a MacBook Pro that is five years old, and Debra has a new MacBook. My new MacBook Pro will be waiting for me on my return. We both use Capture One and have dual back-ups for use while on the ship.

Take A Tour Of The Ocean Nova With Kevin

Kevin Raber
November 2018