Tom Bol's Antarctic "Icescape Escapades"

Outdoor and nature photographer Tom Bol just got back from Antarctica. "It was really a fun trip," says Tom. "It was a bit wild crossing the Drake Passage with 35-foot seas and 45-knot winds. We had a couple of days with some sun, so I had the chance to use my Singh-Ray filters for a few nice 'icescapes' including this one."

While we were cruising around last week in Antarctica, I was more overwhelmed than I have been in a long, long time. There were just too many things to photograph! Each time the boats turned a corner, a stunning new scene would appear, prompting me to jog continually from one side of the ship to the other -- wishing I could spend weeks, not days, in this area. Our landings consisted of mingling with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of penguins. Note to myself... bring more flash cards the next time.

One day we had some sunny skies as we were cruising an ice-choked channel. Due to the intense sun and glare of the snow and ice, I knew two tools would help me with these images... a Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer and Graduated ND filter. The water in this channel was deep blue, so adding a 2-stop soft-edged Graduated ND filter to hold back the snowy mountains helped control the contrast and saturated the blue sky. I also used the polarizer to cut the reflecting glare and enhance the blue sky. Because our boat was constantly moving, tripods wouldn't work, so I used the large 4x6-inch ND Grads which proved easy to hand hold while the boat and I moved... that marks the beginning of a new technique for me."

Tom added this postscript image captured as he was working with a group of his students during the Drake Passage crossing. "We were actually getting some sunny weather," recalls Tom, "and the second I looked off the back of the ship at the engine's wake and the high waves I knew it was a perfect opportunity to use my Vari-ND and a very slow 4-second exposure. All the image needed was something to anchor the shot, and the bright red color in the flag was a great contrast to the green colored water.

To see more of Tom's work, be sure to visit his website.