Antarctica has some of the most dramatic scenery on Earth: glowing blue icebergs, glaciers, jagged snowy mountains and sunsets that light everything up gold. But landscape photography in Antarctica is harder than it looks. The weather changes constantly, you're usually shooting from a moving boat, and the scale is so huge it's tricky to capture. Here's how I approached it, from icebergs and mountains to golden hour and stormy skies.
This is part of my Antarctica series. See also what it’s like travelling to Antarctica, wildlife photography in Antarctica and my Antarctica photography tips and camera gear.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
How to photograph icebergs
The icebergs in Antarctica come in the most unique shapes and the most beautiful shades of blue. Surprisingly, I struggled to photograph them at first. I always thrive when I have a subject, and an iceberg on its own in a grey sea can look flat. What helped was getting closer on the zodiac cruises, filling the frame with their textures, and looking for the bright turquoise ice where the light shines through. Here's me figuring it out.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Add a subject for scale
It's really hard to show how enormous everything is in Antarctica. A glacier wall can look like a small cliff until you put a zodiac in front of it. Adding people or boats gives your photos instant scale and a story. I switched to my Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM and waited for our zodiac to line up with a mountain, with a small piece of ice in the foreground as an anchor. See how I set it up.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Show the place, not just the penguins
As a portrait photographer, my instinct was to get lots of close-ups of the penguins. But close-ups could have been taken anywhere. Wider, atmospheric shots that include the landscape give your images so much more context and make them unmistakably Antarctica.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Port Lockroy is a great example. It's home to Antarctica's only post office, museum and gift shop, with old whalebones on the shore and incredible mountains all around, so there's plenty to put in the frame alongside the penguins.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Photograph mountains with a telephoto lens
You don't need a wide-angle lens for every landscape. Some of my favourite mountain photos were taken with the 200-600mm, which let me pick out the jagged peaks and the light hitting them from the ship. Telephoto lenses compress the layers of mountains, clouds and sea, and make the peaks feel even bigger.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Golden hour and sunsets in Antarctica
For most of our trip the sky was grey, so when the sun finally came out it was magic. One afternoon the clouds parted in the middle of a photography talk to reveal golden mountains and low clouds, and everyone ran back to their cabins for their cameras. That's my biggest tip: keep your cameras ready with memory cards in and lenses attached, so you can grab them the second the light changes. Watch that moment.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Another evening we had the most beautiful sunset of the whole trip, and almost everyone was out on deck. I started on the 200-600mm for close-up mountain details, then switched to the 35mm and the 70-200mm to make the most of the light. See the sunset here.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
In summer the days are very long. Sunrise was around 4am, which was honestly later than I expected!
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Embrace the moody weather
The weather in Antarctica is constantly changing, and on our last days a storm caught up with us, with rain, snow and wind strong enough to push me over. It's tough to shoot in, but stormy skies and low clouds add so much drama to a landscape. Between showers we even got rainbows over the water.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
For how I protected my gear and what to pack for shooting in those conditions, see my Antarctica photography tips and camera gear.
Edited with my Aspen preset.
Antarctica landscape photography FAQ
What is the best lens for landscape photography in Antarctica?
Bring a range. A 35mm or wider lens is great for showing scale with zodiacs and people, while a telephoto like a 70-200mm or 200-600mm is perfect for picking out mountain peaks and iceberg details.
How do you photograph icebergs?
Get close on a zodiac cruise, fill the frame with their shapes and textures, look for the bright blue ice where light shines through, and add a subject like a boat or penguin for scale.
When is the best light in Antarctica?
In summer the days are very long and sunrise can be around 4am. The light changes quickly with the weather, so keep your camera ready for when the clouds break.
How do you show scale in Antarctica photos?
Include something people recognise, like a zodiac, a person or a penguin. It makes glaciers, icebergs and mountains suddenly look as huge as they really are.
What preset did you use for these photos?
All the photos were edited with my Aspen Lightroom preset pack.
All the photos in this post were edited with my Aspen Lightroom preset pack. Browse all my packs in the Lightroom Presets for Portraits collection, and if you're stuck between a few, you can buy any 3 presets and save 10%.
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