I stood at the edge of the glacier, my heart pounding in my chest. The ice stretched out before me, a vast and seemingly endless expanse of white. I was filled with a sense of awe and wonder, but also a touch of fear. What if the ice gave way? What if some fell and I was crushed? I took a deep breath and stepped forward. The ice was surprisingly solid underfoot, and I quickly found my rhythm. I walked for what felt like hours, my eyes taking in the vastness of it all. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a deep blue, textured with wispy clouds. The only sound was the crunch of my boots on the ice.

As I walked, I thought about the power of nature. The glacier was a force of nature, and it was humbling to be in its presence. I felt small and insignificant, but also connected to something much larger than myself as I touched the walls of ice. After a while, I came to a small stream of water. The water was clear and cold, and I took a few sips. It was refreshing, and it helped to quench my thirst. I continued walking, and soon I came to a bend in the glacier. I stopped and looked around. The view was breathtaking. The glacier stretched out in all directions, and the mountains rose up in the distance.

I stood there for a long time feeling a sense of peace and tranquility before starting the long walk home.

The Glacier Wall

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-17 10:48:13
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/500
• Aperture11
• ISO64
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

I must have seen dozens of glaciers in Antarctica while flying around in a helicopter with my friend Hef. When not in Antarctica, he flies for Southern Helicopters on the South Island of New Zealand. I’ve flown around some glaciers there with him too! Small world!

Endless Glaciers

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-09 19:14:44
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1600
• Aperture4
• ISO100
• Focal Length113.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias-0.3

This was quite the surprise! I was out about an hour’s snowmobile ride from the base in Antarctica camping out. The New Zealand base (Scott Base) puts out a series of flags to mark “roads” across the ice. After building our little camp, I went on a mini Photo Walk to explore the starkness. Out of nowhere, i saw this random Kiwi with a huge sail in the air while wearing skis. He went whizzing by almost too fast for a photo!

Sailing Across Antarctica

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-07 19:30:44
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/2000
• Aperture4.5
• ISO125
• Focal Length22.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

On my first day in Antarctica, I was shipped off to survival training. This was a great idea because I’m not much of a survivalist and I could do with a bit of training. We spent most of the day building an ice-block kitchen to block the wind so we could cook some food, set up some blizzard-proof tents, and digging out an ice-cave to sleep in. Now, I didn’t dig out most of this cave, but I definitely got down inside to enjoy its benefits. By the way, in the winter it never gets dark there, so this is what it looks like around midnight.

Sleeping in an Ice Cave

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-08 10:16:05
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1600
• Aperture4
• ISO50
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias+0.7

Of all the crazy things I did for the month I was in Antarctica, probably one of my favorite nightly rituals was a hike out on the ice fields. Sometimes those nights would go all the way into the morning. It’s hard to tell since it’s bright all the time and my watch was often under layers of coats! But it’s a good place to let time drift away and take photos forever.

Morning in the Ice Folds in Antarctica

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-12 02:47:50
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/750
• Aperture11
• ISO160
• Focal Length18.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

After being stuck out in the Dry Valleys for days longer than expected, our friend Hef finally came in with a pickup. There’s actually a ton of equipment that has to be picked up too in addition to all our poop and pee. They take poop and pee very seriously out there… not one drop left behind.

Emergency Pickup in Antarctica

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-17 20:43:27
• CameraILCE-7S
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/8000
• Aperture6.3
• ISO500
• Focal Length17.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-1.3

Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.

We got to spend the day here after a helicopter dropped us off from the main New Zealand base. It was amazing to be here and I can’t imagine living here 100 years ago. It has been meticulously re-done by an incredible group of people committed to showing exactly how it was during the time of those original explorers. It’s too bad that it is almost impossible to visit… but hats off to the tremendous work that went into it!

Antarctica

Shackleton’s Hut

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-09 13:14:01
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/20
• Aperture9.5
• ISO200
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.

On the main continent of Antarctica are countless glaciers that spill out across the landscape. This was located in the Dry Valleys, where a helicopter took me out to camp for about a week.

There was absolutely no one around, and there is a strange loneliness standing near something so daunting and timeless. I would walk along the edge for miles, occasionally stepping over ice-boulders or across icy streams to touch its surface.

Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Cowering at the Wall of Ages

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-17 10:22:27
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1000
• Aperture9.5
• ISO100
• Focal Length19.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

After a 10+ hour plane ride on that LC-130 on the right, we landed on those skis you see beneath the plane on the ice shelf. It wasn’t the smoothest landing in the world. We didn’t have windows by the seats (we were strapped into the walls like GIs about to parachute into France on D-Day), and the pilots later told me we landed so hard the tips of the wings almost hit the ground. Fun!
Anyway, after we got off, we boarded one of the largest land vehicles in existence. As you can see, it has the name “Ivan the Terra Bus.” Thank God it had a heater in there, because it was a little colder than I expected, and I expected a lot of cold.

Arriving in Antarctica

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-06 17:23:51
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/8000
• Aperture4.5
• ISO100
• Focal Length17.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias-2

It was well over 10 hours from Christchurch, New Zealand to Antarctica and this was our temporary home. I had never been on a plane in these conditions, so it was great to experience something new. However, before I got on board, my friend Stu and I were warned about something that scared us.

We had a briefing from a woman that works for Antarctica NZ before we went. She told us the plane would have people going to the four bases down there: New Zealand, USA, Italy, and South Korea. Each one wore a different uniform. Of course, the Italians had the coolest uniforms that looked like red leather jetfighters that just jumped out of a Ferrari. Anyway, I’m getting off the point.

So this lady told us not to make eye-contact with anyone else on the plane and absolutely no photos allowed. We were like, WTF? We thought Antarctica was some kind of international kumbaya place where we all work together on cool science and stuff. Anyway, she was a total loon… and I completely ignored her and moved around the plane to meet almost everyone and take a ton of photos.

Somewhere above Antarctica.

The Long Flight to Antarctica

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-01-06 10:04:26
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/200
• Aperture
• ISO2000
• Focal Length0.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias