Mark

February 20, 2006: Today began early with a 6 am wake-up call for the intrepid souls who planned to climb Spigot Peak. This conical point rises up from the water roughly 300 metres and is backed by even taller mountains. The rest of us set off in Zodiacs for the much lower Danco Island, a 1.5-kilometre long land mass in the southern end of the Errera Channel. We had two objectives: observing gentoo penguins and climbing to the highest point on the island for a view over a spectacular part of the Antarctic Peninsula.

February 17, 2006: Although only five days have elapsed, it seems ages since we left Patagonia. So much has happened in those five days! We had to leave El Chalten very early on Friday morning to be in time for the flight to Ushuaia at 2.30 pm. The bus trip to El Calafate airport normally takes about five hours but you have to allow for delays caused by roadworks, burst tyres, etc. The early start had its advantages, though, as we were able to photograph the mountains as the first rays of sun illuminated their craggy contours.

February 18, 2006: At sea at last, on the way to Antarctica. Friday, 16 February was spent in Ushuaia, preparing for our voyage south. Our tour leader, Milton Sams, urged us to be up early to see our ship, Professor Molchanov, arrive in port at around 6.30 am. Six keen photographers were on the viewing platform shortly after six, where we were able to photograph a spectacular sunrise and see two suitably-sized ships approaching. Later we discovered the Professor Molchanov had arrived ahead of schedule and was already in dock!

February 8, 2006: Patagonia at last! The Nikon D200 and Sony camcorder got their first real workout today as we have now embarked on the “real” part of our trip. Our arrival in El Calafate yesterday evening coincided with the arrival of another plane full of tourists and the town is absolutely packed with visitors. It’s difficult to find accommodation – and seating in restaurants – unless you pre-book. One of the benefits of joining an organised tour is having all this taken care of, leaving you free to enjoy as much as possible.

February 12, 2006: Two days ago we travelled by bus from El Calafate to El Chalten, which sits at the foot of the mountain of the same name. The mountain has been renamed “Mount Fitzroy” after the captain of Charles Darwin’s ship, The Beagle, but its original name, which means “the smoking mountain” is more appropriate today. There’s been cloud hanging off the peak since we left our accommodation this morning.

February 5, 2006: It’s hot in Buenos Aires; as hot as Sydney in February – and just as sticky and humid. This isn’t surprising as the latitude of both cities is similar, around 35 degrees south. Since we arrived yesterday, the sky has been cloudy and we had rain for virtually all this morning. This is neither the place nor the weather for a digital SLR so I’ve only used the Ixus 750 since I arrived. Being small and inconspicuous, this camera is ideal if you don’t want the label “tourist” to float invisibly over your head. Other tourists also carry compact digicams, so you can fit into the normal scene.

The volunteer organisers of the massive Daylesford Foto Biennale this year bettered the impressive inaugural festival in both scope and size.

Unlike its hard edged, high contrast counterpart in Australia, the Golden State’s sunshine often has a kind of warm, enveloping quality that seems ever so subtly to open up the shadows and soften the highlights. Perhaps it’s something to do with the cold Pacific Ocean which every summer creates dense fogs along the coast for weeks at a time. Or maybe it’s the ever present photochemical haze created by car exhaust and, in some cases, the vegetation on California’s chapparal clad hills. Whatever the particulars of its origins, it is an ideal light for landscape photography.