The Traveling Widower

Tag: photography

Top level category for photography related posts

  • More Antarctica Photography

    December 18th, 2025

    After two full weeks of puttering around the house, I finally dedicated a day to go through the two 500GB SD cards that I used for the Sony A7 cameras (A7IV, A7RV) on the Antarctica trip. Most of the images I have posted so far on the blog or Facebook, were captured with my phone, with a smattering of images from the cameras from a cursory pass I made of the SD cards while still traveling. I’ve just been lazy, putting this task off until yesterday. 

    This turned into a significant effort:

    1. Each card had at least 1300 separate images, each with a JPEG and RAW version. You can shoot a lot with 10 frames-per-second.
    2. I first went through each of the JPEG versions, deleting duplicates or images that I knew I’d never do anything with. Digital cameras are wonderful – unlike film, it costs nothing to take a lot of lousy shots. But if you take hundreds of images, you still have to review each one. 
    3. After going through the JPEG versions, I used the list of remaining JPEG’s to compare with the RAW images, and delete the same files. Once that was done, I then did a backup of the remaining images to my two archive drives. I will probably need a new, dedicated archive drive sometime in the near future. More toys. 
    4. Phew!  That was a lot of work. I decided I needed a glass of wine after that. 

    The end result of this process is about 650 images that need a more detailed review – still a lot, but much better than 2600, and all of them are pretty darn good. Some are amazing, and really capture the vastness, magnificence and beauty of the ice covered Antarctic landscape. And of course, there were more fun images of penguins. 

    So now I have to work on the remaining batch images, and determine which ones I want to submit for club competitions, print on acrylic (I’m turning my house into a photo gallery), or just share with friends and family (and everyone else) on the blog. I’ll probably take my time on this, but will eventually wind up with about 50 or so, “keepers”. Maybe more. A lot more. I might wind up just putting together a digital photo book for the trip, and post that on the blog.

    I have also started reviewing some of the videos I shot with my phone and the Sony A7IV camera. I have just started dabbling with video this past year, first with the GoPro, and just recently with my latest Pixel phone. I had never used the slow motion or time lapse feature that are available on both iPhone and Android cameras – fun stuff. I also tried out video on the Sony camera once or twice on the trip, since it is supposed to be one of the best features of this camera. I intend to post one or two of those in the next day or two.

    And finally, since this post seems to have evolved into another discussion on photography, I’m buying myself a Christmas present today – a new camera lens. I mentioned before that I really want to reduce the amount of gear I bring along on each trip. The camera backpack I lugged around in airports this past trip weighed in at 20lbs. That did not seem so bad on the trip down to Ushuiai, but seemed to weigh even more on the way back, as I dragged my tired body through seemingly miles of airport corridors. I also want to avoid having to carry two cameras on hikes if at all possible. It was really difficult managing two heavy cameras/lenses while stumbling around on the snow and ice when we were visiting the penguin colonies – we were not allowed to put anything on the snow, so I had to have someone hold my pack while I switched cameras. Awkward at best. 

    I’m hoping that the Tamron 25-200 lens will become my go-to for most on-shore activities, and only travel with that and the 150-500 lens. And then there is the Baja trip in February – we are limited to 6.5 pounds for carry-on, and 30 pounds for the checked bag. The Sony A7R5 weighs 4.5 pounds with a lens, and my smallest camera bag weighs 2 pounds. I will likely only bring the new lens for this trip, and one camera body. Ouch. The GoPro will fit in my pocket, or in the duffel bag. And I will have my phone as well. If the grey whales do what they are supposed to (come up to the boats for a back rub), then I should not need the long lens.

    OK, enough geeky camera stuff. Here’s a couple of images from my recent review. Oh, and I will have a post or two before February – I’m heading off to the coast in January, to visit the elephant sea lion colony at the Ano Nuevo State Park. They have docent-led walks to watch the huge males fight during mating season. No penguins though.

    A since I mentioned it, short video clip, as we cruised through an ice field:

    And maybe a few images:

  • The World is Really Big….Who Knew?

    December 5th, 2025

    After my marathon flights back from Antarctica, I intend to do more research on available flights for all of my future trips. I thought it was a bit strange to fly down to Santiago Chile via Los Angeles, a nice short hop from Sacramento, and then return via Atlanta – a seemingly endless 5 hours flight across the country. Yeah, I know I live in a non-hub city, but it just did not seem logical to book a cross country flight when return flights can wind up in Houston, Dallas and LA, leaving a much shorter hop by home. Leg cramps on an airplane are just not a lot of fun. I’d like to avoid that again. Or remember to take one of my pickle juice shots along (they really do work).

    As of a few days ago, I had three trips in 2026, and three in 2027 which require travel plans. (Baja and Iceland are fully booked). And most of them are long distance:

    Kodiak Island – multiple stops to get there (Seattle->Anchorage->Kodiak). Plus, I want to get there early and stay in Anchorage for a few days.

    Patagonia – Back to the tip of South America, returning through Ushuaia again.

    Baja (Loreto) – I wound up staying overnight in Phoenix the last time. I’ll probably do the same, and get there the day before. I can also go through Los Angeles. Meh. Not my favorite place, but it’s a very short flight back to Sacramento from there. Less time on a plane is always better.

    Churchill, Manitoba – not that far but hard to get there. Ever been to Winnipeg? Not me. That’s where we start before taking a charter flight to Churchill. Never been on my bucket list. 

    Iceland (2027) – I have airline credits with Icelandic Air, and made the flight reservations on my own for the 2026 trip. I can probably do that one on my own again since I’d be getting a free flight. You still have to go from Sacramento to either Seattle or Portland to get to Rejkavik, but there are no other choices. 

    Madagascar – I have no clue, but that’s going to be a really long haul, worse than South America. And if I extend over to Africa, it will really get complicated. I need either the Transporter or a Time Machine. Or a lot of martini’s on the flight.

    And now that I’ve been home from Antarctica for a few days, boredom has set in, and I’ve started booking more trips. I have a severe case of happy feet:

    Panama Canal/Costa Rica (March 2026) – this one starts in Panama City and ends in San Jose, Costa Rica. Good luck with that. But it’s just three months away, so I need to get my act together on that.

    Falklands/South Georgia Island (2027) – back to good ole Ushuaia, Argentina, which is rapidly becoming my home away from home. Maybe I should buy a condo there. Or a cell in the heated section of the prison.

    The Panama/Costa Rica trip is first up, so I started looking at flights before calling the Lindblad travel agency. First thing – take a look at the globe to find the shortest path to some of these places. Yikes – it is amazing how far away most of these places are from Sacramento. If it were a hub, it would be simpler, but almost every flight requires at least one inconvenient stop. And depending on the airline you select, you have to count on a transfer in either Atlanta, Dallas, or Houston 

    When you look at a global map, the distance between all these airports makes you realize why it takes so long to get to all the fun destinations I’ve been visiting. And also why it pays to be selective on how you get there. The yellow line for example, illustrates flights from Sacramento -> Atlanta, and then on to Santiago Chile. A simple switch to Los Angeles eliminates a 5 hour flight between SMF and Atlanta. The red line is for my most recent booking – Sacramento -> Houston -> Panama City. The alternative of Atlanta adds miles on both the domestic and international flights. 

    Well, that was fun. I enjoy playing with Google Earth. The visitor center on the Google main campus used to have a room, where you had a giant screen of Google Earth and Google Moon, and you could search on anything. It was a popular display for employees and visitors. It is still one of my favorite applications from my former employer. 

    It is always better to be prepared before calling travel agents. Sometimes I think they look for the most complicated flights, with minimal time in between segments. I had two hours in Atlanta between my Santiago flight, and the one to Sacramento. I lucked out – it was early in the morning, so customs was not packed. Or maybe they figured out how to be more efficient. Nah. 

    I have a bit of time now before I have to book flights for upcoming flights. Kodiak Island is next, followed by Patagonia. This give me lots of time to figure out the best routes. And to buy more of those little pickle juice shots No more high altitude cramps please.