Sunrise Photos, Ushuaia, Argentina
Wave breaking on rocks at sunrise near Ushuaia in Southern Argentina.
Sunrise in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, will help to refine your photo skills before the trip to Antarctica.
Located in Tierra del Fuego province in Argentina Ushuaia is the starting point for most cruises to the Antarctic Peninsular from the South American mainland.
I was in Ushuaia for a few days prior to co-running a photography tour with my friend David Burren to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula.
This was one of the first images I made. It wasn’t a spectacular sunrise, nor was it an amazing location. But it was only a few minutes walk from our hotel and it offered lots of space for us to explore.
I must say the exercise and the cool morning air really helped shrug off the sluggishness after my long flight from Australia.
A golden sunrise beneath a stormy sky in Ushuaia, Argentina.
If The Light’s Not Great, Just Wait
One great advantage of being close to either the north or south pole is the longer period of time it takes for the sun to rise or set.
This provides far more opportunities for photos at sunrise and sunset than would be the case at locations closer to the equator.
Light changes with the weather and, on this particular morning, some pretty dramatic images came about because of changes in the light.
The lesson here is not to give up. If the light’s not great just wait, things change and sometimes those changes are dramatic, but also short lived.
Having your camera ready will increase your opportunities for success. Packing it away in your bag can lead you to miss magic moments like this image of a golden sunrise beneath a stormy sky in Ushuaia.
The light had become quite bleak then, just for a few moments, the clouds parted and the warm light of sunrise shone through.
You might decided to pack your camera away to help keep it out of the elements. No problem, just try to get in the habit of ensuring the basic settings like aperture, ISO and white balance are set prior to packing it away.
That should enable you to whip it out fast, tweak a few settings and make some photos before the light changes.
Seagulls, perched on a rock, on a lonely beach near Ushuaia, Argentina.
A Photo Walk On The Edge Of The World
Some of us photographers had arranged to meet in town a few days prior to the tour beginning.
Being such a long way away from home it was good to have a few days to recover from the long flight and to re-acquaint ourselves with our gear prior to the tour starting in earnest.
Frankly, I'd had a very tough year and a terribly hectic time prior to leaving home. What’s more I didn’t sleep a wink on the long flight from Australia.
Needless to say I really struggled getting out of bed on that first morning in Ushuaia.
But, ultimately, how and when we get out of bed largely determines what we make of the opportunities that come our way during the day.
With that in mind, and after prompts from my room mate, I made the effort and, with some of my newly found friends, was rewarded with beautiful warm light amidst rain-bearing clouds.
The dramatic light didn't last all that long and was replaced with an eerie, mournful light that was harder to photography but, nevertheless, compelling.
You can see just how eerie that light became in this photo of two seagulls perched on a rock as waves rolled into a rocky beach.
Sunrise at De la Estancia on the outskirts of Ushuaia, Argentina.
Photographing The Breaker In Ushuaia
From a compositional point of view the L shape of the rock-constructed breaker at De la Estancia, on the outskirts of Ushuaia, provides a strong foreground element and a graphic shape.
It's relatively easy for the eye to jump from this foreground element to the tongue of land extending through the mid ground and onto the mountains in the distant background.
It could be argued that the other photographers kind of get in the way, but they do add a sense of scale to the image.
(Note to other photography tutors - I wouldn't be the one arguing that point as they are, of course, paying customers).
Advantage Of Visual Tension In A Photograph
The repeating patterns of warm and cool colors add a sense of disquiet to the image that contrast the calm and quiet, associated with the color blue, with the frenzy and drama of the hot pinkish red light.
This disquiet is an example of the kind of visual tension that often contributes to the success of an image.
Ushuaia, Then Down To Antarctica
It was an awesome trip during which time I met a load of great people and made some good friends.
There were, in fact, three separate tour groups on the Polar Pioneer which, by the way, is a ship manufactured in Finland, crewed by Russians and operated by the great folks from Aussie company Aurora Expeditions.
As well as photographers there was also a group of kayakers and a team of underwater divers.
The photographers and kayakers came from a variety of countries. The divers were all Russian and a great bunch of people.
It was after meeting some of these folks, particularly the group leader Vladimir, that I decided I wanted to travel to Russia, which I did the following year.
Ushuaia is a long way from, pretty much, everywhere. But it’s also the starting point for many tours to South Georgia and/or Antarctica.
Given the very long flight to Ushuaia, and the even longer time spent at sea, I recommend a few days break in either Ushuaia or Buenos Aires before your Antarctic adventure begins.
