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Penguins, Antarctica

Photographic Departures

Polar Photographic Adventures

Travel photography is a passion at Exodus. On most Exodus holidays there are fantastic opportunities to get behind the lens of your camera and take those dream shots. Our style of travel means that you're up early, enjoying the best light of the day as the sun rises and sets.

Our Polar photographic expeditions with award-winning photographer Paul Goldstein are renowned for their popularity. Paul has a winning formula to get you in the right place at the right time, ensuring every photographic expedition follows a loose itinerary so that wildlife sightings can dictate the adventure and pace. In 2022 Paul will lead a Photographic Charter to Spitsbergen onboard the Polar Pioneer, and a Falklands and South Georgia Photographic Expedition in partnership with Mark Carwardine.   

In addition to offering specialist Polar photographic trips, we have award-winning photographers in the office to provide advice pre-trip and also run a number of dedicated wildlife photography holidays elsewhere. Read more about our Polar photographic tours below. 

'Photo expeditions in polar waters with Paul Goldstein are not for the faint-hearted. His marathon running keeps him at a preposterous level of fitness and he employs this to good effect for all of us on board ensuring no opportunities are wasted. He is a great host, hysterical raconteur and wow does he know how to teach how to take a good picture. Brutal .... perhaps, but my wife and I will not travel with anyone else.' D.T  Dundee 

'In the space of two years Paul Goldstein showed us our first Polar bears and our first King penguins. Both journeys were memorable but what made them so special was the time - the most important commodity - we had both in the ice and indeed ashore with a few million penguins and seals. We were never rushed, strove to be first on the gangway and were never short-changed. His expeditions delivered in spades and we look forward to joining him and Exodus again soon.' P.N. Shropshire

Polar Photographic Adventure Holidays

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Top tips for picture-perfect photos

Do you know your camera?
Make sure you know how to use your camera well before your holiday. If you are buying it especially for the trip, take it out beforehand and practice until you know how to operate it without looking at the manual. You will then enjoy and capture those split-second wildlife moments.

Keep a respectful distance
It will be tempting to get close to penguins and seals for that frame-filling shot, but that can be stressful for the animals (and also breaks IAATO guidelines) so don’t do it! Bring a camera that has a decent zoom or telephoto lens on it so that you can keep your distance. Your subject is more likely to behave in a calm, natural way, giving you a photo to be proud of.

How’s your camera memory?
Good-quality images need space and you will end up taking many more pictures than you thought you would. Make sure you take plenty of memory cards. Most people also take portable hard-drives or laptops to give them extra storage capacity.

Invest in a tripod or monopod
Tripods can be cumbersome to lug around, but on Polar photographic tours you won’t be walking around for too long and will often be taking pictures from the comfort of the ship. They are a great way of preventing the blurry shots caused by camera shake, especially when taking pictures in strong winds or in close-up. Tripods are also very useful for keeping images sharp when your camera is on maximum zoom; polar bears don’t always walk up to the ship!

Expert help
The best way of improving your photographs is to get some training. Book yourself on to a photography course (even one- or two-day courses can help), or join one of our photographic charters to get expert tuition while 'in the field'.

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