Icebergs at Dawn, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, 2004 photo

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eleven: Aspects of Antarctica – a travel photo-essay > Icebergs at Dawn, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, 2004

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08-JAN-2004

Icebergs at Dawn, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, 2004

The second image in this photo-essay offers a change of pace from the previous image. It is calm, rather than turbulent. The colors are warmer, the sea flat. The churning waters dominating the previous image may be gone, yet the rhythmic flow of the clouds implies memories of those waves. The key to this image, however, is the enormous iceberg floating in the distance. Vast in size, it is seen here very small in scale, suggesting the enormity of this continent.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/1250s f/8.0 at 28.8mm hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	08-Jan-2004 16:52:50
Make	Canon
Model	PowerShot G5
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	28.8 mm
Exposure Time	1/1250 sec
Aperture	f/8
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias
White Balance	(-1)
Metering Mode	multi spot (3)
JPEG Quality	(6)
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis		17-Apr-2006 06:04
Glad I got your imagination going, Shirley. And yes, I do see progress in your links. Your images are less descriptive, more abstract, and leave more room for the imagination to roam.

Shirley Wang		16-Mar-2006 11:49
I see a boat waiting long for a rescue during a past storm, and then see hope in the small patch of blue sky and the sunlight coming through. Phil, I just put some photos using cloud and sunlight. Hope you can see the progress :http://www.pbase.com/wangxh/the_struggle http://www.pbase.com/wangxh/a_bridge

Phil Douglis		24-Jan-2006 05:00
Xin, I never saw those clouds as whimsical. I saw the iceberg as a ship, and the staggering scale incongruity of ice berg to seascape. But whimsy was never on my list. Now I look at those clouds and smile!

Sheena Xin Liu		18-Jan-2006 01:28
This is truly a spectacular image with immense visual impression. I love the whimsical clouds and the boat-like iceberg. So breathtaking...

Guest		27-Oct-2004 23:16
An amazing shot from a breathtaking gallery. Kudos, Phil on a fine photojournal from another great journey.

Phil Douglis		10-Feb-2004 05:07
Thanks, Anna -- your comment grasps the basic incongruity of Antarctica. It giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other. Somewhere, somehow, there is always the threat of a storm down there, where the winds whip round and round a continent with nothing at all to stop them. Even when the sun bathes the sea in gold as in this shot, part of that sea appears to be jet black, warning us not to get too comfortable. Two hours later we were cruising through the middle of a snow storm. And so it goes down there. As for this image's relationship to the previous photo of the surging sea that swirls around Cape Horn, that was my intention in terms of sequencing. When you arrange your photographs in essay form, one must lead into the other in some way, each image accumulating meaning so by the end of the essay your knowledge and understanding of the subject is greater than it was at the beginning. I wanted you to share this visit to Antarctica with me, to come to know it and feel it as I did, and from your words, I know that you have.

Anna Yu		10-Feb-2004 04:53
Hi Phil, This is truly a majestic image. I like the threatening grey color of the clouds and most of all the sunlight coming through them. It's like the departure of the storm of the previous picture. Regards/Anna

Phil Douglis		28-Jan-2004 20:16
Cecilia -- you make an interesting point about the scale of that iceberg. You are right, this picture does not tell you how large that iceberg really is, because that's not the point I am trying to make here. As you so eloquently note, this image is about the isolation and vast scale of Antarctica. The huge iceberg, seen so small on this enormous stage, makes that point vividly clear. As you also say, the calmness of this photograph contrasts strongly to the violent seas in the opening shot of the essay -- announcing our arrival at the end of the earth.

Cecilia Lim		28-Jan-2004 19:07
By contrasting the opening turbulant shot with this calm, soothing one really gives us a sense that you have arrived in a different world! I didn't really feel the enormity of the icebergs as seen in this scale, but the overwhelming space of nothingness surrounding it, with no other land in sight, tells me that this place is indeed very isolated and truly very far away at the end of the world!

Phil Douglis		27-Jan-2004 01:18
Marek -- this is all about space. I did look at it in monochrome and also in duotone, but losing the color took the edge off the surreal feeling given to this picture by those coppery clouds. You are right -- it is all about space and scale incongruity, within a surreal context. As for your seasickness, you are probably still reeling from the previous image. This picture was meant to calm your stomach, not upset it.

Phil Douglis		26-Jan-2004 23:17
Lisa, this picture is about the immensity of space. That's what Antarctica is all about. Scale. This picture not really about icebergs -- it is about a vast sea, the light, the color, and finally, the huge icebergs that float about in it -- so big, they can seen from miles away, as in this shot.

Guest		26-Jan-2004 20:05
I love the composition and the sense of sheer space this image communicates, but I have to say I would love it even more in monochrome -- The colours are really sending me mixed signals, making me feel quesy -- or is that the intention? ;-)

Guest		26-Jan-2004 11:55
Beautiful lighting, I love the shaft of light falling on the water to the right. Very unusual iceberg shot.....the temptation must be to get in close and overwhelm w. the scale but this awes you in a quieter way.

Phil Douglis		26-Jan-2004 01:47
Hi, Jill, The colors are just as I saw them. I run all of my pictures through Photoshop to add a bit of contrast and saturation, but the original image had virtually the same coloration as this one. Spellbound? So was I. The whole time. Thanks, Phil.

Jill		26-Jan-2004 01:16
Did you intensify the sky with PS or is this the actual color/formation? When one actually studies this image one can feel/see how truly beautiful such a place can be. Spellbound I am.

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