Palmer Station, Antarctica

furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
edited October 12, 2010 in Landscapes
At the moment I am spending my third winter at Palmer Station in Antarctica, and it's just as stunning as my first visit.

Palmer is the smallest of the three US research stations in Antarctica, easily dwarfed by it's surroundings.
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Ice bergs can be found in the area just about year round, and like the landscape their size is hard to scale.

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Sometimes if you follow the trails left by the Penguins it will lead you to think them Mt. Climbers.

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It is a place I am glad to call my home for months at a time.

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Comments

  • Doug SolisDoug Solis Registered Users Posts: 1,190 Major grins
    edited June 1, 2010
    Oh yea, your second image is fantastic. Very dramatic looking bergs. We passed by Palmer station in January, in fact of few of you good folks came on board and gave a fantastic presentation. Keep the images coming. Its an amazing place!
  • dogwooddogwood Registered Users Posts: 2,572 Major grins
    edited June 2, 2010
    Absolutely keep the photos coming! How cool to log on tonight and see cool photos from Antarctica. Seriously, that's the absolute beauty of photography and the internet-- it enables us to easily see places we'd never otherwise see. I look forward to seeing more posts. Not sure if I'll ever make it to Antarctica but I'm still curious. What are your living conditions like? Photos? mwink.gif
    Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
    website blog instagram facebook g+

  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 2, 2010
    It is an amazing place, given this is a forum about Landscapes I'll try and keep the stuff with the wildlife to a minimum though I may end up just posting something up in the Journeys section. As I sit here it's hard to imagine any place in the world that is more magical, it is a place that needs to be examined and the more you look the more you see.
  • anwmn1anwmn1 Registered Users Posts: 3,469 Major grins
    edited June 3, 2010
    eek7.gif

    WOW!!! What an amazing place to be! Love the 3rd shot in this series. Colors, textures, and shapes all work very well. Love it!
    "The Journey of life is as much in oneself as the roads one travels"


    Aaron Newman

    Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
    Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
  • rontront Registered Users Posts: 1,473 Major grins
    edited June 3, 2010
    Awesome photos!! Please keep them coming!!

    Ron
    "The question is not what you look at, but what you see". Henry David Thoreau

    http://ront.smugmug.com/
    Nikon D600, Nikon 85 f/1.8G, Nikon 24-120mm f/4, Nikon 70-300, Nikon SB-700, Canon S95
  • aguntheragunther Registered Users Posts: 242 Major grins
    edited June 3, 2010
    Amazing. How did you get to live there? What are you doing and how much "free" time do you have for photography?
    Travel Photography
    California Photo Scout
    Travel Guides
  • E ColbyE Colby Registered Users Posts: 68 Big grins
    edited June 3, 2010
    Wow! Way cool. I am looking forward to your answers to the above questions. Thanks for sharing and am hoping for more photos.
    Cheers,
    Colby
    PS
    I'm off to check out your blog.
    "Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn't photogenic." Edward Weston
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 6, 2010
    Well I work here as a contractor for Raytheon who is the current contract holder with the NSF for the USAP. As long as I'm not in the middle of fixing stuff I get chances almost all the time to take pictures of stuff from station.

    Sadly my blog is very out of date, a casually of being too busy this past few weeks here. Hopefully in the next few days I'll get a chance to update the blog and get some new photos up here.
  • StevemacStevemac Registered Users Posts: 86 Big grins
    edited June 6, 2010
    Maybe in another life i will get there your 2nd pic of the berg is awsome.

    steve.
    www.ambient-aperture-photography.com
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemack/
  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2010
    beautiful photos and a truly enviable experience. would love to have that scenery at my backdoor! and the penguins and seals! thanks for sharing.
    - dan

    galleries
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2010
    Went out for some boating around station yesterday, and found this really cool berg.

    4677100374_b626ed5bca.jpg
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2010
    I think what would be interesting is to know what you do down there. What is your job? how many hours per day do you work? How much free time do you have? Do you have internet? Etc.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 11, 2010
    I am the station's electrician, work about 10hrs a day. Evenings and Sundays are my time, mostly. Our internet connection for the station is like the standard DSL you can get in the USA for like $30. Right now there are 18 people living on station and that will jump in September to near 40.

    The winds yesterday were pretty decent something like 50-60mph at times so I decided to try and do a few second exposures of the shore line and this is the one that I like the most. Though there are a few things I'd like to change for the next time I do it.

    any pump house in a storm?
  • dogwooddogwood Registered Users Posts: 2,572 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2010
    Looks like a pretty remote outpost! Do the buildings get drafty in the wind?
    Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
    website blog instagram facebook g+

  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2010
    furiousfart wrote: »
    Went out for some boating around station yesterday, and found this really cool berg.

    4677100374_b626ed5bca.jpg

    wow. just incredible scenery. would love to be there.
    how abundant are the wildlife near the station? are there adelie and chinstrap colonies nearby? do you occasionally see emperors down there? during your free time, how far are you able to explore the area (officially and maybe unofficially)? and how large is the island? sorry to inundate you with all these questions! but i love antarctica.
    - dan

    galleries
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2010
    While not from this year, this is one of my favorites from last year.
    Elephant seal, Mt William

    There are a few Adelie coloneys near the station. Same with Gentoo, though not so many Chin Straps. Don't think there are any Emperor but every now and then a King will be spotted in the area. By boat we can go about 2 miles in any direction from the station, and there are a bunch of small islands that are fun to explore in this range. By land there is glacier we can hike but can't go really too far due to crevices.

    The buildings do get drafty, most were built in the late 60's early 70's and not really designed to keep high winds out or the rain that it drives into any little gap that it can find.
  • Secluded ValleySecluded Valley Registered Users Posts: 176 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2010
    Wow! Amazing photos; so far the iceberg photo is my favorite. I have friends who work at McMurdo during our winter (they sent me a couple of photos of some Emperors they got to see this year). Please keep the photos coming.

    Kristine
    "How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!" ~John Muir
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2010
    WOW -- This would be a dream come true for me. I've always wanted to go to Antarctica. Can't wait to see more of your photos :D
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • aguntheragunther Registered Users Posts: 242 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2010
    Must be great to be stationed in this place. You have a unique opportunity that not many of us will ever have. Good luck on your assignment and hopefully you will have more free time in the future.
    Travel Photography
    California Photo Scout
    Travel Guides
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2010
    Had an awesome sunset today too bad I was on the opposite end of station than my camera. Though I did take a few just after the sun went down was so calm and the clouds just decided to start to break up.

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  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2010
    furiousfart wrote: »
    Had an awesome sunset today too bad I was on the opposite end of station than my camera. Though I did take a few just after the sun went down was so calm and the clouds just decided to start to break up.

    4705227538_d83e6109bf.jpg

    Beautiful :D
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,942 moderator
    edited June 15, 2010
    Heck of a place to hang out. Great photo ops too! Love the 'bergs.

    I remember doing some customer support for someone working at the station many years ago. I was sending long emails...didn't realize his connection was via a sat connection that was relayed from a ship to shore. Amazing thing the Internet was back then.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 19, 2010
    So I managed to catch some of the sunset today, was just well, awesome.

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    Also went out and checked out an Ice berg shortly after sunrise, hard to convey the size in pictures but it has to be at least 100ft out of the water.

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  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited June 19, 2010
    Looks like you had a spectacular sunset and you captured it beautifully. What was the temp out then?
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,942 moderator
    edited June 19, 2010
    That's an awesome sunset. very colorful and really beautiful. The 'berg? OMG!
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 20, 2010
    It was around 29*f when I took both pictures. Hopefully going out for some more pictures later today.
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited June 20, 2010
    furiousfart wrote: »
    It was around 29*f when I took both pictures. Hopefully going out for some more pictures later today.

    29* -- that's a heatwave in my neck of the woods during the winter :D

    Thanks for letting me know. Hope you were able to get out today to do some photo taking.
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 22, 2010
    Finally made it out to a spot that I have tried to get to each year I have been here. So the following three pictures are from the past three years of how one spot has changed so quickly.

    2008

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    2009

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    2010

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  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited June 22, 2010
    This is really interesting to see how a place changes over time.
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited June 22, 2010
    It is just wish I had some better light for the last one.
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