Outdoor Photographer January/February 2023

Photographer: Nadia Aly Location: Snow Hill, Antarctica Equipment: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM with Canon Extender EF 1.4x III Situation: Photographing emperor penguins is not an easy task. The penguins endure some of the coldest conditions on earth, and their colonies are normally quite remote. The Snow Hill colony can be accessed on rare occasions through specific expeditions. On this expedition, I was lucky to get four colony days at Snow Hill, a record for any expedition that has ever gone by boat. The most challenging part was walking on unpacked snow toward the colony; many of us would constantly fall through the snow up to our hips. This photo was a lucky moment that I captured on my last day. The snow started to fall hard, and…

Many photographers hibernate in the winter, especially those who live in locations that experience extreme weather. It’s easy to find a reason not to struggle across an inclement landscape laden with photography gear, but as our feature stories in this issue illustrate, those surroundings provide a chance to make rare images. “I love photographing in snow and harsh winter conditions,” says Charles Glatzer, “especially capturing wildlife in the struggle for survival in harsh conditions, with severe winds and temperatures well below freezing.” In “Cold Weather Wildlife,” Glatzer shares a thorough introduction to the experience, from practical tips for protecting yourself and your gear to basic camera technique for achieving correct exposures of winter scenes. What we think of as winter conditions exist year-round in Antarctica, where emperor penguins are found. Photographing these…

Charles Glatzer is a Canon Explorer of Light specializing in wildlife photography. His dynamic and inspirational teaching has also made him one of the most sought-after educators and keynote speakers in his field. Glatzer’s images and articles appear in publications worldwide. See more of his work at shootthelight.com. Nadia Aly is an award-winning underwater photographer with a focus on marine life. Her primary goal is to educate people about the diverse population of sea creatures. She is also an expedition leader, taking people swimming with whales around the world. See more of her work at nadiaaly.com. Eric Bennett has dedicated his life to nature photography, writing and conservation with the hope that he can share the value that wilderness has in its pure, unaltered state. His portfolio, tutorials, articles and new book,…

Captured In Ice Tips for photographing methane bubbles, one of winter’s most captivating phenomena. By Paul Zizka The Big Picture Amy Gulick’s regular column explores our connections to the natural world and the power of photography in support of conservation efforts. Assignments Share your best shots in our weekly “Assignments” photo challenges. Submit images that fit the week’s theme—you may be our next Assignment winner. Tip Of The Week Available on our website—or delivered directly to your inbox—our “Tip of the Week” provides shooting and processing techniques to sharpen your photography skills. Sign up today. Connect With Us Get the latest news and be inspired by great photos from the Outdoor Photographer community. Newsletter Subscribe today for updates on the latest features, how-to articles and photography news. outdoorphotographer.com/newsletter…

First Prize Reassurance By Meg Sommers “We all need a little reassurance every once in a while. One minute you are happily playing on a tree limb (which happens to be at eye level for a safari vehicle), and the next minute you hear a constant whirl of cameras clicking. You keep playing for another 20 minutes with mom always nearby. Something tells you, though, that it’s time to check in, and you move closer to her. Mom, an old hand at being a star, knows you are there without even looking. She reaches out and gives you that reassuring touch that says, ‘It’s OK, I’m here.’” Second Prize Walking the Line By Craig Elson “Iconic Amboseli. I saw this shot in my mind before I made the trip: A large elephant herd emerging from the distant…

The Fujifilm X-H2S—which since its introduction has been joined by the higher-resolution X-H2—is a fascinating successor to 2018’s X-H1. At that time, the Fujifilm X-H1 was an outlier in the Fujifilm X Series lineup. The camera was larger, featured a bigger grip and sported a large information display on top. It looked like a hybrid between the GFX series and the X Series. “Hybrid” is a fitting word since the X-H1 was also Fujifilm’s most “hybrid” camera yet. The new flagship camera was the first X Series camera to include in-body image stabilization and the first to record DCI 4K video with internal log (F-log) recording. Enter the Fujifilm X-H2S, Fujifilm’s highest-performance X Series camera ever. Speed is the name of the game with the X-H2S. Inside its SLR-style body is…