Shooting glaciers

[banjowine]

Hi:

I will be going on a cruise to Antarctica in January. Hopefully
it will be very sunny. What filters and/or hood filters should I use
to reduce the glare and get the best colors when shooting glaciers,
blue, blue water and ice? I just got an HV 40. I will be shooting
with and without a wide angle lens (53mm).

Thanks in advance.

I searched for this topic but could not find an answer, so please
forgive me if this has already been answered.

[cgbier]

I'd suggest an UV filter, a polarizer and plenty of NDs.

[Matt Greenfield]

Hi:

I will be going on a cruise to Antarctica in January. Hopefully
it will be very sunny. What filters and/or hood filters should I use
to reduce the glare and get the best colors when shooting glaciers,
blue, blue water and ice?

One of my last shoots prior to buying my HV20 was a glacier cruise out of Seward, Alaska. I used a circular polarizer, set exposure and white balance to a handheld grey card, underexposing by a half stop, and got good results.

However, the accessory that made the most difference? An old slr strap I was using to hold the camera to my chest. Trying to operate a camera on a pitching boat means you're always a hand short to begin with, especially when you've got to deal with gloves as well (I strongly recommend special photographers gloves) and the chest strap paid for itself in spades when, just as I had both hands on the camera and none on the railing, the boat went in one direction and my feet in the other. Fortunately I landed "well*" and my double padded hat saved my skull but my chest strap was all that saved my camera... because, believe me, when the options are between falling and breaking your neck and letting go of the camera, you let go of the camera.

*And by "well" I mean nothing was broken and I only ached for a few days.

[banjowine]

Thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate it.

Two more questions. What type of winter gloves do you recommend.

What type of harness did you use?

I saw this one and it looked intriguing:

http://www.mybinocularharness.com/index.html

[Erik Bien]

What type of winter gloves do you recommend?

For warmth plus dexterity, my current favorites are Glacier Glove Kenais.

[Matt Greenfield]

Thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate it.

Two more questions. What type of winter gloves do you recommend.

What type of harness did you use?

All I was using was an old SLR camera strap... it was a last minute rig thrown together once I stopped to think about how awkward doing everything in cold weather gear on a rolling boat was going to be... I just had the strap wrapped bandoleer style around my shoulder and my waist on the opposite side, with enough slack that I could hold the camera comfortably in front of me. The one you've linked to looks pretty secure, although I'd personally want something that would let me hold the camera a little further away from my body.

As for the gloves, the ones Erik is linking to look fantastic.