Snow Hill, Antarctica – 2010 LARGE: 65” x 56” • 80” x 71” (Framed). Edition of 12 STANDARD: 43” x 37” • 58” x 52” (Framed). Edition of 12 This is a sister image to one that was first published in my book Wild Encounters. Ihave never talked with much enthusiasm about this photograph, because it wastaken in the middle of the day on a 300mm lens and the picture-postcard cliché issomething of an outlier for me. It is far from my favorite work, but the reality is that it resonates with many parents, and I do understand its popularity. In any case, it doesn’t really matter what the photographer thinks. We can sufferfrom being horribly subjective with our pet photographs and then miss the appealof images that others like. This photograph is popular presumably because it is cuteand allegorical. It is also in sharp focus, which was not a challenge on this day, asthere was so much light. The best light gives the cameraman freedom to dowhatever he likes. Emperor penguins are not easy to access. It involves a commitment of time and money to travel to Antarctica, which is the only place to find them. Even then, the vast majority of the 60,000 annual visitors who travel to this massive continent will not run across an emperor penguin. Getting to the Antarctic Peninsula is relatively easy, but getting to a rookery is another leg of the journey— and a leg too far for most. I guess that is why this image has not been repeated time and time again. It really involved no skill at all; I just had to get there early in the season, lie on the ice, and wait. I think the best time to visit Antarctica is very early in the spring. I really don’t like going to polar regions wearing a T-shirt. It seems only fair to feel the cold when there.
