8 ms·

Deepest Dive Under Antarctica

173 points by pmcpinto 9y ago

danielvf 9y ago
This is well worth your time. The photographs are other worldly. I never knew seawater could be so clear. At first I assumed the must have been using photoshop to make some of these landscapes.
- autokad 9y ago
  agree, sometimes i wish how we could see other worlds, but the hidden ones here are quite amazing
  - orthecreedence 9y ago
    Check out lucid dreaming. Becoming "awake" and aware within a dream is a really intense and amazing experience. A fairly cheap way to experience other worlds.
- brndnmtthws 9y ago
  Keep in mind that these photos have been altered to be more pleasing to the human eye, for the purpose of selling Nat Geo. If you were there in real life, it would not look as vivid as you see it on your computer screen. The "best" photography tends to be that which doesn't reflect reality. Humans prefer surrealism to realism in photography. Just take a look at what's trendy on Instagram and elsewhere.
  - samstave 9y ago
    True... I prefer this pic I edited: http://i.imgur.com/lY7VbXG.jpg http://i.imgur.com/lY7VbXG.jpg Over the original... (Seriously, I prefer the more surreal version of pics I take some times, over the original. I took that pic of hearst castle, and the original was rather bland, some detail too dark, some washed out, it was crooked etc... I edited it to this, and I prefer this version over the original. I also make most pics of myself in Black and White... I prefer B&W over color.)
  - fenwick67 9y ago
    There's truth to this, but bear in mind computer screens also can't capture the vivid colors that exist in real life. Just yesterday I went to an arboretum and saw some beautiful bluish-purple morning glory flowers that are very much outside of the sRGB gamut.
    - prawn 9y ago
      Can't speak for professional photographers (only assume), but a raw photo from my drone will by default look a lot flatter than the real scene, and get fixed afterwards when editing.
  - joering2 9y ago
    They don't look altered to me. Some special filter on camera are applied, of course, but doesnt seem any Photoshopping was involved. Of course water is THIS clear when you dive in most cold waters, given Antarctica. Lower temperatures make less stuff to bloom in water so no living material to "soil" the water body; and also lower temps. add clarity - same as colder air makes objects look sharper. Experience: diving across European cold waters since 13; taking semi-pro photos since 19 yrs old.
  - wizwazzle 9y ago
    I'm an underwater photographer. You're not wrong, but here's the thing, the deeper you go, the less light is present and the reds get filtered out. My fingernails and hands at 60ft down look purple. So editing is a must. Here's a good overview of a common underwater photograph practice: http://diveadvisor.com/sub2o/get-your-white-balance-done-right---common-problems-in-underwater-photography-and-their-solutions http://diveadvisor.com/sub2o/get-your-white-balance-done-rig... It's the equivalent of telling someone to pose facing the sun so there's enough light shining on their face. We do the same thing but with strobes and editing, because when you're 100ft down, it's never lighter than twilight. These Nat Geo photos don't look altered all that much. Good photographers will make subjects look as they do to the naked eye.
  - pluteoid 9y ago
    It's really not so simple as this. It's really dim under the sea ice and these divers have used strobes and floodlights to pick out subjects in a dramatic way. On that front I don't think the images required much tampering with. It's just a photographic way of trying to convey the grandeur and beauty you'd experience if you were actually there. In terms of how "vivid" the photos are, the problem is often quite the other way around to how you put it. I've spent a lot of time exploring jungles and coral reefs, marvelling at the divesity of nature, all the jewel-like lifeforms on display. It's very difficult to capture with a camera what your eyes perceive as brilliant coloration and exquisitely contrasted form. Your visual system makes many profound processing adjustments based on your total lighting environment: chromatic adaptation, simultaneous contrast, perceptual constancy, and so on. You perceive a green insect on a green leaf as vivid and striking when you're in the jungle with it, but dull when looking at the correctly exposed photo you took of it. Not to mention your vision has a larger dynamic range than a camera sensor and a wider color gamut than a typical computer screen. Crude postprocessing will attempt to correct for this by just pumping up saturation, which is maybe what you're complaining about on Instagram. But the best nature photography compensates in other, more subtle and appropriate ways, and the result approaches the wonder we experience "in real life".
- PKop 9y ago
  Here's a funny one http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/under-antarctica-frozen-beauty-exotic-creatures-penguins/#/under-antartica-behind-scens-photo-02.jpg http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/under-ant...
0wl3x 9y ago
I really hope for a future where places like this become more accessible to those with a passion for adventure. These photographs are otherworldly and inspiring, but the risk to get there is insurmountable but for a few.
- thompo 9y ago
  that's probably why these places are still so pristine
- tartuffe78 9y ago
  Probably better for the wildlife if they don't.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  I hope for the sake of those places they remain difficult to get to.
- cakedoggie 9y ago
  You seriously see no problem with that?
- quakeguy 9y ago
  You serious? Risking this environment for some adventure seeking youtubers/instagram douches? You are part of the problem if you think so.
kilroy123 9y ago
Not surprised there's so much life below! I went to Antarctica earlier this year. I thought it would be a barren landscape and not much wildlife to see. I'm glad this wasn't the case. It was more like being on a wildlife safari. I saw several different species of whale. Humpbacks very close to our zodiak. Seals everywhere and different species. At one point, one got right into my face and I could even smell its horrible fish breath as it breathed on me. Several different species of penguins and birds. It was fantastic and full of wildlife. I highly recommend going down there if you can. Such a pristine piece of the earth teeming with life.
- rottyguy 9y ago
  Can you forward on some links and/or share resources you used to plan your trip? This is the last continent for me.
  - kilroy123 9y ago
    https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/en/antarctic https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/en/antarctic
  - quakeguy 9y ago
    Dont go there, please. Leave it alone.
- Balero 9y ago
  It's not going to stay that way if everyone who can goes there on holiday. It could end up in a similar situation to the Galapagos Islands. These are cases where sitting at home and watching some of the brilliant nature documentaries would be better. You get to see the wildlife, albeit not up close, without damaging the ecosystem.
  - Simon_says 9y ago
    Everyone who can is everyone who can pony up $10k per person for a week-long vacation. It will stay in good condition for a while yet.
Grazester 9y ago
Seeing these beautiful pictures makes me kind of sad. With climate change there is no guarantee they will be there in the coming decades when the ocean becomes warm and more acidic.
eknight15 9y ago
wtf is this http://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/rights-exempt/2017/07/Under-Antarctica/under-antarctica-sea-spider.adapt.1900.1.jpg http://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/right...
- CanSpice 9y ago
  It's a sea spider.
  - ctrlaltdestroy 9y ago
    Like I needed another reason to be scared of the ocean
- vocatus_gate 9y ago
  Saw a lot of those down there http://imgur.com/AOzmqZM http://imgur.com/AOzmqZM
Fezzik 9y ago
After seeing this I am committed to re-subscribing to National Geographic when I get home. It is pricey, but I would hate to see this publication go out of print. It has inspired so many people for decades. Sure, it could be replaced, but it is one of the great pillars of the publication world. Shame on me for not doing so sooner.
- Fezzik 9y ago
  It was too late to edit, but I was totally wrong about the price: a digital + print subscription is merely $19.00/yr. I have no idea how that is sustainable, but I am in. https://ngmdomsubs.nationalgeographic.com/servlet/Show?WESPAGE=OrderPages/ng/1407/order_15A1.jsp&MSRSMAG=NG&EFK1=NGCAZ6&EFK2=NGCAZ7&EFK3=NGCAZ8&MSCCMPLX=NGMNAVB8 https://ngmdomsubs.nationalgeographic.com/servlet/Show?WESPA...
vocatus_gate 9y ago
I just returned from 7 months in Antarctica at Palmer Station during the winter (a "winter-over" contract). It was impressive seeing the divers stay in the water as long as they did. Typically couldn't stay in past 30 minutes, even in heated dry suits.
- kilroy123 9y ago
  Just curious what did you do down there? I would love to stay down there for a contract, but as a developer, it doesn't seem like I would be much help.
  - vocatus_gate 9y ago
    Network Engineer and GSAR (glacier search and rescue). I did an AMA down there that hit the front page of Reddit if you're interested in learning more about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5656e1/iama_i_dont_have_a_lot_of_time_but_network/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5656e1/iama_i_dont_ha...

173 points by pmcpinto 9y ago

This is well worth your time. The photographs are other worldly. I never knew seawater could be so clear. At first I assumed the must have been using photoshop to make some of these landscapes.

autokad 9y ago
agree, sometimes i wish how we could see other worlds, but the hidden ones here are quite amazing
- orthecreedence 9y ago
  Check out lucid dreaming. Becoming "awake" and aware within a dream is a really intense and amazing experience. A fairly cheap way to experience other worlds.
brndnmtthws 9y ago
Keep in mind that these photos have been altered to be more pleasing to the human eye, for the purpose of selling Nat Geo. If you were there in real life, it would not look as vivid as you see it on your computer screen. The "best" photography tends to be that which doesn't reflect reality. Humans prefer surrealism to realism in photography. Just take a look at what's trendy on Instagram and elsewhere.
- samstave 9y ago
  True... I prefer this pic I edited: http://i.imgur.com/lY7VbXG.jpg http://i.imgur.com/lY7VbXG.jpg Over the original... (Seriously, I prefer the more surreal version of pics I take some times, over the original. I took that pic of hearst castle, and the original was rather bland, some detail too dark, some washed out, it was crooked etc... I edited it to this, and I prefer this version over the original. I also make most pics of myself in Black and White... I prefer B&W over color.)
- fenwick67 9y ago
  There's truth to this, but bear in mind computer screens also can't capture the vivid colors that exist in real life. Just yesterday I went to an arboretum and saw some beautiful bluish-purple morning glory flowers that are very much outside of the sRGB gamut.
  - prawn 9y ago
    Can't speak for professional photographers (only assume), but a raw photo from my drone will by default look a lot flatter than the real scene, and get fixed afterwards when editing.
- joering2 9y ago
  They don't look altered to me. Some special filter on camera are applied, of course, but doesnt seem any Photoshopping was involved. Of course water is THIS clear when you dive in most cold waters, given Antarctica. Lower temperatures make less stuff to bloom in water so no living material to "soil" the water body; and also lower temps. add clarity - same as colder air makes objects look sharper. Experience: diving across European cold waters since 13; taking semi-pro photos since 19 yrs old.
- wizwazzle 9y ago
  I'm an underwater photographer. You're not wrong, but here's the thing, the deeper you go, the less light is present and the reds get filtered out. My fingernails and hands at 60ft down look purple. So editing is a must. Here's a good overview of a common underwater photograph practice: http://diveadvisor.com/sub2o/get-your-white-balance-done-right---common-problems-in-underwater-photography-and-their-solutions http://diveadvisor.com/sub2o/get-your-white-balance-done-rig... It's the equivalent of telling someone to pose facing the sun so there's enough light shining on their face. We do the same thing but with strobes and editing, because when you're 100ft down, it's never lighter than twilight. These Nat Geo photos don't look altered all that much. Good photographers will make subjects look as they do to the naked eye.
- pluteoid 9y ago
  It's really not so simple as this. It's really dim under the sea ice and these divers have used strobes and floodlights to pick out subjects in a dramatic way. On that front I don't think the images required much tampering with. It's just a photographic way of trying to convey the grandeur and beauty you'd experience if you were actually there. In terms of how "vivid" the photos are, the problem is often quite the other way around to how you put it. I've spent a lot of time exploring jungles and coral reefs, marvelling at the divesity of nature, all the jewel-like lifeforms on display. It's very difficult to capture with a camera what your eyes perceive as brilliant coloration and exquisitely contrasted form. Your visual system makes many profound processing adjustments based on your total lighting environment: chromatic adaptation, simultaneous contrast, perceptual constancy, and so on. You perceive a green insect on a green leaf as vivid and striking when you're in the jungle with it, but dull when looking at the correctly exposed photo you took of it. Not to mention your vision has a larger dynamic range than a camera sensor and a wider color gamut than a typical computer screen. Crude postprocessing will attempt to correct for this by just pumping up saturation, which is maybe what you're complaining about on Instagram. But the best nature photography compensates in other, more subtle and appropriate ways, and the result approaches the wonder we experience "in real life".
PKop 9y ago
Here's a funny one http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/under-antarctica-frozen-beauty-exotic-creatures-penguins/#/under-antartica-behind-scens-photo-02.jpg http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/under-ant...

0wl3x 9y ago

I really hope for a future where places like this become more accessible to those with a passion for adventure. These photographs are otherworldly and inspiring, but the risk to get there is insurmountable but for a few.

thompo 9y ago
that's probably why these places are still so pristine
tartuffe78 9y ago
Probably better for the wildlife if they don't.
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
I hope for the sake of those places they remain difficult to get to.
cakedoggie 9y ago
You seriously see no problem with that?
quakeguy 9y ago
You serious? Risking this environment for some adventure seeking youtubers/instagram douches? You are part of the problem if you think so.

kilroy123 9y ago

Not surprised there's so much life below! I went to Antarctica earlier this year. I thought it would be a barren landscape and not much wildlife to see. I'm glad this wasn't the case. It was more like being on a wildlife safari. I saw several different species of whale. Humpbacks very close to our zodiak. Seals everywhere and different species. At one point, one got right into my face and I could even smell its horrible fish breath as it breathed on me. Several different species of penguins and birds. It was fantastic and full of wildlife. I highly recommend going down there if you can. Such a pristine piece of the earth teeming with life.

rottyguy 9y ago
Can you forward on some links and/or share resources you used to plan your trip? This is the last continent for me.
- kilroy123 9y ago
  https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/en/antarctic https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/en/antarctic
- quakeguy 9y ago
  Dont go there, please. Leave it alone.
Balero 9y ago
It's not going to stay that way if everyone who can goes there on holiday. It could end up in a similar situation to the Galapagos Islands. These are cases where sitting at home and watching some of the brilliant nature documentaries would be better. You get to see the wildlife, albeit not up close, without damaging the ecosystem.
- Simon_says 9y ago
  Everyone who can is everyone who can pony up $10k per person for a week-long vacation. It will stay in good condition for a while yet.

Grazester 9y ago

Seeing these beautiful pictures makes me kind of sad. With climate change there is no guarantee they will be there in the coming decades when the ocean becomes warm and more acidic.

eknight15 9y ago

wtf is this http://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/rights-exempt/2017/07/Under-Antarctica/under-antarctica-sea-spider.adapt.1900.1.jpg http://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/right...

CanSpice 9y ago
It's a sea spider.
- ctrlaltdestroy 9y ago
  Like I needed another reason to be scared of the ocean
vocatus_gate 9y ago
Saw a lot of those down there http://imgur.com/AOzmqZM http://imgur.com/AOzmqZM

Fezzik 9y ago

After seeing this I am committed to re-subscribing to National Geographic when I get home. It is pricey, but I would hate to see this publication go out of print. It has inspired so many people for decades. Sure, it could be replaced, but it is one of the great pillars of the publication world. Shame on me for not doing so sooner.

Fezzik 9y ago
It was too late to edit, but I was totally wrong about the price: a digital + print subscription is merely $19.00/yr. I have no idea how that is sustainable, but I am in. https://ngmdomsubs.nationalgeographic.com/servlet/Show?WESPAGE=OrderPages/ng/1407/order_15A1.jsp&MSRSMAG=NG&EFK1=NGCAZ6&EFK2=NGCAZ7&EFK3=NGCAZ8&MSCCMPLX=NGMNAVB8 https://ngmdomsubs.nationalgeographic.com/servlet/Show?WESPA...

vocatus_gate 9y ago

I just returned from 7 months in Antarctica at Palmer Station during the winter (a "winter-over" contract). It was impressive seeing the divers stay in the water as long as they did. Typically couldn't stay in past 30 minutes, even in heated dry suits.

kilroy123 9y ago
Just curious what did you do down there? I would love to stay down there for a contract, but as a developer, it doesn't seem like I would be much help.
- vocatus_gate 9y ago
  Network Engineer and GSAR (glacier search and rescue). I did an AMA down there that hit the front page of Reddit if you're interested in learning more about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5656e1/iama_i_dont_have_a_lot_of_time_but_network/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5656e1/iama_i_dont_ha...