Well, it's been a while since I've updated this blog--inspite of good intentions--but we've been busy with our best Art Festival season ever. One more to go in Marblehead, MA, on Saturday, September 26, then that's it until next year.

In the meantime, two of my prints were selected as Merit prints in the PPA (Professional Photographers of America) International Print competition, one in the General Category -- which means it will hang at the National Convention in Memphis in January, and 1 in the Permanent Loan Category -- which means it will not only hang, but will be in the their traveling exhibition. The prints are both in the awards gallery on my website at http://www.imagery-online.net/gallerylisting.html. The print in the General Collection is "Solitude", and the one selected for Loan is "Essence of the Orient", if you want to check them out.

I also have new work posted on my website. One print, "Seaside", won first place in Photography at the Nashua, NH Art Festival.

And "Essence of the Orient" is going to be published in a PPA collection of the best prints from their 2009 print Competition! Yes, it's been busy, but it's sure been fun!

Antarctica updates are on website

It's taken me a while, but I finally have a bigger selection of my images from Antarctica (and even a few from Argentina) up on my website. Just go to http://www.imagery-online.net/ and look for Antarctica (or Argentina). The 3 minute slideshow is still on line, but it's moved to the "3 minute slide show" link.

For another bit of fun news, four of my prints scored in the merit (blue ribbon) category at the April NH Professional Photographers of America print competition. Those prints are up on my website in the Gallery Lsting page under Awards. They're the first four prints that come up if you'd like to check them out.

New book of Antarctica photography

Well, I just published my first book of Antarctica photography on a website called BLURB. The impressive thing about Blurb is that their books look like something you would buy in a bookstore. I have two versions out there. One has a full cover bookjacket and the other version (in either hard or software) does not come with a bookjacket, but the image is printed on the cover and the information on the jacket flaps is on the last page of the book.

If you'd like to check this out, there's a preview of the book on the Blurb site. http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=shirl+passman&filter=all&commit=Search

Enjoy.

Home

Well, one "moderate" Drake passage and way too many hours on airplanes, and Wendy and I have gone back to our respective homes. It feels very surreal to have that trip over, and I already want to go back.

In the meantime, I've put a short slideshow on my website which covers the trip from the first few days in Buenos Aries to those amazing days in Antarctica and the too few hours we spent in Patagonia on the way back.

If you'd like to see the slideshow, just go to http://www.imagery-online.net/gallerylisting.html and click on the link for Images from Buenos Aries & Antarctica.

I hope you enjoy them. I sure enjoyed taking them!

more samples from Antarctica

Last adventure before turning for home

We dropped anchor off Port Lockroy last night and of all the amazing sights we've seen, that was the most amazing of all. The glacier surrounded the ship and the sea was glass. There just are no words.

Todays adventure was the British station at Port lockroy, more penguins and the choppy sea and rock climb to see the chinstrap penguins which where the last ones on the list.

We're heading out now, watching for whales in the Gerlache passage.

Tonight we head back into the Drake passage and they tell us the weather is deteriorating, so well see what that means. I'll try and catch up with more later. I am going to be so sorry to leave this place!

Zodiak Tour and More

Another amazing day! It was snowing lightly when we landed at Dorian Bay to see the Gentoo penguin colony. The hill was too steep for me, but Wendy is getting lots of practice at hiking up snowing cliffs and sliding down them.

Lunch was on deck with a light snow and mild wind, and was a complete blast.

Then we took off for a zodiac tour of Paradise Bay, just off Almirante Brown Station.
We saw cape petrals and others birds and then cruised into the bay in time to see an double ice cave collapse into the sea! Here's that word again. Amazing!! Very funny as our driver saw the swells coming and calmly said, please hold on to the ropes. We were all laughing and yelling so loud we barely heard him. It was such an incredible site, and then the square masted barq, Europa sailed into the bay like something from a pirate movie, and the humpback and minke whales were the icing on that amazing afternoon.

Just --here's that word again.

Amazing!

Zodiak Tour and More

Another amazing day! It was snowing lightly when we landed at Dorian Bay to see the Gentoo penguin colony. The hill was too steep for me, but Wendy is getting lots of practice at hiking up snowing cliffs and sliding down them.

Lunch was on deck with a light snow and mild wind, and was a complete blast.

Then we sailed to Paradise Bay, off almirante Brown Station, and had another zodiac tour. And oh my. We were out in the zodiac and saw some minor calving off the face of the glacier, so our driver stuck around hoping for something big, and we got it! An entire double cave collapsed, and we got to ride out the swell and it was Cool, cool, cool. So were the humpback whales, the minke whales and the birds.

Just --here's that word again.

Amazing!I

Samples from the Edge of the World

Antarctic Ice

What a totally amazing day! First we went to the Vernadsky Station on the Argentine Islands. The station used to be British, but now is Ukraine and it's where the hole in the Ozone was first discovered. In fact, that equipment is still in use.

We got to explore the Wordie House--named after a crewman in Shackleton's party. Wendy and I (and a lot of others) climbed to the top of another glacier. The view was amazing! Wendy and I were the only ones making snow angels, though. And I was one of the few who slid part of the way down. Easier than walking and about as fast!

During the afternoon, we got a zodiac tour of the stranded ice bergs off Pleneau Island. There is no way to describe this. A garden of ice sculpture created by a grand master. Just...well, just...

To top off the afternoon, we were chased by a leopard seal who either decided our zodiac was the biggest penguin it had ever seen or it wanted to make little leopard seals, but it didn't want us to leave and between the pictures we were taking and Wendy's video, we have our close (and hysterical) encounter well documented!

Tonight we're at anchor. The clouds have moved in after two days of sunshine, and even the crew was taking pictures of the sunset yesterday!

Tomorrow--more adventures. More penguins and more of the most amazingly, incredibly beautiful landscape that anyone has ever seen.

Antarctica update

Well, couple of days without internet access, but what an amazing couple of days! This place is just amazing. First stop in the Shetland Islands -- Deception Island was our first landing and our first site of icebergs! Amazing icebergs! Our second stop was at a thermal spring in Pendulum Cove. I stayed on shore and took pictures. Wendy was crazy enough to go for a swim--in Antarctica! (she was instructed to "take one for the team"--and the crew was very "encouraging").

The next stop was in the Weddell Sea at Devils Island, Icebergs and Adelie penguins and Gentoo penguins, lots and lots of penguins. And an amazing tour of the icebergs. (and I know I keep using amazing, but there are really no words to describe this place, so amazing will have to do.

Today at Cuverville Island, more penguins, and WHALES and even a basking Leopard seal. And more and more amazing scenery!

Oh, and Wendy just reminded me that I actually hiked up a glacier, and hiked and hiked, but I did walk on a glacier. I didn't slide down one, like Wendy did, but I walked on one.

More later if we have a connection.

first full day out

First full day on the ship. They tell us the Drake passage has been kind to us-- only 5-6 meter seas, (yes, meters), although now it's picking up and there are less and less of us in the dining room for meals, but Wendy and I are still doing fine.

Today's sightings are petrals and albatross. Big birds! And it's still just incredibly gorgeous to stand on the stern with the wind howling in your face and the "small" waves crashing!

Tomorrow late afternoon, we should be at the Shetland Islands--calmer water and our first big ice!

As usual, there's no telling when we'll get internet access again, but I'll get back to this when I can.

On the Boat

Okay. We have a few minutes of access, so no checking e-mail, but I'll try to keep sending reports.

We stepped off the plane in Ushuaia and even with the cars at the airport, it was breathtaking. Mountains and fog and now that we've left the dock, nothing but water between us and Antartica!

I don't know that I'm shooting art, but I can't stop clicking that camera. This place is just amazing.

We hit the Drake channel around 10 tonight, so we'll see how that goes, but they assured us today we'd see icebergs in a day or so and well...wow.

Gotta run. Hopefully, more tomorrow.

Buenos Aires - Day 3

Well, shorter day today. First a 2.6 mile stroll in the Reserva Ecologic. (parakeets and hummingbirds, and something that looked kind of like a cross between a guinia pig and a possum.) Then we hit the town again. First stop the Plaza de Mayo (Evita's balcony speech) then we ran (the wrong way through the rain) to the nearest barbeque, but finally found it. After giving Wendy a very strange look when she said she was "soy vegetariana", the waiter came back and said he had ordered her something and if she didn't like it, she didn't have to eat it.

Actually, it was kind of like a vegetarian empanada, so she was very happy, even with the sizzling platters of meat going by.

We actually took a taxi back to the hotel (!) and we're heading out soon for the ice cream place we found on the first night. Then Wendy gets to meet her passengers at the reception and it's next stop Patagonia.

I don't know if I'll have access until I get back, but if I do, I'll keep this up.

Buenos Aires -- Day 2

And the adventure continues. 9 hours of Buenos Aires at a dead run, or as Wendy calls it, a gentle stroll punctuated by phrases such as "It's only 18 blocks. It's nothing."

I did have some seconds for photography though. My favorite place today--to see and to photograph was El Caminito. Fortunately, we were warned that it wasn't safe to wander from the main street of the barrio, so we got to take a cab! Sitting. What a concept! But the colors of the buildings were fantastic and the small art show had some amazing work. Wendy couldn't leave without one small drawing of the place. I loved it, too.

After that it was time to tour the El Zanjon de Granados, a reconstructed building in BA that used to be a tenement. The reconstruction was so well done that there was no feeling of age left (sigh), but the architecture was beautiful.

We had a brief stop at the Museo Fragata Sarmiento, and got to sit out a bout of rain (great timing), then a quick stop at the Galeria Pacifico for a tango show and a heavier pair of socks for me (!) and then dinner near the hotel. (My new favorite phrase. Agua sin gas -water no bubbles.

Tomorrow, Evita's balcony and the nature preserve, then the rest of the Audubon people arrive and there's a reception in the evening. We leave for the ship the next morning at 5:45 a.m. So, we'll see when I can get back to this blog.

Buenos noches!

The great adventure begins. On the way to Antarctica (and trying to type on a Spanish keyboard).

The plane ride was great, once Wendy (my daughter) and I stopped giggling at the seats in business class. Thank you frequent flyer miles.

The hotel is much more (As Wendy says ¨frufru¨ then the two of us are used to, but we could try to get used to it.

Today was explore Buenos Aires. Lots of images in the Cementerio de la Recoleta. Stopped dead in front of an amazing painting in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes to show Wendy an example of Rembrant lighting, and then looked at the name of the artist and realized I was showing her a REAL example of Rembrant lighting! (and later, Monet, and Renoir, and Picasso, and Van Gogh....)

Took in the Floralis Generica (metal flower structure). Had supper and are about to head out and explore the wonders of BA ice cream.

We have internet access through the business center computers at the hotel, so I´ll try and add something until we head for Ushuaia.