South Georgia Island is famous as the destination for Ernest Shackleton, the explorer whose expedition ship was crushed in the Antarctic ice in November 1915. The story of how he got to South Georgia and returned to rescue his entire crew is the stuff of legend. The island is in the middle of nowhere, 870 miles east of the Falklands which themselves are about 300 miles East of South America. Both are under British Overseas Territory rule, with about 3500 inhabitants on the Falklands and 8 to 40 seasonal researchers on South Georgia,
Our National Geographic expedition departed Ushuaia, Argentina in March 2016 and stopped in several remote areas in the Falklands for bird viewing (mostly penguins) and landscapes before steaming two days further east to South Georgia Island. There we cruised for seven days, going ashore numerous times via zodiac boats as the wildlife and scenery presented opportunities and as the weather allowed. With no predators the wildlife is unconcerned about humans and we could advance to prescribed minimum distances, although the penguins frequently came quite close on their own. Then we had a rough three days plowing through heavy seas to visit Port Stanley, Falklands, and an interior sheep farm before another day at sea to return to Ushuaia and our flight home.
This presentation will describe this journey and include photos of penguins, albatross, and other birds, seals, and scenery from these desolate but incredibly beautiful and pristine islands.
BIO
Wayne Guenther began his photography avocation in the late 1960s and became increasingly involved with Art Photography in the mid-1990s. Membership in Gallery West and the Art League (both in Alexandria, VA) nudged him to regularly create new work and develop a style. In 2009 he was a charter member and President of the Workhouse Photography Group (Lorton, VA) and remained active there until 2012 when he fully retired. Wayne joined NVPS in 2015. He has been accepted in many regional juried art competitions/shows over the past 25 years, has placed in numerous NVPS monthly competitions, and was awarded their Class Three Digital Photographer of the Year designation in 2017.
Wayne shot with Nikon equipment for many years until the aggregate weight on his back and shoulders became problematic. He switched to the micro-four-thirds system in 2014 and uses Olympus E-M1 bodies (currently Mark III) and a combination of Olympus (12-40mm f2.8 Pro; 40-150mm f2.8 Pro; and 17mm f1.7), Panasonic/Leica 8-18mm f2.8-4, and Sigma 56 f1.4 lenses.
His web site is www.wayneguentherphotography.com
