Photographer in Antarctica

Hi,
My name is Sami and i would love to be able to work in antartica i have dreamt about working there my entire life, so i just wanted to know how i would go about doing that see i am currently studying at the moment and after that id love to do a journalist/photographer course and then my ultimate dream would be to work for national geographic would u please be able to send me some information on how to go about doing something like this because i would just love to get to antartica.

[Paul Ward]

Hi sami, welcome to the board.

Modified from another thread:

Journalist / photographer in Antarctica is not the kind of job that is ever advertised and applied for. It's also not a necessary job for the running of a scientific base.

The vast majority of naturalist photographers are self-employed, especially the ones who go on filming expeditions as opposed to working 9-5 in studios. The skills and personal requirements are just so different that you need to prove yourself first at your own expense usually.

I have known such people get their first "break" by taking equipment to Antarctica while employed in some other capacity by National Programmes. It has always been a case of buy your own gear, film and pay for processing and then show what the results are. If the results are good enough, you may be able to sell them, after a number of years, you may get a commission from National Geographic, the BBC etc.

The technical quality of the pictures also needs to be of the highest order meaning that you need the best quality equipment to have any chance of selling what you take.

You need to be excellent at what you do and the competition is as keen as it possibly could be. Natural History Photographer is not a job you apply for, but a job you make for yourself - then again someone will end up doing it.

Good luck!