Honeymoon at the End of the World: Six Minutes on the Bow in Antarctica
Newlyweds from Nevada, the bow of an expedition ship, ten at night in Wilhelmina Bay and six minutes of light. A real honeymoon session in Antarctica, and what I'd tell a couple planning the trip.
On 29 December 2022, a little after ten at night, I photographed a honeymoon session on the bow of an expedition ship in Wilhelmina Bay, on the Antarctic Peninsula. The sun was still above the peaks and wouldn't set until close to midnight. Setare and Sean, newlyweds from Reno, Nevada, had spent the day kayaking, setting foot on the continent for the first time and jumping into the polar sea. From my first frame to my last, the session took six minutes.
I wasn't there to work. My husband Egor and I had a tradition of seeing in each New Year somewhere new, and in 2022 that place was Antarctica. Setare and Sean were the couple we met on board, so now I can say I've done a photoshoot in Antarctica. I've photographed couples for over 15 years and in 55 countries, and this was my seventh continent. It was Sean's seventh too: he told me it was the last one he needed.
How does a honeymoon session happen on an expedition ship?
It happens because you spend two weeks with the same people. We boarded Silversea's Silver Wind in Puerto Williams, Chile, on 22 December (we chose it because every cabin is a suite), spent Christmas in the Falklands, then crossed the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. On the way home I asked Setare and Sean about the most memorable moment of the trip, and their first answer was "the day we met Yana and Egor."
Their second answer was 29 December. In their words, they went kayaking, then did a short hike that was their first time on the continent, then did the polar plunge, all back to back, and it was cold but sunny. I spent the morning of the same day at Portal Point, my own first steps on the continent, and I cried there: nobody around, no buildings, only snow and mountains, and the feeling of being a grain of sand that is lucky to see this. By ten at night the light over the bay had turned warm, dinner was over, and the four of us went up to the bow.
What does ten at night look like in Antarctica in December?
It looks like late afternoon. On 29 December the sun set in Wilhelmina Bay around a quarter to midnight and was up again by about half past two. At ten it was still above the peaks, low enough to light faces from the side. The snow on the mountains behind them turned pink and gold, the water stayed deep blue, and the bay was so still that Setare's hair barely moved.
At this latitude in late December the sun sinks at a shallow angle, so the low light stays for a long time. In Portugal I plan a whole wedding day around the last hour of sun. Here I had more of that light than I could use, and we used six minutes of it.
The bay carries the name of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, given by the Belgian expedition that charted this coast in 1897–99. Our guide told the story on the zodiac that afternoon, among turquoise icebergs.
Six minutes, two cameras
I had two cameras on me, as I did for the whole trip, a 24–70 mm on one body and a 100–400 mm on the other, and I switched between them every few seconds. The 24–70 mm took the frames that tell you this is a ship: the bow, the rail, the orange life ring, the two of them small against the bay. The 100–400 mm worked from across the deck. At 150–250 mm the glacier behind them comes forward and fills the frame, and the deck disappears. The close-up of their foreheads touching was made at 400 mm, from far enough away that I wasn't in their space.
I started with Setare alone at the rail. Then Sean joined her, and the last minute went to the silly frames: the Titanic pose at the bow, which on a ship nobody can resist (Egor and I did it ourselves fifteen minutes later), and Sean carrying her across the deck.
On the bow at 10 pm they wore their own clothes, a light gray sweater and a flannel shirt, not the red expedition parkas. Against blue water and white snow, soft neutrals keep the attention on faces. The red would have taken over every frame.
Then the camera changed hands
Then we swapped. About twenty seconds after my last frame of them, my own camera has a picture of me at the same rail, by the same life ring, and then a few of Egor and me together: Setare and Sean had taken it and photographed us in the same light. I like a session that ends with the couple photographing you back.
Is Antarctica a good place for a honeymoon?
Yes, for a particular kind of couple. It suits you if you like early starts, cold air and long days outside. It also helps if sharing your honeymoon with a ship full of people sounds like part of it. Our ship had about 200 guests, if I remember right, many of them our age and almost all of them people who had already seen a lot of the world, and by the end it felt like a summer camp. Setare and Sean loved exactly that: two weeks of dinners, tea and wine with people from all over the world they would never have met otherwise. For Egor and me it is still the best trip we have ever taken. It doesn't suit you if a honeymoon means privacy, heat and doing nothing, or if a rough sea frightens you.
You cross the Drake Passage twice, and you won't know in advance which version you'll get. It is an expedition, so the weather decides the plan. On our trip a storm on the way to the Falklands sent the ship around the east of the islands and delayed the first landing.
When I asked Setare and Sean what they would tell a couple planning this trip, the answers came one after another: save your money, book in advance, get good gear, come with an open mind. Setare added the one they both came back to: be flexible, because the plan changes with the weather.
How do you get photos of the two of you on an expedition cruise?
Keep a late evening free. In late December the best light on deck came after dinner: at ten at night we had the sun above the peaks and the bow to ourselves. On our landings the expedition team marked the route with flags, kept everyone back from the wildlife and asked us not to sit on the snow or touch it. The landings are for the place; the deck is where you can stand close for as long as you like.
What Setare and Sean packed, plus what I'd add:
- Parka: the ship gave everyone a parka and an inner jacket
- Under it: base layers, hiking trousers and waterproof trousers
- Boots: they bought theirs before the trip
- Seasickness patches: if you tend to get seasick
- One outfit that isn't the parka: for the evening on deck
- For the ship: I packed a few dresses for dinners on board
- Camera: they found the iPhone did well, except in the cold, when you have to take a glove off to use it
If you want wildlife close, bring a telephoto. I bought my 100–400 mm just before the trip and took most of my pictures with it; in the zodiacs I kept the camera in a waterproof bag inside my backpack. Their balcony, by the way, got used once or twice; it was too cold to sit out.
Where else would I send newlyweds?
This is the far end of a series about places for a honeymoon or a date. If you're getting married in Portugal and staying on, start with three days in Lisbon after the wedding and the restaurants I'd book for a date night in Lisbon.
Questions couples ask about an Antarctica honeymoon
Can you go to Antarctica on your honeymoon?
Yes. Expedition cruises run in the southern summer, which IAATO, the association of Antarctic tour operators, gives as October to April. Most voyages leave from Ushuaia in Argentina. Ours went round trip from Puerto Williams in Chile, with a charter flight from Santiago at the start.
When is the best time for an Antarctica honeymoon?
I went in late December and would choose it again for the light: around the solstice the sun barely sets, which is why a session at ten at night was possible. The holidays came with it: Christmas in the Falklands and New Year's Eve among the ice.
How far ahead should you book?
We booked about six months ahead, in July, for a late-December departure, and Setare and Sean's advice to couples was to book in advance.
How long is an Antarctica honeymoon cruise?
Ours was two weeks, with the Falklands on the way south and two crossings of the Drake Passage. Add a travel day at each end for the flights between Santiago and Puerto Williams.
Is the Drake Passage as rough as people say?
It can be calm or it can be rough, sometimes on the same trip. I had watched videos of plates sliding off tables and half hoped for a storm. Going south ours was calm enough to earn its nickname, the Drake Lake, and I needed neither pills nor patches. Coming back I felt a little queasy; Setare and Sean remembered the crew quoting 5-meter swells and 45-knot winds, and drawers opening on their own in the night. Nothing flew across our cabin, which was a small disappointment and probably for the best.
Do you need a professional photographer in Antarctica?
For the landscapes and the wildlife, no. For photos of the two of you together, someone has to take them: ask what the ship's photographer offers (ours had a photo studio on board), or trade cameras with a couple you meet. Or take me with you: send me the ship and the dates, and I'll start packing. No harm in asking. And if your plans bring you to Portugal, book a session with me here. I'd love to photograph you.
Planning a wedding in Portugal and a honeymoon far away?
Tell me your wedding date, where you're marrying and where you're going afterwards, and I'll tell you when the light works best for photos of the two of you, at the wedding or after it. Write to me here.
Yana Yart
Yana Yart is a wedding and elopement photographer based in Cascais, Portugal, with over 15 years behind the camera and work in 55 countries. She trained as an architect, which is why her sessions are planned around light.
