Photographs shot with an iPhone in Antarctica are super chill
The fascinating and pristine surrounds of Antarctica are a sight to behold and capturing it is no easy feat.
Yet it's something that John Bozinov, 25, has mastered by photographing his way through polar regions -- using his iPhone as a camera, when it becomes too much of a hassle to pull out a full-sized camera.
"It's much easier to be in the moment and focus on your subject when your gear isn't so complicated," Bozinov told Mashable Australia.
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Born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand, Bozinov said he was a latecomer to photography, only starting to play with cameras at the age of 19. Film photography was his original interest, making the slow transition to digital via his mobile phone.
While Bozinov primarily shot portraits and landscapes in his early career, before a road trip to the country's glorious South Island during the winter helped sway him toward adventure photography -- and the idea of capturing the coldest places he can find.
"I think it's a vestige of my personality. I'm not really a big fan of warmer weather, I prefer colder climates," he said. "I really connected with it, and a lot of my work has been based around that since. So I developed this idea of wanting to go to even colder places, and eventually to Antarctica."
Bozinov also photographed his adventures during his last trip in February and March on an iPhone, expressing that the smartphone suits the kind of photographs he captures.
"A lot of my work is outside, and the iPhone works really well with that because there's lot of light around. With landscape photography, you generally want a lot of your image to be in focus, and the iPhone is good at doing that," he said.
Bozinov uses a battery case to help keep his phone warm and functional, as Antarctic temperatures can cause problems. He doesn't use additional lenses on his iPhone, but makes tonal adjustments to his photos in the VSCO app.
A DSLR is also part of his kit, but it is only used when he wants to get a tight shot of wildlife, or when it isn't possible for him to get close to the animal.
Bozinov said he doesn't plan heavily, instead improvising his shots. Although his return to Antarctica this November -- earlier in the polar region's summer -- is intentional.
This is due to the area being a little warmer (with a maximum temp of -20 degrees Celsius or -4 degrees Fahrenheit in summer), meaning Antarctica's newest animals will have just hatched.
"I'll be basically seeing penguin chicks just after they've been born and everything will be much more white because there's a lot more snow around, and the ice hasn't melted just yet," he said.
One of Bozinov's favourite photos is one of an inquisitive penguin that looked at him. They rarely pay attention to humans, choosing to keep themselves warm instead.
"This photo captured a special moment where a curious young Gentoo Penguin walked right up and started looking me up and down. I had to take a step back to capture this shot of the small chick which would've been barely 30 centimetres (11.8 inches) tall," he said.
Another favourite is a simple photograph of icebergs, shot while he was drifting in between on an inflatable boat along the Kiev peninsula. "In some of the most still and pristine weather that you can ask for," Bozinov said. "It was easily one of the highlights of my expedition."
Come November, Bozinov will spend two months on a ship to capture more photographs in the Antarctic. To get more shots like these could be worth the cabin fever, we reckon.
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