Education have to start as early as possible

Several thousands of school kids attended the exhibition

Instructors are present at every exhibition tent to speak with visitors and kids

The best way to learn through play

Some fun time also for adults…

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

The organizer team: Giovanni Pellegri, Michela Carli, Michela Luraschi

Graphic Designer team: Studio Emmanuel Urban

Science & Citè 

Univeristà della Svizzera Italiana

At its third edition the Science Festival BaseCamp09, organized by Science & Citè, is focused on the promotion of Science and Environment Issues.

This year, in celebration of the “Planet Earth and Astronomy Year”, BaseCamp09 and more than 50 scientific and cultural institutions is offering an enormous amount of activities for kids and adults.

Stars and galaxies, climate changes, natural disasters, sustainable development, glaciers melting and energetic future are some of the various subject of the Festival.

Conferences, photographic exhibitions, excursions, music shows, and lots more will entertain kids and adult for a whole week. Schools are invited every day for guided interpretative tours.

14 x  90×250cm (35×100inch) prints

5 x 90×130cm (35×50inch) prints

5 educational pannels

DECORATING “PIAZZA CASTELLO” – LUGANO – SWITZERLAND

Many of you asked about the issues of cold on my photo equipment.

During this assignment I took off with my two brand new cameras a NIKON D3X (the first one to be tested at the North Pole) and the D700.

I was really AMAZED by both bodies. I soon realized that the batteries of the D700 were much weaker compared to the remarkable new EN-EL4a batteries of the D3X which will last even a FULL DAY outside at 30/40 °C below!

I therefore decided to keep the D700 warm for shooting in the tents and while flying on heated helicopters and to use the D3X mainly outside. For most of my ten days on the ice I kept the D3X at freezing temperatures hardly ever bringing it inside in order to avoid condensation.

Besides a few minor issues with the LCD display, which I overcame by changing some camera settings, the D3X worked out to be a real champion!

On the other hand the D700 was just perfect for shooting inside. I’m really impressed with the quality of the images when shooting at high ISO… even over 1000 hardly any grains visible! Also love the lightness and the small pop-up flash, which I found very handy!

photo by David McEown www.artistjourneys.com

PHOTO TIPS 

There are several problems when shooting in extreme cold temperatures and by this I mean 30°C below. The first one is obviously related to yourself… if you’re cold and your fingers are frozen you cannot shoot even if the camera is working…

Here some tips of how to dress:

-       dress in layers

·      I layer : underwear in polypropylene

·      II layer : light fleece skirt and pants or windstopper pants

·      III layer : very warm fleece or down jacket

·      IV layer : external layer in Gore Tex

-       avoid sweating (do not overdress while doing physical activity)

-       keep your extremities warm

-      use a balaclava under your cap (better if wool or windproof)

-      use polypropylene gloves under your woolen mittens (with fingertip openings)

-       use silk socks under your woolen socks

-       use warm boots (Type Sorel model Glacier)

-       use chemical warming bags

Now that you’ve taken care of yourself… let’s talk about your camera equipment!

BATTERIES

The main problem you’ll have to face is batteries! Cold EATS batteries.The secret is to keep them warm all the time. I usually keep them in an inside pocket of my jacket along with some chemical hand warmers on.

CONDENSATION

Another problem you’ll have to face is condensation. It usually occurs when you bring your camera from a cold to a warm environment. To avoid this there are two solutions. One is to avoid this transition as much as possible, the other is to put every single piece of your equipment in zipped plastic bags before bringing them into a warm place. By doing this the condensation will form around the plastic bag.

FOCUS AND LCD

In extreme cold conditions the grease in the lenses tends to freeze. The result is that the auto focus will be drastically slowed down.

Same thing will happen to your LCD display. The liquid crystals will slowly freeze and you’ll have some problems reading your settings.

FROZEN METAL PARTS

Last but not least, be aware that all the metal parts of your camera and tripod will freeze. Touching a frozen piece of metal is extremely painful and can cause annoying little wounds.

Lovely Longyearbyen… wonderful shower… and warm toilette…. yuppie yuppie….

BACK TO CIVILIZATION… 

It is very hard to describe the beauty of the North Pole. It’s a mixture of wild feelings and sensations; even though the excitement and the adrenaline are very high since the beginning of the trip, everything seems to run like in a slow motion film; the energy needed for every little action is doubled because of the extreme low temperatures; you have to think twice before acting; at this latitude there is only one law, the law of survival.

Many friends asked me the reason why I’m attracted by this extreme, unfriendly and inhospitable location; in their imagination there is only a flat and white ice desert… I could write a book and show you thousands of images but I’d fail…

There are experiences in life that unfortunately cannot be fully understood unless you live them… the North Pole is one of those!

However I’d love to share some of my images hoping to give you a small taste of what it is all about… a beautiful and fascinating painting with unexpected colors and shapes!