Granzey,
Congrats… More info to follow but first about the camera. Digital is the way to go. Especially in the winter when you’ll have no way of sending film north. If you’re serious enough about photography, I recommend getting a good camera, like a digital SLR (get what you can afford, though). If you’ll be wanting to take your own outdoor pictures of the auroras & lights of town & what not, you’ll want a camera with long exposure time capabilities. Also, BRING A TRIPOD! I came for Winfly one year, and I was so bummed that I didn’t have a tripod. I borrowed one and was able to take some amazing pictures. If you want those amazing pictures, but don’t care if you took them or not, you can always get them from other people down here. We have a common computer drive called the “I-drive” & it’s a great place for picture sharing. That’s where I’ve gotten some of my best pictures of Antarctica…
A small pocket sized point & shoot camera is nice…. There are always fun social events, where it’s nice to have a camera… but again, someone else there usually has one, and they can put the stuff on the I-drive.
No matter which camera you decide upon, GET EXTRA BATTERIES!!! I spent extra $$ on my digital SLR to get an extra rechargable battery… That way, it can always be charged, and can be swapped out. Batteries go dead very quickly in the cold. If you have an extra battery, you can keep it against your body & warm… Then when your other battery dies, the new one is warm & ready to go. I’ve actually gotten another battery now & enjoy have the 3 of them. I’ve found that my battery will go dead before I run out of memory. Oh, and bring lots of memory, too. But the battery is more important than the memory. If you don’t use rechargables, bring lots and lots extras. For instance if your camera uses AA batteries… get several sets of rechargables, and a charger. Non-rechargables tend to last longer, so I know people who have also brought a bunch of those as well. They have those down here, but not always enough.
What is your job?
Zondra