If I Were Going...: 2025

Antarctica!

You already received (I hope) a link to the rundown of the 2025 Stevens Family calendar.

Now begins a monthly (again, I hope) post about each specific month: why the pages are the way they are and what was not included. Enjoy!

Note: if I don’t specifically say that the shot was in the calendar, it wasn’t.

January, with its appropriate wintery landscapes, includes exclusively photos from the trip Scott and I took a full year earlier to Antarctica. We traveled with G Adventures aboard the G Expedition, the same ship we had traveled on the Svalbard in 2019.

We really love the frozen north and south

The trip to Antarctica, like Svalbard, was epic. You can read all about it (in detail) starting with this blog post. There are 13 installments. You read them in order, starting at the bottom and scrolling up.

Obviously, we took lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of photos because Antarctica is staggeringly beautiful. To deal with the sheer volume of photos, I broke my Antarctica photos into two buckets: Photos without Penguins and photos with Penguins. The latter were set aside and used for the 2025 December calendar page. So, here, you’ll see lots of photos, but no Penguins.

What? No Penguins??? An adult and a juvenile Adélie Penguin in Yalour Islands

And, as for the other birds we saw (which really wasn’t a whole lot), I pulled many of those out for consideration in August in the section featuring primarily birds. However, there are some Antarctic birds in January as well. I didn’t have hard and fast rules about where to put the birds. So, don’t be confused.

Some are part of the feel of the place; Kelp Gull in Petermann Island

Main Page

The main page for January features four stunning photos of many, many that looked similar. The top photo is perhaps the most beautiful iceberg we saw, this one in Freud Passage, which was absolutely packed with incredible sights.

The best of the best; Photo: Scott Stevens

We took lots of photos of this particular iceberg from multiple angles. Here are some we didn’t use …

Same iceberg, different angles (can you find the Kelp Gull?)

The lower left photo is Brown Station in Paradise Bay, one of the places we explored on our trip.

I showed you Brown station, an Argentine research facility, in some photos in my previous post

Like so many cool human-made things found in the predominantly white and blue Antarctic, the buildings are painted an eye-catching red.

Many people on our ship hiked to the top of the mountain, but we chose to stay in our Zodiac and shoot pictures of the incredible scenery (I had learned by then that carrying my long lens up an icy slope is tough).

We had lots of photos of this striking spot

A fair number made it into the “potentials”

Those are good, but I like the one we choose.

Speaking of red in the Antarctic landscape, the next featured photo shows our ship cruising behind two icebergs are we viewed from our Zodiac.

This gives you an idea of the size of those bergs and the skill of our captain navigating them

That was an amazing shot and we had a few options to choose from.

No people and no boat or a crowd! Right photo: Scott Stevens

Or, maybe, just the ship with no iceberg!

And the final shot on the main January page is another iceberg ...

A huge one in Neko Harbor; Photo: Scott Stevens

A stunning site, for sure.

Some of the many, many great photos; Neko Harbor; Photos: Scott Stevens

Calendar Page

There are a few more shots of Antarctica on the calendar page.

The top is a spectacular ice sculpture (AKA several icebergs) near Petermann island ...

What we used; Photo: Scott Stevens

Other views we didn't use

Next, we have a Southern Fulmar taken at very close range in Freud Passage. The square I used on the calendar was actually cropped from a pair of Fulmars that were sitting together (and noisily talking) on an iceberg we cruised by in our Zodiac.

The original and the crop (OK, so more birds!)

Two other options of these beautiful birds

Next, we have a Weddell Seal, one of a few that we saw throughout our trip – by far the most common Seal on our trip.

This one was posing as it watched us cruise by in Paradise Bay

You’ll remember that a Weddell was featured in the calendar’s opening section. It was one of many great photos.

Sleeping on an iceberg; Photo: Scott Stevens

A real cutie; Right photos: Scott Stevens

The next square, which I had to crop to fit the design, is more of the beauty of Paradise Bay.

It is much, much prettier in the original format; Photo: Scott Stevens

Other options; Upper right: Scott Stevens

The next square, a doublewide, was taken in Heal Bay, where our ship came upon a pod of Humpback Whale bubble net feeding.

Spiral bubbles

This is where the Whales dive down and strategically work in concert to blow bubbles that confuse and entrap small fish, allowing the Whales to gobble up big quantities right below the surface.

A diving Humpback in Heal Bay

It was quite a spectacle that delivered lots and lots of great photos (you know that, in addition to Bears, we love to photograph Whales).

Right in front of our boat!

Close and distant encounters

The final square on the calendar page is a male and female Orca swimming by.

The long fin is the male; Photo: Scott Stevens

We were fortunate to see quite a few Orcas (another favorite on this trip) ...

A really large group; Lower left: Scott Stevens

And, there were babies!

So, that’s it for the photos we used for the calendar (plus a lot we didn’t). But, I am not finished. There are still quite a few that we had selected as the best of a huge pile (figuratively) of photos.

More Photos We Didn't Use

Here are some more that we thought about using …

Moody reflections in Neko Harbor

Far and near; Left, Heal Bay; Right, Freud Passage; Right photos: Scott Stevens

Huge Icebergs

Great reflections

Even exposed rock! Look for Penguins on the lower right; Top and lower left: Scott Stevens

Mountains and glaciers

Now, I already covered Weddell Seals …

Lounging (which is what they do); Left and lower right: Scott Stevens

But, I didn’t mention that we also saw Crabeater Seals …

Why they didn’t make the calendar, I do not know; Middle right: Scott Stevens

I also briefly mentioned that we saw lots of Humpback Whales. But, because we have frequently featured Humpbacks in other calendars, we passed on them this time …

A beautiful shot in Leith Cove; Photo: Scott Stevens

So many Whales! Bottom photos: Scott Stevens

I also said that you wouldn’t see many birds (I may have lied). But, some truly reflect the feel of the place …

Top: Brown Skua; Bottom: Antarctic Shags flanking a Southern Fulmar

We don’t often feature people, except when they are integrated into the feel of the landscape …

We had another picture of Leith Cove campers in the opening section; Right: Scott Stevens

I just love the bright red jackets and orange tents against the snow.

We had some other cool people shots we didn’t use. These are Expedition crew members.

Can you see me in the reflection taking the photo on the left? Right: Scott Stevens

I mean, the calendar really is about showing you what we saw and the scenery is the highlight

Scott and some of his iceberg photos

Icebergs galore! Right photos: Scott Stevens

Bergies; Photos: Scott Stevens

Calm reflection

Huge icebergs at Hydrurga; Left and middle right: Scott Stevens

Serenity

We did see some interesting scenery at our first stop on Deception Island – equipment leftover from a whale processing plant and an old science research station – but, as interesting as it was, it wasn’t pretty enough for the feel of the calendar.