Freezing for the Shot: A Photographer's Majuro Misadventure

okay, so i'm on this boat, the engine is coughing like an old man with a chain-smoking habit, and i've got my Nikon D850 strapped to my chest like a life vest, but it's so cold that i'm considering using the camera as a hand warmer. bad idea, i know, but when your fingers feel like little ice cubes, you'll try anything.

i'm a freelance photographer, which means i said yes to this job because the client paid upfront and the idea of shooting manta rays in the wild sounded epic on paper. now, as i sit here with wind chill biting through my three layers, i'm questioning my life choices.

i just checked my phone-miracle of miracles, we have signal-and the weather app says it's 5.55 degrees celsius. feels like 3.26, which is basically the weather telling me that my body thinks it's three degrees colder than it is. pressure is 1026 hPa, humidity 78%, so it's that damp cold that gets into your bones and stays there. and it's constant; temp_min and temp_max both 5.55, so no daily warm-up. just steady, miserable cold.

if you get bored of the endless grey-blue of the Pacific, the city of Majuro is supposedly a short boat ride away. 'short' meaning if we had a proper engine and not this coughing diesel thing, maybe a couple of days. but at this rate, we'll be here till next week, and my camera batteries might die from cold before we see land. i heard that Majuro has some decent cafes where you can actually feel your fingers, so there's that to look forward to.

i've been gathering intel from other sailors in the area-gossip, really. someone told me that the manta ray cleaning stations are best at sunrise, but with this flat light, everything looks like a washed-out painting. i heard that the plastic pollution is bad around these parts, so finding a pristine shot is a challenge. on a local Marshall Islands travel board, someone warned me about the currents near the atoll, that they can be treacherous and suck you under. thanks for the heads up, but i'm already here, so might as well make the best of it.

before i embarked from Honolulu, i scoured Yelp for boat charters to Majuro, but most were for tourist sunset cruises. i should've checked TripAdvisor forums for Pacific crossings; might have found better advice on reliable boats. i read on the Lonely Planet forum that the best time for manta rays is during the full moon, but here we are in what feels like the wet season, even though it's not raining. so much for planning.

for context, here's where i'm currently adrift:

the view from my lens, such as it is:

now, about the photos: with this cold, my camera battery drains faster than a drunk sailor's wallet. i have to keep it in my jacket, but my jacket is cold too, so it's a vicious cycle. i'm using a Nikon D850 with a 24-70mm f/2.8, but i'm eyeing my 70-200mm for the mantas, if they ever show. the light is flat and grey, which sometimes works for moody, atmospheric shots, but for the bright, colorful manta ray shots the client wants, it's a bust.

i'm starting to think that this was a bad idea. the client wants shots of manta rays in their natural habitat, but all i have are grey waves, a cold nose, and a growing sense of dread. maybe i should just pack it in and head to Majuro, have a coconut, warm up in a hammock. but then i'd miss the shot if the mantas decide to grace us with their presence. such are the trade-offs of freelance life.

someone i met in Hawaii said that the Pacific is always like this: unpredictable and often unforgiving. i heard that the currents bring cold water from the north, which explains the temperature. 5.55 doesn't sound cold until you're in it with wind and salt spray. wind chill is real, even if the app says 3.26.

i've got a bag of lenses, and protecting them from salt spray is a full-time job. the boat is rocking like a cradle, so i can't set up a tripod; everything is hand-held, and with cold hands, stability is shit. i'm shooting at high ISO, which means noise in the images, but better that than blur from camera shake.

if you're planning a trip to these parts, check the weather like i should have. use reliable sources like Weather.com or marine forecasts, but for the open Pacific, it's always a gamble. i rely on satellite updates, but they're not always accurate, as today proves.

anyway, i'm going to try to last until dawn. maybe the light will change to something golden. maybe the mantas will come. maybe i'll get that award-winning shot that justifies the frostbite. or maybe i'll just become another statistic of Pacific folly. such is life as a freelance photographer.

p.s. if you want to see the final shots, check my Instagram but no promises-i might just delete them out of shame.

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