“It’s like being in the ‘Happy Feet’ movie,” said wildlife and wedding photographer Kathleen Ricker of Monrovia, who returned from her fifth trip to Antarctica in December. Ricker has journeyed across all seven continents, with Antarctica being one of her favorite adventures.

On her recent chilly expedition, she was intent on seeing the Emperor penguins, while also capturing photographs of environmental changes that have impacted the Antarctic peninsula since her first trip there in 2015.