An above and below water photo of Red Salmon, Chugach National Forest, near Seward, Alaska.
I got out my remote setup for above / below water photos yesterday, it is pretty fun to play with! I have never used this setup in swift moving water like this – it offers some new challenges.
For one, the water level moves up and down in the frame from photo to photo – in still water it is easy to have the surface bisect the middle of the frame. In addition, the water surface itself also seem much thicker then on flat water. What happen is sometimes the fish or the trees get hidden by the water surface if that makes any sense. Finally, the fish and light rain kept getting the glass wet as you can see by the blurred areas in the top half of this image – I think I have a solution for this. But, when it does work, I think the results are pretty cool!
I hope to spend a few more days working this location – now if I could only have a bear here like there was last year!
Snow River Valley, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.
I captured this yesterday as a rain squall moved up the valley. Check out the fresh snow in the mountains – it usually begins looking like that in September, not June!
Exit Glacier Road, Seward, Alaska.
This was taken at about 11:00 at night earlier this week. I think it is easy to see why I make the 10 plus mile drive from Seward to Exit Glacier frequently this time of year, it is a beautiful drive!
This is Mount Benson. This area is roughly spit in half by the Chugach National Forest and Kenai Fjords National Park, so I will put this in both categories.
A pond with Mt. Alice in the background, Seward, Alaska.
As part of my Ask Ron series, Phil Cola asked what is my top selling photo in terms of revenue, and what was the location, setup, logistics etc.
It is a great question – I know I’m always fascinated by the annual issue of Photo District News (PDN) in which the major stock agencies share the same information on their most successful image from the prior year. My most successful images draw on some similar parallels that I will touch on below. [click to continue…]
Pectoral Sandpiper near Seward, Alaska.
I think this is the last of the shorebird photos – the birds have now move on. This will give me the chance to get caught up on the Ask Ron questions. [click to continue…]
Mount Alice viewed from some beach driftwood, Seward, Alaska.
I located this cool looking stump on the beach about a month ago, and have intended to photograph it for some time now. I can see myself returning to this spot and trying different compositions in varying light. This was from last night at about 10:15.
Since the sun was off the driftwood, I played around with some off camera flash. It probably would have been better with two flashes, but I just had one with me. This was with my 24-105mm lens set at 32, with my aperture set at the smallest opening of f/22 to maximize the depth of field. Shutter speed was 1/5 of a second. I had to bump the ISO up to 400 to increase the strength of the flash which I had manually set to full strength (1:1). I hand held the flash off to the left of the driftwood.
A Least Sandpiper resting near Seward, Alaska.
Seven years ago I walked away from a great job with full benefits, a wonderful boss and awesome co-workers to pursue my dream of being a photographer. Janine had left her job a couple of years before to begin building the business and it was time to take the plunge. It was the scariest, but one of the best, decisions I have ever made.
I find it interesting, at the time I was consumed with “making it”. I really wanted to succeed, and would work as hard as possible to achieve that success. If you had told me then that 7 years later we would be traveling, taking photos and making a comfortable living, I would have breathed a big sigh of relief and would have been thrilled at the thought of actually “making it”. But now that I’m here, I still worry about the future, and continue to have those thoughts that I hope we can “make it”. As someone told be recently, it is probably a good thing to feel that way. I know one thing – it sure has been a wonderful journey!
A Least Sandpiper near Seward, Alaska.
This was from earlier this week – I liked how the sandpiper appeared to be checking out its reflection.
I wanted to thank everyone for all the constructive comments and emails I recived on the sandpiper blur image – lots of great insight, I really appreciate it!
Rain-forest, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.
There is more to the Copper River Delta area then just birds – actually, a lot more! This was from my recent trip.
A flock of shorebirds, Copper River Delta, Alaska.
It is fun to return to an area like I did Cordova recently to see what kind of new images I can come up with – I like the challenge. It seems I’m more likely to experiment and try different compositions, techniques etc. on subsequent visits to a location in an attempt to top what I did before. Admittedly, different isn’t better, but the same is never better – let me elaborate. [click to continue…]
Semipalmated Plover, Seward, Alaska.
Since I’m in the bird frame of mind sorta speak, I decided to check out some of our local shorebirds. Compared to the Copper River Delta, Seward gets a tiny migration – but hey, its close!
The favorable tides and wind corresponded with the middle of a bright sunny day which equals harsh ugly light, so I leaned heavy on flash to help tame and overcome the bad light.
I ended up getting pretty wet laying in the mud and water for two hours – but I think it was worth it!
Western Sandpiper, Copper River Delta, Alaska.
We are back from a great trip to Cordova. I’ll probably be drying and cleaning silt out of my camera gear for a week!
Shorebirds resting on the Copper River Delta, Alaska.
Well, as I was mesmerized by the shorebird migration, I was told a wolverine walked down the beach about a hundred yards behind me! I was right there with my camera mounted on my telephoto, all on a tripod - it couldn’t have been better timing, well, except for the part where I was looking the other way! It was spotted by Hugh Rose, who is an excellent photographer and naturalist – so it was a very reliable source. Guess where I’m going to be hanging out!
My pain was greatly eased by the shorebird migration – this was the most I have ever seen. Wow is the word I kept repeating to myself. Unfortunately photographs just can’t do this migration justice. Video would help, but would still fall short.
I used f/22 for this image to maximize the depth of field.
Shorebirds on the Copper River Delta, Alaska
It is a bit early, but the birds are beginning to arrive – this was from this morning. I forgot what an amazing experience it is to see these huge flocks of birds!
A moose cow outside of Seward, Alaska earlier this week.
Just out of sight was a year old calf who will likely be abandoned soon. Mortality rates for moose during their first year of life is very high. Once they hit the age of one, the rate drops substantially, and the mom’s job is done.
Kayaking in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
As part of the ask Ron theme, adventure photographer Ryan Bonneau asks how I handle my camera gear while kayaking. Ryan is going to be spending two months kayaking in Prince William Sound this summer (lucky guy!). He went on to say he has tried storing his gear on deck in a dry bag, as well as in his cockpit in a dry bag, and has never felt comfortable with either system.
Well, unfortunately I don’t have a solution for this one. I do the same thing as Ryan, and have never felt comfortable with those options either. Usually I keep my camera in a dry bag under the bungees on the deck in front of me, kind of like the yellow bag you see in this photo. My camera’s dry bag is red – it is probably sitting on my skirt and just out of sight in this photo. Getting the camera in and out of the bag and stowed away is always a wet, awkward proposition full of risk – I dread hearing that plunking sound of a lens dropping overboard, so far I have been fortunate. I’ve seen this topic come up in photography forums, but have never heard of a better solution.
By the way, the dark area between both bows is a large school of salmon.
I hadn’t seen Ryan’s photography until today – check it out, he has some great stuff. Looks like he just started a blog as well.
Sandhill Cranes, Seward, Alaska.
Seward was inundated with seasonal visitors this weekend, but I’m not talking about the two legged tourist type that typically start appearing about now. Actually, there really weren’t any tourists in town with the Seward Highway closed all weekend. No, we received hundreds, if not thousands of birds this weekend! We went from very few birds, to huge flocks in just a couple of days. The transformation this time of year is a treat to watch.
The most exciting to me were the Sandhill Cranes. You could see and hear large flocks working their way up Resurrection Bay. Most of the large flocks stopped for a quick bite to eat before moving on. There were also large numbers of White-fronted and Canadian Geese, and lots of ducks, especially Northern Pintails, and even a couple of swans.
A flock of Sandhill Cranes leaving Seward, Alaska.
Camping in the Chuach National Forest, Alaska.
How do I handle the power needs for my digital camera and file storage on long trips away from electricity? This was an ask Ron question brought up by two fellow blog’en photographer friends of mine Richard Wong and Gary Crabbe. Both guys operate great blogs – blogs I read everyday, so if you have extra time, do check them out. [click to continue…]
The Fred Olsen Cruise Lines ship Balmoral leaving Seward, Alaska last Thursday.
April 16th seems early for our first ship of the summer. The passengers aboard this ship are taking part in a 104 day around the world cruise. This ship, and these same passengers were in the news in early March when it was reported that pirates attacked the ship off the coast of Somalia. I remember seeing an interview on the Today show where passengers or crew talked about having to take cover as shots were being fired. The cruse line came out recently and said not only were there no shots fired, but that there was never attacked. Who knows. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it was this ship until after it departed, or I would have asked one of the many passengers who passed by the house that day about what happened.
Thanks for the responses to the Ask Ron post – I will follow up with answers soon.
Culross Island, Prince William Sound, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.
This is Troy Henkels in the pack raft on a beautful island in Prince William Sound. I’m a bit tired of a brown and white world, and I’m now looking forward to the rich greens of summer!
Speaking of getting ready for summer – I have to admit, I’m a bit addicted to Steepandcheap.com
. Steep and Cheap is a bit like an online, outdoor gear version of QVC. They only sell one item at a time, and the item is usally only up for 20 minutes or so, or until is sells out. You never know what might appear, but it is usually at a killer price – so we find ourselves constantly checking back to see what we are missing out on – it is adicting!
PS: Here is a site that feature numerous outdoor gear deals of the day.
Coyote, Exit Glacier Road, Seward, Alaska.
I know, this is just an ordinary snapshot from a point and shoot camera – hey even photographers can take snap shots! But, check out how close this coyote was from me Monday morning during a long cross-country ski - maybe 20 feet away! But more on that latter.
For exercise, I love to skate ski. It seems like I often see cool stuff, but my main camera and lenses are so darn heavy, they get left behind. I wanted a little camera that I could throw in my pocket and forget it was even there, but one that captured decent images in raw, and that is how I ended up with the Panasonic DMC-LX3. — Panasonic DMC-LX3K (Black)
I gotta say, this little camera is a lot of fun to shoot with. It has a wide, really fast Leica lens which is great for low light and indoor photography. Heck, at f/2.0, I don’t even have a 35mm lens nearly that fast! The thing will focus down to a fraction of a inch which makes it fun for messing around with macro stuff as well. It does a great job handling tricky exposures and even has a HD video mode. [click to continue…]
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mustang leaving Seward, Alaska.
There was a humpback whale in front of town just a short time ago. I didn’t get it photos of the whale, but was on shore for the departure of the Mustang as it passed in front of Mt Alice.
This is the same night (Wednesday) as yesterday’s post, but a different train. It is a bit unusual to see two trains in Seward during the winter.
As an interesting side note, the Alaska Railroad train in yesterday’s post was caught in an avalanche which knocked a few of the cars of the track. Fortunately no one was hurt, the cargo was non hazardous.
Alaska Railroad in a winter storm, near Seward, Alaska.
A heavy snowstorm hit this area last night. I thought it might be great conditions to photograph eagles, but didn’t have any success. The Alaska Railroad had a couple of trains leaving town, so I decided they would be a good substitute subject.
Bald Eagle, Chugach National Forest, outside of Seward, Alaska.
I found a couple of eagles feeding on some kind of carcass someone had dragged into the nearby trees; it was too far consumed to be recognized. I didn’t expect this one to land so close, I was barely able to keep it’s wings in the frame. Check out more bald eagle photos.
