Kayaking and Camera Gear?

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Ask Ron, Chugach, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Kayaking in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

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.

KPTCM Cover

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 4 Comments

Cover of the Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council Travel Guide, Alaska.

Cover of the Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council Travel Guide (KPTMC), Alaska.

This is actually a composite of two of our images combined by KPTMC.  You see, they really liked this photo from Harriman Fiord in Prince William Sound.  Problem was, even though it looked like it could have been captured in Kenai Fjords on the Kenai Peninsula, savvy viewers would certainly recognize this as part of Prince William Sound which is outside the Kenai Peninsula.  So they replaced the background with an image of ours from Kenai Fjords.  They did such a good job that when this arrived last week, I forgot it was a composite – it even fooled me!

Sandhill Cranes

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 12 Comments

Sanhill Cranes, Seward, Alaska.

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.

A flock of Sandhill Cranes leaving Seward, Alaska.

What do I do for Power on Extended Trips in the Field?

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Ask Ron, Chugach, Miscellaneous, Travel 11 Comments

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.   Read More

First Cruise Ship of the Year

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 3 Comments

The Fred Olsen Cruise Lines ship Balmoral leaving Seward, Alaska last Thrusday.

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.

In Deep with Steep and Cheap!

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Miscellaneous, Photos, Travel 15 Comments

Culross Island, Prince William Sound, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

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.

Crowley Tugs

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Crowley tugs in the Seward Boat Harbor, Alaska.

Crowley tugs in the Seward Boat Harbor, Alaska.

I went out looking for subjects during a heavy snowstorm yesterday.  I can almost always find a moose, and thought they would make for a cool subject all covered in snow – but I couldn’t find a one yesterday!  So I headed down to the boat harbor – I can always count on the harbor for interesting material.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 21 Comments

coyote

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.Read More