Posted by Sean Watson on August 27, 2007 at 11:28 PM
Has anyone here taken a cruise on the Inside Passage ? (Or, heck, the Alaska ferry?) Inge and I leave Saturday and figured some people here might have been in that neighborhood and might have some pointers.
It's a smallish boat and there's supposed to be a focus on photography. Here's a rough schedule of where we're supposed to go.
Posted by AJ Montgomery on August 28, 2007 at 12:27 AM
Take all of your equipment, you'll use it. Take some rain protection, fall like clothing and comfortable shoes.
Make sure you have lots of memory and/or portable storage. Opportunities will be abound.
When I went on my Alaskan Cruise a couple years ago, I spent nearly all of my time on the upper decks shooting whales and birds. The days will be longer, so much so that at the furthest north extent, you'll likely only get 4 or 5 hours of relative darkness. Hence my stating to take lots of memory as you have a lot of daylight to work with. Sunrise and sunset are fairly lenghty providing lots of great light.
Most of all, have fun and sleep when you get home!!
Posted by William Lloyd on August 28, 2007 at 12:51 AM
Sitka is a great town - if you have the time, go to the Raptor Center - It's not too far to walk, or you could get other transport.
You won't use a tripod while on the ship - engine vibration.
Which cruise are you taking? It looks like a great itinerary for photogs. I would be interested in checking it out for future.
Posted by David Schoen on August 28, 2007 at 10:47 AM
Alert Bay is wonderful. Don't miss the museum, the cemetery, and the colorful homes in town. If you like PNW indigenous art, bring your checkbook. The museum store has a great selection.
Posted by David Schoen on August 28, 2007 at 10:48 AM
Alert Bay is wonderful. Don't miss the museum, the cemetery, and the colorful homes in town. If you like PNW indigenous art, bring your checkbook. The museum store has a great selection.
Posted by Sean Watson on August 28, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Thanks, AJ, William, and David.
The raptor center and the cemetery sound interesting.
I don't think we can manage all our gear but we're taking a lot. (My D2X, Inge's D2X, D200, 10.5, 12-24, my 17-55, Inge's 24-85, 50 F/1.2, 70-200 VR, 200 macro, 300 F/2.8 VR, 200-400 VR, 500, 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 TCs, extension tubes, polarizers and GNDs, Wimberley heads, SB800, SB600; maybe taking spare D70; leaving our 15-30, 28-70, extra 70-200VR, 85 T/S, 105 macro, 300 F/4, macro flash.) Everything but the longer 2 lenses fit in carry-on -- but just barely. I'm actually more than a little freaked out about putting the 200-400 and 500 in a Pelican, slapping a TSA lock on it and checking it through. I just have to keep reminding myself that we bought the lenses to use them.
It's getting close to the equiox, so I'm not sure who much more light there will be. We'll see.
I hear that if you cut out "feet" from one of those blue foam sleeping bag pads, it dampens vibration. I'm hoping that plus the VR works. I've hand-held the longer glass before, but I can't do it all day. Has anyone tried this technique? It looks like we'll do a lot of shore trips.
Craig, we booked with Lindblad. I'm a little curious to see how much they'll change because it's one of their photo cruises. I think even if they didn't do anything special, there will be lots of great opporunities. I'm kind of hoping we get a chance to be out more around dusk/dawn.
Sean
Posted by Erik Lundh on August 28, 2007 at 3:45 PM
I don't have any tips even though I've been all around Vancouver Island and the Cook Inlet area near Anchorage. all I can say is that i'm jealous.
Posted by David Schoen on August 28, 2007 at 4:22 PM
all the tombs in the Alert Bay Cemetery are carved totems. very colorful. Johnstone Strait has the greatest density of Orcas in the world. If you have a chance to kayak there, they will swim right up (and sometime under) your boat.
Posted by Tom Kloster on August 29, 2007 at 1:10 AM
Hey, Sean - you can look at the photos I took with my old Olympus C730 a few years ago, when we did a nearly identical itinerary on a small ship equipped with kayaks over here.
I didn't take a tripod, unfortunately - but managed okay with a prosumer camera. I did take a computer, and that turned out to be a very good idea, both to download images at night, and for some fairly long sections of sailing across semi-open sea.
Discussion
9 repliesIt's a smallish boat and there's supposed to be a focus on photography. Here's a rough schedule of where we're supposed to go.
9/1 - Sitka
9/2 - Glacier Bay
9/3 - Point Adolphus/Inian Pass
9/4 - Islands, Bays, & Fjords (Admiralty Island?)
9/5 - Jeneau
9/6 - Frederick Sound/Chatham Strait
9/7 - Misty Fiords
9/8 - Inside Passage
9/9 - Inside Passage
9/10 -Alert Bay/Johnstone Strait
9/11 - San Juans
9/12 - Seattle
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks,
Sean
Make sure you have lots of memory and/or portable storage. Opportunities will be abound.
When I went on my Alaskan Cruise a couple years ago, I spent nearly all of my time on the upper decks shooting whales and birds. The days will be longer, so much so that at the furthest north extent, you'll likely only get 4 or 5 hours of relative darkness. Hence my stating to take lots of memory as you have a lot of daylight to work with. Sunrise and sunset are fairly lenghty providing lots of great light.
Most of all, have fun and sleep when you get home!!
You won't use a tripod while on the ship - engine vibration.
The raptor center and the cemetery sound interesting.
I don't think we can manage all our gear but we're taking a lot. (My D2X, Inge's D2X, D200, 10.5, 12-24, my 17-55, Inge's 24-85, 50 F/1.2, 70-200 VR, 200 macro, 300 F/2.8 VR, 200-400 VR, 500, 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 TCs, extension tubes, polarizers and GNDs, Wimberley heads, SB800, SB600; maybe taking spare D70; leaving our 15-30, 28-70, extra 70-200VR, 85 T/S, 105 macro, 300 F/4, macro flash.) Everything but the longer 2 lenses fit in carry-on -- but just barely. I'm actually more than a little freaked out about putting the 200-400 and 500 in a Pelican, slapping a TSA lock on it and checking it through.
It's getting close to the equiox, so I'm not sure who much more light there will be. We'll see.
I hear that if you cut out "feet" from one of those blue foam sleeping bag pads, it dampens vibration. I'm hoping that plus the VR works. I've hand-held the longer glass before, but I can't do it all day. Has anyone tried this technique? It looks like we'll do a lot of shore trips.
Craig, we booked with Lindblad. I'm a little curious to see how much they'll change because it's one of their photo cruises. I think even if they didn't do anything special, there will be lots of great opporunities. I'm kind of hoping we get a chance to be out more around dusk/dawn.
Sean
I didn't take a tripod, unfortunately - but managed okay with a prosumer camera. I did take a computer, and that turned out to be a very good idea, both to download images at night, and for some fairly long sections of sailing across semi-open sea.
Tom