Posted by David Taylor on March 20, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Greetings everyone. I've been lucky enough to have a friend buy us a flightseeing trip out of Talkeetna (Alaska) tomorrow. Our pilot will fly us north to the Alaska Range to photograph Denali (Mt. McKinley) and lesser peaks from the air. Unfortunately, the plane does not have removable windows (although at that altitude, it'd be very cold). But the windows are quite large, so it should be ok. We will also be landing on the Ruth Glacier on skis to do some glacier based photography of the range around us.
Wondering if anyone has any tips for aerial snow-covered mountain photography? I haven't dabbled in this before, so it'll be new to me.
Things that I know:
1. Don't touch the camera or lens to the window - it will transfer vibrations
2. I'll be using IS lenses mostly, but also a 12-24 wide angle without IS - so I'll just set a high enough shutter speed to try to take out the vibration.
3. I'll try to use a polarizer, if it doesn't darken the sky too much.
4. It is forecasted to be bright, so I'm thinking I should expose for the snow - so I don't blow any detail out of the whites.
5. I'm taking plenty of batteries for my main camera (it'll be cold) - I'll have 6, plus a Canon G9 for pics & vids.
Any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas/last will and testaments?
Depends on what shape the windows are in.
I took a flight over Southern Utah and Monument Valley last winter and had some pretty pristine windows. You can see some examples in my gallery titled 'Colorado Plateau From Above'.
Not too shabby, eh? They needed more of a contrast boost than more 'normal' types of images, but otherwise I had no other complications.
The polarizer may react in a funky way with the windows....be ready to ditch it at a moment's notice.
Have fun....sounds like the trip of a lifetime!
Posted by Kent Staubus on March 21, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Arrgh, I saw this too late and it's something I've done. Wear black. Wear black gloves. Use a flexible rubber lenshood and press that up against the window. Don't use polarizers--angles change too fast. Use fastest shutter speed possible, such as 1/4000. Be careful about looking through viewfinder a lot, especially with long lenses. You will get sick.
Kent in SD
Posted by David Taylor on March 21, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Thanks Kent, just heading out the door right now
Glad I got a chance to read your post. I'll skip the polarizer in flight, and consider it's use once we've landed on the Ruth Glacier. I wish I would have asked these questions a while ago, but this was kind of a last minute trip. So, I'll go with the equipment I know and already own. But next time... bring a haze filter for high altitude (I'll do some contrast adjustments this time), and get some rubber lenshoods (that's a great idea!). I seem to have this inane ability to not get motion sickness. Waves, turbulence, someone else driving - never has affected me. Knock on wood - I'll let you know if that holds true for this trip (appropriate that the smiley is green in the face...)
Thanks much for the tips. Oh, and my organs for donation You guys can fight over the gear.
Discussion
4 repliesWondering if anyone has any tips for aerial snow-covered mountain photography? I haven't dabbled in this before, so it'll be new to me.
Things that I know:
1. Don't touch the camera or lens to the window - it will transfer vibrations
2. I'll be using IS lenses mostly, but also a 12-24 wide angle without IS - so I'll just set a high enough shutter speed to try to take out the vibration.
3. I'll try to use a polarizer, if it doesn't darken the sky too much.
4. It is forecasted to be bright, so I'm thinking I should expose for the snow - so I don't blow any detail out of the whites.
5. I'm taking plenty of batteries for my main camera (it'll be cold) - I'll have 6, plus a Canon G9 for pics & vids.
Any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas/last will and testaments?
Thanks
dt
I took a flight over Southern Utah and Monument Valley last winter and had some pretty pristine windows. You can see some examples in my gallery titled 'Colorado Plateau From Above'.
Not too shabby, eh? They needed more of a contrast boost than more 'normal' types of images, but otherwise I had no other complications.
The polarizer may react in a funky way with the windows....be ready to ditch it at a moment's notice.
Have fun....sounds like the trip of a lifetime!
Kent in SD
Glad I got a chance to read your post. I'll skip the polarizer in flight, and consider it's use once we've landed on the Ruth Glacier. I wish I would have asked these questions a while ago, but this was kind of a last minute trip. So, I'll go with the equipment I know and already own. But next time... bring a haze filter for high altitude (I'll do some contrast adjustments this time), and get some rubber lenshoods (that's a great idea!). I seem to have this inane ability to not get motion sickness. Waves, turbulence, someone else driving - never has affected me. Knock on wood - I'll let you know if that holds true for this trip
Thanks much for the tips. Oh, and my organs for donation