Back from AK

Got back from Alaska early this morning. I took a boat from Seattle and spent the next week traveling through the inside passage to many ports, glaciers, mountains, fjords... The circumstances for taking pictures weren't ideal (fam vacation, 18 hours of daylight, stuck on a boat, sunrise at 3:30 am etc) but I came away with a few shots that I'm happy with. Comments and critiques welcome.

From the back of the boat

Glacial melt half way up Mt. Roberts in Juneau

Shot taken on a kayak trip to the Davidson Glacier

Heli-skiers leaving Skagway

Local housing in Ketchikan

Last light on the Inside Passage

Walkers and a runner at the Mendenhall Glacier

Last light on a few peaks seen from the Inside Passage

My brother and brother-in-law approaching the summit of Mt. Roberts in Juneau

One of many icebergs floating in the Inside Passage

One of my fav places. Very nice stuff. Cant wait to go back.

Maybe next year. Damn, I gotta get more vacation time!

These are with your 5D rt?

RichieV

Good stuff Scott, looks beautiful, hope you had a good time..............J

Rich, all of these were taken with my 5D. I hear you about the vacation time. I just spent half of mine on this trip.

Scott,

Lindsay and I are taking this same trip on the sister boat, in July. Can you give me any details, what focal length did you wind up using the most? What excursions did you all go on, or did you just do your own thing? How did you like the boat. I reasize these are not all photography related questions, but I'm really interested after seeing your shots.

Any equipment you would not leave home without?

Thanks for any info.

Brad, my family likes adventure, so we ditched the tour guides after Princess cancelled two of our four excursions (4 hours before arrival) because the Europeans thought that a 7 (meaning seven people) is a one when it has a line through it . Princess has no concept of customer service and did absolutely nothing to remedy the situation after talking to them many times. Don't leave home without your patience and a 400mm+ IS lens. I brought 2 lenses (17-40 and 28-135IS). I really regret not having a 400mm IS lens. I saw about 20 bald eagle's and could not shoot a single one with my weak lenses. Brad, I was the youngest person on the ship by about 30 years. If you sign up for excursions, plan on hiking behind a bunch of 70 year olds (in other words, DO YOUR OWN THING). I could have paid 200 bucks to hike 1 mile up Mt Roberts while listening to a "naturalist" or pay nothing to make the summit. Don't bother on signing up for the photo tour, because they WILL cancel it when you are the only one that signs up (it takes 10 people to run the tour). In Juneau, take the tram and then hike to the summit of Mt. Roberts (another 2000 vertical feet and 6 miles round trip from the top of the tram). This is simply stunning. In Skagway, the Glacier Point Wilderness "Safari" tour by Chillkat guides is pretty sweet and the guides are awesome (everything else is really touristy). If you do this, go in the morning or it is really cold and foggy. In Ketchikan, walk the boardwalks and docks. In Victoria, hope that you actually get there (they cancelled this also because we got there 4 hours late). The food is amazing and the waiters are friendly. The pizza guys are really rude-stay away. Stay on the deck alot and you'll get some good shots of landscapes, seals, and eagles. If you want to see eagles, go to Haynes. This small town has a third of North America's population of Bald Eagles. Any other Q's, just ask.

Nice shots! I especially like "Last light on a few peaks seen from the Inside Passage" one. Looks like it was a good trip.

Looks like a heckuva adventure, Scott - I love the last light image. Good info on the cruise experience, too.

Scott - sorry to hear the trip was not as great as you would have liked, but you did get some good images. I particualry like the last one, it reminds me of my February trip when I was lots of ice.

The couple times I have been up there I have just driven to Prince Rupert BC and picked up the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry System. They have staterooms or you can pitch a tent on the top deck. It really worked out great for us!

RichieV

Great stuff Scott! My wife and I took a cruise on the same ship last year and had a grand time. Granted, photo ops were limited to a certain degree but we thoroughly enjoyed the entire scheme of the cruise. (there's a trip jourmal and some essays along with the cruise images on my site). We also kind of did our own thing in the ports because I just simply can't abide the thought of having to adapt my quirky personality to someone else's schedule. Sorry about the excursions being cancelled though..Hope there's a trip journal in the future from your cruise.

Last Light was my favorite, but there are many more that were terrific!

I agree; don't go to Alask without big glass. For others planning an Alaskan photo trip, I would definitely avoid the larger cruise ships - especially if your purpose is photography. Scott mentioned many of the disadvantages. MUCH better to schedule the smaller "day" excursions out of the major ports, such as Juneau. You'll be closer to the water (whales, eagles), be able to approach wildlife more closely, and they usually have decent naturalists to help identify species and good locations. I took a day-long cruise to Glacier Bay on one of these 70-passanger boats and we spent half the day following the whales up/down te coast, then off for glacier photos.

One example of a must-see location is Tracy Arm (out of Juneau). There are a couple good-sized glaciers at the end - one of which calved for us.

Then, I recommend spending the (rather exorbitant per day cost) and reserve a night or two at the Denali Backcountry Lodge (or there's others). The bus will basically take all afternoon to drive you the 90 miles; stopping often for wildlife photos. One of the best wildlife spots that's easily accessible to people.

Enjoy, Ken

Scott,

Thanks for all the great information. I was excited to get away, but after seeing your images, I cant wait. Like almost everyone else, the last image is my fav.

Thanks again,

Very beautiful images!

Wonderful series. I have yet to make my first trip to Alaska, but it's on the top of my todo list. Thanks for the tips on logistics.

Great images Scott. I just got back from holiday myself in Norway, and found out Friday it looks like I will be heading to Juneau on and off the next few months for work. I'll be sure to give Mt. Roberts a shot while I am there.