hans___

Brown bears like to take naps during the day (even when the salmon are running), and are most active in the early mornings and evenings - Princess shore excursions typically occupy the a time period between 10am and 6pm, which is the wrong time of day for bear photography, however if you're lucky there might be a sow with cubs out fishing midday in order to avoid other bears. Where your going, which sounds like the Big River Lakes on the eastern foot hills of the Chigmit Mountians is serious bear country, so it's believeable that Princess found a nice salmon stream to look at, but the bears are likely wild, non-people tolerating type bears. A short time spent at a place during the wrong time of day, adding in shy bears, means not good brown bear photography. You might want to swing by Neets Bay while in Ketchikan, as mentioned above. There's a salmon hatchery at Neets Bay - the bears know there's both salmon and people there, so aren't so shy. What makes Alaska places like Brooks Falls, McNeil River, Pack Creek and Anan Creek unique is the fact that bears there have gotten used to people around even though there's no hatchery.

Bob, you can completely see the aurora (Northern Lights) from Haines. Here in Juneau they've been absolutely raging directly overhead and even alittle to the south every night the sky is clear lately...mostly greens with some yellows (no reds), but they've been absolutely shimmering. Since Juneau is only 60 miles southeast of Haines we share the same sky, plus Haines has a clearer northern view (less close mountians in the way because of Lynn Canal being to the north) - count on seeing them out...it's been clear lately 3 of 7 days a week. Hans

Hi Jeff - You'll for sure see brown bears at Stan Price State Wildlife Sanctuary (Pack Creek) at the end of August. Salmon will be in the creek till the later part of September. This is a case where permit "prime time" is based on when (eco)tourists tend to want to visit and not on any kind of biological situation involving when and where bears are...

 

Kodak E200 pushes great, which is a good thing because in late August rainy dark skies over northern Admiralty Island is pretty much a sure thing. Bring full head-to-toe raingear.

 

A 200mm lens isn't quite long enough for nice shots of bears there. Landscapes with bears in the frame, sure, but not photographs of bears. The teleconverter is necessary in this case. Actually, your teleconverter attached to the back of the Tamron SP 300/2.8 LD Adaptall that you can rent at Juneau Photoworks at 216 2nd St, Juneau, 99801 (907-586-1055) for $35/day would be even better. That specific lens has visited Pack Creek many, many times over the years.

 

Have a great time!

 

Hans

Hi Dotty...hhmmm...I'm always alittle shocked and mildly alarmed how little many Alaskans know about other parts of Alaska... In anycase, there are no fall colours to speak of in the ecoregion where Juneau is - the coastal rainforest is made up mostly of hemlock and spruce in a 70/30 mix. There are some alders, but in the fall they just turn brown and die, while the coniferous trees stay green...although some guy named Art Wolfe took a early morning shot of mist over Mendenhall Lake that has some fall colours in it that would make one believe otherwise....

 

For a place to stay that's out of downtown (downtown Juneau is honestly black bear country - Juneau has a problem with garbage bears within a couple blocks of the state capitol building - bears on sidewalks, streets and in peoples yards has that "hand of man" effect and thus isn't good nature photography) your pretty much looking at B&B's. Check out the website www.juneaualaska.com/visit/ and scroll down the page...theres a listing for B&B's. Look for something "out the road" since that website has a mapping program associated with the B&B page.

 

Don't worry about getting shot by hunters - people beach hunt sitka blacktailed deer on the islands, not the mainland. Hiking the many trails completely safe (bear attacks are almost unknown on the mainland) - walking through the forest understory is pretty much impossible in September, and everyone knows where the trails are... Lots of nature photography ops around Juneau - If you select a B&B out the road you'll be able to get a rundown on what's locally happening here, I'd think.

 

Have a nice couple days in Juneau! Maybe look at that Art Wolfe photograph to see where he found the colours...(clue; near Skater Cabin across from the glacier).

 

Hans

Hi Tom,

 

Prime time for Eagles in/around Haines is more or less limited to November to January - it's during the winter when the late run of salmon on the Tsirku River in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Reserve attracts Eagles by the thousands, not in the summer. In the summertime you'll find just the normal "background" population of Eagles, which is to say, no more (and actually somewhat fewer) Eagles than anywhere else in Eagle-rich southeast Alaska.

 

In the summer you'll reliably find lots of eagles in the 300mm lens range in Sitka, Petersburg and Ketchikan. Sitka is the best bet, I think, since there are lots of photogenic subjects besides Eagles in Sitka Sound - in Sitka you'll find cooperative Sea Otters, for example. Bring raingear, and have a great trip - Hans

Hi Sabrina -

 

I think you should pick up a polarizer for the 400mm. If its sunny while your there, the polarizer will cut some of the glare of the water.

 

The ADF&G website for the Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary is at:

http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/wildlife/region2/refuge2/rnd-isl.htm

 

Round Island is a place I've only seen from an airplane - I hope the weather works for you, and you only have occasional episodes of Bristol Grey.

 

Hans

Flightseeing...and large panamax cruiseships in Wrangell-Saint Elias NP at Hubbard Glacier ( http://www.adn.com/stories/T00042770.html )

 

Incidently, snowmachines have been banned in the core of Denali NP for awhile now...the ban is relatively non-contriversial by Alaska standards.

Leica 2-element filter thread close-up diopters work great. Leica calls them Elpros, and makes 4 types in 55mm thread for use with 50 to 135mm lenses. Longer lenses than 135mm don't work with close-up filters well, for the most part. Hans

A spec sheet link: http://www.klt.co.jp/Nikon/Press_Release/vrlens.html

 

Hans

If you drive along the beach road as Phil suggests in the winter time in Homer during the winter, the locals will report you, and the local police and/or Alaska State Troopers will stop you and question you. Hans

Brian, in March the a nice bird photography opportunity in Alaska is at Blind Slough, out the road from Petersburg, in Southeast Alaska in Mitkof Island. Blind Slough is the northern most overwintering spot for Trumpeter Swans, with normally 50 or so birds taking advantage of the open water and relatively mild temperatures. In addition to the swans, 17 of other species birds can be found overwintering there, in addition to large numbers of Bald Eagles hang around Petersburg in the winter, attacted by the seafood processing plants. Petersburg is known as the "little Norway" of Alaska has a very picturesque quality to it. If you fly Alaska Airlines to Anchorage, you should be able to get a free layover in Petersburg on your way up from or back to Seattle. Have a good time! Hans

Along the lines of captive alcids, the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward (http://www.alaskasealife.org/) that was built with major millions from the Exxon Valdez settlement dollars has there what they claim to be the largest artifical alcid habitat in the world. They've stocked the habitat with Horned Puffins, Tufted Puffins and Pigeon Guillemots, but, while its possible to get frame filling shots of them with a 90mm, birds were captured as chicks and won't achieve adult breeding plumage till spring of 2001. Hans

I find myself hoping that someone might describe the Tufted Puffin photo ops at Cape Meares NWR in Oregon in this thread. Reading what the USFWS says about the place it has the potential for being least difficult place on the westcoast for shore based alcid photography.

Brian, the Horned Puffin/Tufted Puffin colonies across Kachemack Bay from Homer on the lower Kenai Peninsula in Alaska great places to take pictures of puffins. I suggest doing lots of internet searches on the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The AMNWR consists of 2400 island, 4.5 million acres altogether, along of Alaska coast from the Arctic to B.C. - Many millions of puffins are included in the 30 million or so seabirds that nest on the thousands of miles of rocky coast and islands. The Homer and Kodiak areas, and the Pribilof Islands in June are best bet places for getting telephoto close on land. Other places are harder to get too, and involve more dangerous conditions and/or permits. Um, Brian, you do know that puffins nest in holes in the ground, right? Getting a cute picture of a puffin looking out of its burrow is about it as far as nexting activity goes. Again, think late June for Alaska puffin pictures. Hans

Bob, that's a pretty accurate description of the access situation at Denali - when visiting there I think its best to do it in September when they sometimes allow private cars, or plan on waiting for a backcountry permit, or figure out how to work the campground permit system so you can stay out there while. The last time I visited Denali I was able to drive my car out to Kantishna as I had an invitation from the private landowners out there, but that was 10 years ago. In anycase, the situation at Zion NP and other parks is described in this snippet from the fall '97 newsletter of the National Conference of State Legislatures which I will post here in full, although Zion in particular is only mentioned at the end:

 

"The Automobile: An Endangered Species in National Parks

For many decades the leisurely drive through a national park served as one of America�s most common family vacation activities�too common, it seems. The din of automobile engines and the smell (and sight) of pollution has reached a point where it infringes both upon many visitors� enjoyment and upon the natural beauty of the parks. A plan to alleviate the negative effects of automobiles recently was released by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater. The department heads signed a joint memorandum pledging to cooperate in the development of mass transit systems for several national parks.

 

Most cars will not be permitted in Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Zion national parks after the turn of the century. Instead, visitors will access parks on bus and light rail systems, on bicycles or on foot. Parking lots will be built outside the parks.

 

Cars will be banned from the Grand Canyon beginning in 2000. Twenty-four-hour light rail service will carry passengers to a new visitor center. The $14 million center will be financed from park entry fees, which Babbitt said probably would not increase. The rail system will cost $67 million.

 

Yosemite National Park will ban autos beginning in 2001. A system of shuttles will carry visitors to the park from surrounding towns. Parking lots will be built outside the park, allowing elimination of some park roads. Walking, biking or busing to Yosemite remains part of a plan that was altered to increase the involvement of communities surrounding the park.

 

Zion National Park in Utah also will ban cars and buses in 2001 and rely on shuttles to transport park-users from nearby towns."

 

So, as you see, unless this is really dated information, the shuttle plan at the National Parks might happen relatively soon in the future. Maybe make the most of next summer? Hans

A very long roadtrip your taking Carsten. The only specific recommendation that comes to mind just now is make sure you plan your route that you travel the Denali Highway between Paxson and Cantwell, and infact drive it twice if you can manage. Drive to Chicken, drive to Petersville, drive to McCarthy. I don't see driving to Seward to checkout Exit Glacier as an optional thing at all, as since you making the trip to Alaska you should take the time to walk up to a glacier, and Exit Glacier is the easiest big one you can get to by road. You should be able to get your car on the ferry between Haines and Skagway by just showing up, and for sure after a wait of a day or two - Haines is a great place to spend time in anycase. You'll have a great trip - there aren't many roads in Alaska and it sounds like you plan to do them all! Hans

The pullouts that Scott refers to I'd more describe as a parking lot with a warm-up hut and a trail parallel to the river. A couple years ago the Alaska Dept of Transportation in cooperation with Fish & Game did a very thorough job of fixing the rather life threatening hazards of photographing the eagles from the side of the road. The one thing they couldn't fix however is the low angle sun just over the cathedral peaks of the Chilkat Range backlighting the eagles where they congregate at the confluance of the Tsirku and the Chilkat. A rather unfortunate situation. Inquire with a guiding service, perhaps one of them can get you on the other side of the river along the snow machine trail that people use to get in and out of the small community along the shores of Chilkat Lake (find a USGS topo somewhere) - it's a lot better sun angle than from along the road, but you'll really need a 600mm or so since the separation distance is greater. Dress warm to best enjoy the warmth of the community of Haines during the winter months when tourists aren't around - it's a beautiful place in many ways - the scenery has a lot of grandeur to it, and there are lots of Moose wandering around. Hans

Lance, sooner or later your search for black bears should bring you to Anan Creek on the Cleveland Peninsula, a short floatplane ride from Ketchikan, or a long but interesting boat ride from Wrangell, both in southeast Alaska. The Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan Ranger District, maintains the Anan Creek Bear Observatory there - some websearching should get multiple hits from guiding services that can get you there. The best bet is a boat out of Wrangell and a muli-day stay at Anan Creek. During the month of August there are many, many black bears (and the occasional brown bear) so close you can smell them, but there are also DHC Otter loads of cruiseship tourists a few times a say - if you camp a mile away on the beach you can be at the falls in relative peace during evenings and whenever the no one else is around during the day (unlike Brooks Falls, there is no nearby lodge). Anan Creek is essentially a black bear version of Brooks River (Katmai, NP) - the black bears are fishing for salmon, but its lots cheaper to get to; literally, cruiseship passangers are able to fly out, see a bear, and fly back to Ketchikan in just a few hours for less than $300. Since people tend to follow the rules about staying on the trail and viewing platforms, there has never been a bear attack at Anan Creek. Ketchikan, at Alaska's southeast tip, is lots closer to Seattle than most people think. Hans

With a GIS you'd be able to do a spatial query - ask what's interesting within X distance of somewhere. It might be useful sometimes, but it is true that most descriptions of places include where the place is in the text of the description...Hans

Maybe plan to visit a couple State Parks, a National Forest, then ending the workshop at a National Park? This kind of itinerary has become fairly common with wilderness/tour guides in Alaska who've been hit with the same type of requirements you're dealing with (re: doing business in the NP's). Why the recent Park Service rules encourage people visit the parks with only Park Service guides (who don't go far from the visitors' centers), or no guides at all is a mystery. Hans

Mark, a great resouce I've always used has been publications put out by state Division of Wildlife Conservation where I live. Since these publications and special study reports are funded through taxes federal taxes on outdoor sporting equipment (and have been for decades), I don't expect such resources are unique to the State of Alaska - although elsewhere the name of the agency could well be different. The website at: http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/wildlife/wildmain.htm ...special attention to the Publications Section and the wildlife notebooks on this site. With luck there's a public source like this one where you live. As far as local groups to join, and how to find knowledgable folks to hang out with, I recommend the your local chapter of the Audubon Society. I'm in the biology business (temperate rainforest ecology - I'm a landscape-level tree guy) and while I meet lots of wildlife biologist types at conferences and when doing work stuff, it's during Audubon Society outings where more meaningful relationships are made, in my experiance. Join your local chapter to get the newsletter - you really only have to show up at events and outings you find interesting and you'll run into people with whom you share specific interests. Often outing leaders and speakers are the most expert in your local area, and are interested in sharing knowledge and meeting like minded folks - after all the Audubon Society is mainly a social organization of those with an interest in the natural world and is not at all limited to just birdwatchers. Hans

Cliff, I'm thinking you should be looking for a nice place with lots of nice hare habitat, where people are often present, but where dogs are not allowed. This usually means a golf course, as in my experiance (Alaskan as it is) most public parks are actually public dog walks. The persistent presents of dogs (even well behaved ones on leashes) tend to make hares either absent entirely or at least make them rather elusive. It's likely after a tour of the golf courses within your easy travel radius you'll find an isolated population that aren't shy around people, and will just assume your tripod and lens is some sort of strange golf-related gear, paying you little mind as you snap a roll or two. Good hunting! Hans

Angela, my seakayak photography experiance is alittle limited (I'm a zodiac driver, although I do own a seakayak) but I do have to say that while the protected inside waters around Petersburg are often like glass, the waters also get alittle bit of a 4 inch chop later in the day or whenever there is any wind at all. Seakayaks are fairly long (like 15+ feet)and so are stable when in motion, but are very narrow. Your fine handholding technique when on firm ground won't carry over to a seakayak that's pitching/bobbing around in the water when you not moving forward, like when your holding your camera and not your paddle. The Canon IS lenses may as well have been designed for kayakers in mind. As for camera handling - you'll have to adopt a different grip on the camera with the larger heavier IS lens is all, supporting the weight more fully with your left hand. Have a wonderful trip - I hope LeConte Bay is clear enough of icebergs and bergi-bits as to not cause to many problems finding a route up the fjord; the constant calving and resulting icebergs make it a relatively rarely photographed glacier and fjord. I use an incident meter around glaciers and usually dial in a -.5 EV adjustment to what my TTL meter tells me about glaciers, light depending - then bracket when the situation permits. Hans

Chris, within the parameters of a package tour you'll be able to take some great pictures on your Alaska trip. I just got back from a visit to southcentral Alaska to check out a few my favorate hotspots.You should plan your port visit days such that you spend time in interesting places. I'm going to assume your trip starts in Vancouver, B.C. and ends in Fairbanks? If its the other way around, reverse everything I'm about to write about port day trips you can take...In Ketchikan an interesting place is the Anan Creek Bear Observitory on the Cleveland Penninsula - there should be salmon running there in a couple weeks, and its always interesting to watch bears catching salmon. Mostly black bears at Anan Creek. Anan Creek is easy to get to, and should listed on your optional tours list the cruiseship line sent you.In Juneau take a day boat out to Tracy Arm. It takes all day but it's worth it - Tracy Arm has a reputation for being the most spectacular fjord in Alaska. If spending 10 hours on a small boat is too long for you (or your ship arrives in Juneau too late the day), then take one of the wildlife/whale watch boats out of Auke Bay - they only last 4 hours. Resist the urge to take a flightseeing/glacier flight - you'll spend lots of dollars just to get an possibily uninteresting picture of ice and rocks. Maybe take the tram up Mt Roberts and look for ptarmigan. If you can manage it, the most interesting thing (and most expensive thing) to do in a day in Juneau is flying out to Pack Creek on Admirality island. Huge brown bears at Pack Creek. There is a permit system (similar to McNiel River) to get there, but it is sometimes possible to cruiseship passangers to make it out there in the limited time of a port visit. You have to charter a plane, however, and that's always expensive.In Skagway, I think you should consider taking the trip to Davidson Glacier - its a plane ride out to the Chilkat Peninsula, then a short hike through the rainforest to the glacier lake, where you canoe across to the glacier. If that trip is just too spendy, if the weathers just right you can get great landscapes from the White Pass railroad up at the pass.If your ship stops in Sitka, get on a whalewatch boat in Sitka Sound that stops at St Lazaria Island NWR. Lots of tufted puffins and rhinocerous auklets and both types of murres - if the weather isn't too extreme, boats get close enough to even get good shots of black oystercatchers with your 300. If you've never shot capitive eagles, you'll be interested in visiting the Sitka Raptor Center - its the biggest eagle hospital in Alaska, and I think everyone should have a few close-ups of captive eagles in their files. Many eagles and other preditory birds are permanent residents there due to various injuries.Your ship will stop perhaps Glacier Bay, and for sure at Hubbard Glacier and College Fjord. Bring lots of film. A mix of 100, 200, and 400 is what I've using lately. For me that means rolls of Kodak E100S and lots of rolls of E200. If you have "low on film" anxieties in Juneau, you can buy professional slide films at Juneau Photoworks on 2nd Street, and whatever print film you choose at Front Street Photo in also in Juneau.When you get to the land portion of your trip, you will find that they won't let you stray far from the group - seriously, tour guides are like prison guards and sometimes take real offense if you are often acting like you might make a break for it. They will put interesting things infront of your camera, however, so just go with their program and you should be fine. If you have the option, take the train from Seward to Anchorage, but don't get on the train till you visit Exit Glacier about 10 miles out of Seward. Plan accordingly that you're well rested if you plan on the bus trip through Denali - its a kind of a grueling 10 hours they put cruiseship tourists through up there. I think it's awesome that people actually put up with being hurtled about Alaska they way the tour companies do. Anyway, drink lots of liquids and generally be aware not to get too fatigued on the long bus trip through the wilderness - the trip can really knock you out if your not used to travelling for hours on dusty gravel roads in a school bus. There will be lots of things to shoot from open windows on the bus, and your 100-300 IS zoom is the perfect lens for that kind of thing. I can really comment on photo techniques...since you'll constantly be covering ground (or water) during your trip, you'll mostly be taking grab shots of things as you go by...just keep prepared and expect the unexpected. Use lots of film - if something looks good, shoot it, and if it looks better, shot it again.* a good technique for dealing with cruiseline land tour guides is to ask them where you can find a loon near where ever you are during "free time" evenings. Generally speaking, where you find loons you'll likely find other interesting things - a good tour guide will figure out where to find loons (after maybe you explain what a loon is) from someone without realizing you asked to get a look at the real wilderness that's always close by in Alaska (even in Anchorage). *Once you get to Fairbanks you might have some free (unmanaged) time. Find a taxi go out to Creamer's Field - it's possible you'll be able to get great shots of birds there with your 300, but maybe not, but you won't know if you don't try. Creamer's Field is basically in town, and the birds there get used to people. I think you should take your tripod (just keep it with your luggage) because in July the sun stays up real late at night up north, but its real weak light; enough light to read a newspaper at midnight, but only enough for like 1/30 at f/4 with iso 200 film. You'll find not having a tripod perhaps frustrating at about 11pm (except the day before the Denali Busride when you should be asleep at 11pm).Buy a few small containers of insect repellent and keep one in your camera bag. Interesting wildlife tend to live around great mosquito habitat in Alaska. That's it for my advice...have a great trip - Hans, back in Juneau, AK

Rajesh, I've been out close to a dozen times this spring in search of one of those rare cooperative whales - the ones that do interesting things in front of nice backgrounds in good light. Different places around the Juneau region of southeast Alaska on a variety of watercraft from a zodiac to a 90ft catamaran, in seach of a humpback close enough to shore that the spruce trees aren't thrown competely out of focus at a time when the light is good. Whales are tough subjects; a real f/8 and be there type of thing. Since this is your first trip, you'll learn things useful on future ones - but still, I'll add some tips...Different types and sizes of boats act differently when they're not moving on ocean seas. Whale watch are often catamarans, if yours is one of those, you won't have many of the stability problems as a single V-hull...just, I think, get as low on the vessel as possible - don't work from the upper obervation deck if there's a lower alternative - from high up at mid-distance and closer the background will limited to possibly uninteresting water. If you boat is a single V-hull type, they pitch alot side to side when stopped, and my preference is to stand on the centerline. I think its easier to deal with simple pitching than the constant rising and falling a few inches or a foot that is experianced by shooting from amidships at the rail. I go for the bow or stern, but anywhere along the centerline is fine if the view is clear.Whales are usually at a distance, and distances are hard to see on the water - its much easier to get farther away from a whale than closer to it, since within 300 feet the whalewatch vessel should be close to idle speed. Your new 300/4 should get some use, but perhaps the 75-300 might be a better choice much of the time if whales are being good tourist whales - if they are, you might get some use out of you 28-80 if your a quick lens changer. Whales will sometimes swim right up to boats from an unexpected direction, presumably to take a closer look.I always bring a incident meter to see how far from correct exposure the sea state is throwing off my meter, and usually dial in a -.5 EVGood luck with the weather, and with finding cooperative whales. Hans