I worked on a cruise ship in Alaska (about 8 years ago) and spent quite a few
cruises finding cool places to photograph.
1. Ketchican: The best place I saw to try to get photos of bald eagles was the
garbage dump. The eagles are carrion eaters and they nest close by the dump.
Hint: I had the best breakfasts at the Ketchican Cafe, its downtown on the
second floor of a building.
2. Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier. Take a trip out there if you can, truly
impressive. If the salmon are running, the mouth of the Juneau River has all
sorts of salmon stranded in small pools during low tide.
3. Skagway: Try to get around the point to Dyea. Dyea was the trailhead of
the Chilcoot trail to the Yukon. There are still some ruins and follow the
chilcoot trail a ways into the rainforest.
4. Glacier Bay: Lens selection is tough. There is so much to see and it it so
wide that a WA lens just makes everything look small. Use the longest lens you
have to maybe get some bear pictures. Also, the Puffins flock near the base of
the glaciers. We never really got too close to the glaciers, maybe about
1/4-1/2 mile offshore.
I'll have to look through my Alaska pic and see if there is anything else I can
think of.
Clint Spesert
----- Original Message -----
From: NSURIT@xxxxxxx
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 5:21 AM
Subject: [OM] Alaska cruise kit & a little OT stuff
Will be going on Alaskan cruise the end of July, with a few days in Seattle
prior to departure. Only things absolutely in concrete at this time are a
ferry/boat ride to Victoria to see the gardens and a visit to the Hay Street
market in Seattle. Would be interested in hearing from anyone experienced
with the area or Alaskan cruises of "not to miss" photographic opportunities.
Will be stopping at Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Will be also going into
Glacier Bay. Other than places to go, what focal lengths might one find most
useful from the ship and would appreciate any advice about ship
movement/shutter speeds particularly for low light (early morning/late
evening) stuff. Would probably be most interested in lens recommendations on
the longer focal lengths as that is where most of the weight would be. The
short kit will likely include the 18, 28-48 zoom, 35-100 zoom, 50 mm f 3.5 &
maybe the 65-200. What I have available on the longer end in addition to
several 2X extenders (Zuiko, Vivitar macro & Tamron) is Zuiko 200, Zuiko 400,
Tamron 500 f 8 and a Tamron 60-300 zoom. I do plan to take a tripod. Any
advice from those who have experience in the area would be greatly
appreciated. I would be interested in scenic and wildlife (whales, bears,
eagles,etc). Still looking for the lens hood for the 28-48mm. Bill Barber
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