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Juneau Photo Safari

hogwildcruzers

By hogwildcruzers,
in Alaska

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cabinfever11

cabinfever11

Posted
Posted

Excited to be doing this excursion July 1st --will let you know the details !

DH is more of a photographer than me but i intend to get some photos also.

I've only read good things . Search it in space above --there is a review from this season ,already .

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fleckle

fleckle

Posted
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If you do that tour, try to have them take you to Mendenhall Glacier last so you can remain there as long as you like after their tour ends. Then you can ride one of the buses back to town when you are ready to leave.

 

The people on our cruise who took that tour were very disappointed that they had only limited time at Mendenhall and did not get to explore the trails they wanted. They did not even have time to go to the visitor center or out to Nugget Falls.

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Skiah

Skiah

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Fleckle, Good advice which I hadn't thought about. My wife and I are doing this excursion July 21 and the extra time at Mendenhall would be great.

 

Murf

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tmitchell82

tmitchell82

Posted
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Not sure which photo safari tour your are doing, but we did a whale watching & Mendenhall Glacier photo tour through Princess last week. Basically spent time on the water trying to shoot the whales, sealions, eagles, etc. Then we went to the Mendenhall Glacier. Did not do much hiking so did not see much wildlife. Granted, our time was cut short there since we spent more time on the water with the whales (hey, we got to witness a double whale breech, too bad I could not shoot fast enough...) Would have liked to have spent more time at the Mendenhall Glacier and done some longer hiking. As for the tour, the guide was a professional photographer. Most of what he talked about was more basic photo stuff. Granted, the audience was mostly people who had no idea what Av or Tv meant on their camera (and there was me with a Canon 60D with a Canon 100-400L lens attached:roll eyes:). I did ask the guy a number of more advanced questions and he was very helpful.

 

Tim

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Treven

Treven

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I went on one of those excursions, but this was through my TA's company. We had a mile hike (after 5 heart attacks I probably shouldn't have done that - but I wanted to see the glacier and whales) through the "wilds", with a stop at an overlook above the glacier, then ending up at the visitor's center. We then were taken out on the bay for some whale watching. Saw lots of humpbacks as well as Orcas.

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deb63

deb63

Posted
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We did the photo safari tour in Juneau last year - first part of August. We loved it. I had wanted to do it again this year, but was worried as we are in Juneau a shorter time this year.

 

We didn't book this tour because we are camera-people. We actually booked it because of the reviews I had read about how small they keep the group. First we hiked up to the glacier. We stopped along the way as the guide would find interesting contrasts in nature, coloring, etc. for us to take pics of. We walked along the water at the glacier. It was very pretty.

 

After the glacier we headed out to the water for the whale watching portion. Due to the design of the boat, you could sit inside and take pics without risk of window glare or someone being in the way. We were fortunate to get to see/photograph orcas, as well as a pod of humpback.

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

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The wildlife will be humpbacks, eagles and likely sea lions. Anything else will be chance.

 

These photo tours get raves, but I see it differently. All the "time" tied up with "advice"

"needy people" etc cuts into being on the MOVE. :)

 

All of Alaska is a photo tour, and everyone is far better off, getting as familiar as allowed by their camera equiptment. The basic tips given are easily known ahead of time, if you choose. Try your library for some "picture taking" books, and read through your camera manual. Try out those extra features that are on your camera, before you go.

 

Nugget Falls at Mendenhall is a highlight, but needs an hour. I've gone there way before that nice trail was put in, so it is even more accessable now for everyone to enjoy. :)

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hogwildcruzers

hogwildcruzers

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The wildlife will be humpbacks, eagles and likely sea lions. Anything else will be chance.

 

These photo tours get raves, but I see it differently. All the "time" tied up with "advice"

"needy people" etc cuts into being on the MOVE. :)

 

All of Alaska is a photo tour, and everyone is far better off, getting as familiar as allowed by their camera equiptment. The basic tips given are easily known ahead of time, if you choose. Try your library for some "picture taking" books, and read through your camera manual. Try out those extra features that are on your camera, before you go.

 

Nugget Falls at Mendenhall is a highlight, but needs an hour. I've gone there way before that nice trail was put in, so it is even more accessable now for everyone to enjoy. :)

 

That is great advise and I hope that all the members of this tour will know their camera and how to use the functions on them for this will allow more shooting time then advise time.....I'm a professional photographer and just knowing what all I may see will help me prepare my bag for this tour....thanks to all that have answered my question.

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Treven

Treven

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The photographer/guide on my excursion spent no time going over the basics; he felt that everyone there knew how their camera worked and spent his time pointing out things along the trail, and explaining what happened and when in relationship to the glacier.

 

This was also true with our photographer/guide on the photo excursion in Haines. It was an excursion called Guide's Choice. He simply took us where he liked to go to take pix, and once we were at a particular spot he would point out compositions that he felt made good shots. If we wanted, we could just wander about taking pix of what interested us.

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  • 3 months later...
Rebel54

Rebel54

Posted
Posted

We went out on the Photo Safari by Land and Sea and had a blast. Took the sea portion first and while it took a while to get a good position on whales we had quite the show. Three large whales right in front of us, one nearly got us wet. The whale was slapping his tale over and over and over. It was insane. Will post a pic or two once I get them loaded. After that we went up to Mendenhal Glacier and had the luck to see a mama bear and two cubs.

 

Dinner at Tracy's Crab shack and now after a trip to Chocolate Seduction I am BEAT!

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Rebel54

Rebel54

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I can't recommend the photo safari enough. They keep the group to 13 so that you are not crowded in a small boat fighting for space to get to see the whales. It was amazing. Our guide was great. She adapted to the photo needs of the group. Gave advice where needed and was very knowledgeable about the area. She's a whale researcher/marine biologist and a photog so she had so much to share.

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DizzyDallasDi

DizzyDallasDi

Posted
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I can't recommend the photo safari enough. They keep the group to 13 so that you are not crowded in a small boat fighting for space to get to see the whales. It was amazing. Our guide was great. She adapted to the photo needs of the group. Gave advice where needed and was very knowledgeable about the area. She's a whale researcher/marine biologist and a photog so she had so much to share.

 

I second your recommendation. This is probably the best ship sponsored excursion in Alaska. And, I don't remember it being ultra-expensive. :)

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  • 4 months later...

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