New Alaska Photos

[JPCruising]

My family and I returned a little over a week ago from our second vacation trip to Alaska. We sailed out of Vancouver on the Celebrity Millennium on 6/13/08 and then did RCT land tour #14. I enjoyed this trip as much as our trip in 2004. We had an aft balcony room #9201 and absolutely loved the view and spend a lot of time out on the balcony while cruising, it is so beautiful cruising the inside passage. I have posted over 900 photos on my photo website www.jprphotos.com You can see photos from this trip and 2004 there, please let me know if you have any questions.

 

This year I took 3 whale watching trips in: Juneau (Harv & Marv), Haines, and Icy Strait Point. Each trip was great and we saw whales on each on. My trip with Harv & Marv was a photo tour and I highly recommended it to any photographer. Jay being an photographer especially made this trip, as he would position the boat for the best lighting and camera position. He offered great photo tips on camera settings to use and was excited to see the different shots that people captured.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

Outstanding photos! Thanks for sharing.

[thegotogirl]

thanks for sharing

[Diva Onboard]

Thanks so much for posting your great pictures! We are sailing in 14 days and we are so excited. Seeing your pics just makes it all that much more real.

 

I have two questions. When you did the helicopter dog sled adventure in Juneau - did they give you boots or did you need to bring your own?

 

And, what camera did you use? Your pictures were great.

 

Thanks.

[JPCruising]

On the Juneau helicopter/dog sled excursion they did provide glacier boots. My wife and daughter did this excursion and it was the highlight of their trip. Of course having super weather that day really made the trip. There were local kids swimming at Mendalhall glacier. I used two Canon digital SLRs on this trip, I don't feel the model number is that important as all of the current Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony SLRs are all very capable cameras especially in the hands of someone who has taken the time to learn how to use the camera. I highly recommend reading the manuals and then re-read them. Long plane flights make a great time to review manuals. I primarily used 2 of four lens: Canon 100-400 and 24-105, occassionally I used the 17-40 and 70-200 lens that I also had.

[mom2agr8boy]

On the Juneau helicopter/dog sled excursion they did provide glacier boots. My wife and daughter did this excursion and it was the highlight of their trip. Of course having super weather that day really made the trip. There were local kids swimming at Mendalhall glacier. I used two Canon digital SLRs on this trip, I don't feel the model number is that important as all of the current Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony SLRs are all very capable cameras especially in the hands of someone who has taken the time to learn how to use the camera. I highly recommend reading the manuals and then re-read them. Long plane flights make a great time to review manuals. I primarily used 2 of four lens: Canon 100-400 and 24-105, occassionally I used the 17-40 and 70-200 lens that I also had.

 

 

Thanks for the advice. I loved your pictures and hope mine turn out 1/2 as amazing as yours. I just got my first SLR and am working trying to figure it out, but still feel most comfortable in auto. I think I am on my 4th reading of the manuel.

[GORDONCHICK]

JPR-we did our whale watching last September w/H&M, but it was with Pete. I love going to their site and looking at Jay's photos and his daughters'. Out of curiosity, what kind of camera does Jay use? I'm not looking for an endorsement (I already have a dslr) - just curious. Knowing your equipment and basic photography principles go a long way into getting great photos.

[JPCruising]

Carmen, Jay uses a Canon 40d with the 100-400L lens. Like all of us he would like to upgrade his camera body in the future.

[GORDONCHICK]

Carmen, Jay uses a Canon 40d with the 100-400L lens. Like all of us he would like to upgrade his camera body in the future.

 

Thanks. One curiosity down, 85 bazillion to go!

[COJOMAY]

I just sent an e-mail to Hav and Marv's requesting information on booking thanks to your great recommendation and photos. Do they have more than one tour per day?

I see their rates are going up next year to $140 and there may be a fuel surcharge extra.

[judynorth]

Thanks for the pictures. They are great. We were in Alaska the 2 weeks before you and travelled along with the Millennium most of the way. She wound up being in many of my pictures particularly at Hubbard Glacier both NB and SB. I saw your picture of the Veendam which is the ship that we were on. Some of my pictures are at the link below.

[Cosmic Rays]

From across the Pond these are, as you say, - 'awesome' - photographs and have wetted the apetite no end even though our trip, booked last weekend, is not until next June!!

Thanks,

 

Colin:) :)

[cruiserone]

Your photo's are remarkable and your images are what I would expect in Alaska. Our trip is on the Star Princess next May/June and I hope that we will encounter the same weather as you seemed to have.

 

Thank you for sharing your memories with us.

 

:D

[KK11]

THANKS for sharing those amazing and wonderful pictures with us.

[cruise junky joan]

We were in Alaska from June 15th to the 30th and had perfect weather too. My pictures are a little washed out I am guessing some of the settings were off but the scenery is so good you can almost overlook it. Joan

[JPCruising]

I just sent an e-mail to Hav and Marv's requesting information on booking thanks to your great recommendation and photos. Do they have more than one tour per day?

I see their rates are going up next year to $140 and there may be a fuel surcharge extra.

 

Yes Harv and Marv have two boats that do two to three trips each, so four to five trips a day.

[JPCruising]

Thanks for the advice. I loved your pictures and hope mine turn out 1/2 as amazing as yours. I just got my first SLR and am working trying to figure it out, but still feel most comfortable in auto. I think I am on my 4th reading of the manuel.

Hello Mom2, you are starting off right by having read your manual several times. There is nothing wrong with using the Automatic mode but I would recommend you venture out and try to use the Aperture mode (AV for Canon). With a SLR you can control 3 things: ISO (called film speed in old days - remember using 100 speed for outdoors 800 for indoors), shutter speed and the aperture / f-stop. Your aperture setting relates to depth of field which is what I usually am looking to control. On the whale watching trips you will want a high shutter speed of 800 to 1000th of a second as you have a moving boat and fast action to try to catch. For that try Shutter priority mode (TV for Canon which stands for time value) there you will set the shutter speed and the camera will figure out the aperture setting for correct exposure. If it is overcast you may need to increase the ISO setting in order to use a higher shutter speed (don't be afraid to use 400 - 800 ISO).

 

With most of us using digital SLRs don't be afraid to experiment and most of all have FUN :)

[maren91]

Thanks for the sharing the great pictures, can you tell me a little more about Harv & Marv's photo tour. How does it differ from the regular whale watch tour?

[catkoe1]

How did you feel about your icy strait point whale watch? We are going on Harv and Marv's already and would love to see more. Please let me know who you went with and your thoughts compared to Harv and Marv's.

Thanks for the info. Enjoying your pictures over and over, we go in 6 weeks. First time there... so excited!

Happy Cruisin':cool: To All!

[JPCruising]

Catkoe1, in Icy Strait Point we went with Alaska Raven Charters. The owner Ora took us out on the half day charter. He knew where the whales were and we got to see many more whales than in Juneau. We were in amongst probably a dozen whales and spent the majority of the trip there as that was our main interest. In comparison Harv & Marvs was a much better trip because of Jay Beedle. Jay's love and passion for what he does is so exciting. He offered great photo instruction and was very interested to see what everyone was capturing. As a photographer himself he took great pains to put us in the best positions for taking photos. If the lighting was not right he moved the boat. Again his personality was excellent and everyone in our group really enjoyed Jay. He also had good refreshments and snacks and made sure that you knew where everything was. All that being said, I knew that Ora was not a photographer but more of a boat captain so it was hard to compare him to Jay. He was enjoyable but he did not have the passion that Jay did. In 2004 I went with Orca Enterprises out of Juneau and that was a good trip but again it did not compare to Harv and Marvs which was outstanding. One other note is that Jay's wife Eileen handles the bookings and I was very impressed at how quickly she returned my phone calls and emails. Can't say the same about other vendors I contacted.

 

The difference between a photo tour and whale watching tour is the photo tour is one hour longer, and Jay Beedle (Captain Marv this year) leads the photo tours. So if I was just doing a whale watching tour I would still recommend them.

[JPCruising]

Another whale watching opportunity is available in Haines which is a short distance by boat from Skagway. We went out with Dick and Judi Rice, www.akexplore.com and had a beautiful afternoon of watching whales and they also took us to a great location where there were 100s of sea lions on the rocks. The sea lions were an amazing sight and in such numbers compared to the few you see on the buoys in Juneau. Check out my photos in the Haines section. Dick and Judi are a fun couple and I really enjoyed my time with them.

[catkoe1]

Thank you so very much for your information. We definitely booked Harv and Marv's right away when we started planning this cruise and I am looking forward to that time spent in Juneau with Jay Beedle. His photographs are awesome as well. How great to have such a "photo op" on his ship. The other couple we are going with, he is an amateur photographer and he is so delighted to learn that Jay will be aboard.

Your photographs are excellent and you can tell you have a passion for the photography, as well as your business.

I have looked at all of your albums as they are incredible and capture the wilderness, event and occurrence wonderfully.

Thank you for sharing your talent with us.

Happy Cruisin':cool: To All!!

[JPCruising]

Catkoe1 thats for your kind words, I do have a passion for photography but it is not my business, just my passion. :D

[gg3]

JP......thank you for sharing your great shots of Alaska. I esp. loved the ones of the whale's tails with the snow covered mountains in the background......stunning, isn't it ???

Question: do you remember the name of the store in Ketchikan where you took the picture of the different colored glass conductors from old phone poles ?? I have a few of those and would love to see these.......gg

[JPCruising]

gg3, I think the name of the store was "Sam McGee's All Alaska Kitchen Shop". It is a store along Creek Street. They had a lot of interesting items for sale.