Post your favorite picture from Alaska thread

[sdfamily]

Here's the only one I managed to upload. Love the mean look of the eagle...

[SFAM]

Here's the only one I managed to upload. Love the mean look of the eagle...

 

Nice shot! That eagle looks hungry!

[kenish]

My teenage son has a Panasonic pocket-sized digital camera. We went whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau, and my son was getting better "action" shots than most people with the full SLR setups. I told everyone that Xbox makes him quick on the electronic button! (I actually think it's true to an extent).

 

kk-l We are not far from you in OC and returned from Alaska 2 weeks ago. They are having a wet summer, but it wasn't that cold even by So Cal standards. We would usually end up wearing a waterproof hooded windbreaker, a mid-weight sweatshirt, t-shirt, and jeans. Sometimes we wore knit caps. The only time we used thermal underwear was whitewater rafting at Denali (they recommended it and we're glad they did). We never used our mittens or scarves. I do feel the cold but was never chilled, just a bit damp a few times. Have a great trip and I hope this helps you pack!

[judynorth]

My teenage son has a Panasonic pocket-sized digital camera. We went whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau, and my son was getting better "action" shots than most people with the full SLR setups. I told everyone that Xbox makes him quick on the electronic button! (I actually think it's true to an extent).

 

 

So where are his best shots? We want to see! We want to see!

[gg3]

This one's not very clear, but its the best shot I got of some grizzlies we saw on the mountainside in Glacier Bay:

 

 

Thank you for the great shots you have posted. Did you get this shot just entering Glacier Bay, or closer to the glaciers. I want to be scanning for bears.....when we go in Sept., so just wondered it if was early in the morning.....later in the day, etc. Like a needle in a haystack to find the bears......what an exciting moment for you to capture. gg

[judynorth]

Those grizzlies seem to be acting more like mountain goats than bears!

[kk-l]

My teenage son has a Panasonic pocket-sized digital camera. We went whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau, and my son was getting better "action" shots than most people with the full SLR setups. I told everyone that Xbox makes him quick on the electronic button! (I actually think it's true to an extent).

 

kk-l We are not far from you in OC and returned from Alaska 2 weeks ago. They are having a wet summer, but it wasn't that cold even by So Cal standards. We would usually end up wearing a waterproof hooded windbreaker, a mid-weight sweatshirt, t-shirt, and jeans. Sometimes we wore knit caps. The only time we used thermal underwear was whitewater rafting at Denali (they recommended it and we're glad they did). We never used our mittens or scarves. I do feel the cold but was never chilled, just a bit damp a few times. Have a great trip and I hope this helps you pack!

Youth does has its advantages...quickness and dexterity being two of them!

Thanks for the tips on packing. Reconfirms my impression of what's going on up there this summer.

[honeymooners2be]

Oh my goodness, you guys rock!!!! These pictures are awesome, I can't look at them enough. Now we are even more excited about our time in alaska. What a beautiful place!!!!!

thanks again and keep them coming

scott & jenn

[ute_fan]

Several of us also have links to webshots or other internet sites in our signatures if you're interested in subjecting yourself to someone else's vacation pictures..... :D

[judynorth]

Several of us also have links to webshots or other internet sites in our signatures if you're interested in subjecting yourself to someone else's vacation pictures..... :D

 

Right! :o

[p465]

Looking at John Hopkins Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park.

 

[judynorth]

Beautiful picture, p465. We didn't see John Hopkins Glacier when we were there in 2005. It was too early in the season.

[brunolvr]

As most have already indicated, it is very hard to pick just one photo out of the hundreds and even thousands that we take on our Alaskan cruises.

 

The first is a picture we took of the NCL Wind when we were on the NCL Star. We were both nearing Alaskan waters waiting for the new Pilot to board at sunset time.

 

The second is sunset after leaving Juneau.

 

The third is cruising away from Seattle we were serenaded by one of the fireboats.

 

And the fourth was taken shortly after leaving Skagway, the Diamond Princess slowed down in the dark for us to pass her by.

[SFAM]

My teenage son has a Panasonic pocket-sized digital camera. We went whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau, and my son was getting better "action" shots than most people with the full SLR setups. I told everyone that Xbox makes him quick on the electronic button! (I actually think it's true to an extent).

 

Some small cameras take terrific, autofocus pictures, whereas you can get caught up in the details of some of the more complicated ones. Fuji in particular has a very nice quick autofocus.

 

Just another "tip" on the set-up part. Many SLRs and nicer cameras have both an auto-focus mode and a manual mode. The problem with the autofocus with whales is your camera may keep trying to focus. This makes you lose good shots. In my case, I did one autofocus to quickly get the right distance (using a half-click without taking the shot), and then switched to manual to keep that same focus length. This allowed me to quickly take pictures from that distance.

 

As for pictures, here's a whale tale from Sitka for you. :)

 

[SFAM]

Thank you for the great shots you have posted. Did you get this shot just entering Glacier Bay, or closer to the glaciers. I want to be scanning for bears.....when we go in Sept., so just wondered it if was early in the morning.....later in the day, etc. Like a needle in a haystack to find the bears......what an exciting moment for you to capture. gg

 

We got it about midway through. It was a little bit after this glacier, which I think some with better knowledge of Glacier bay will be able to identify:

 

EDIT: nevermind - look at p465's most awesome picture above - its John Hopkins Glacier. :)

 

 

In looking at my shots, there was one more smaller glacier and then the bears. In between the glaciers, there are these wonderful mountains. In terms of finding them, you definitely have the needle in the haystack issue, but keep in mind there are lots of people looking - assuming you are in a public area.

 

Our secret was these wonderful canon auto-stabilizer binoculars. The 8x25 ones are very lightweight and take away the jitters - so you can stare at a space for a good long time to find them. Here's a look at the same bears from a bit wider perspective - still with a significant zoom though.

 

[SFAM]

Those grizzlies seem to be acting more like mountain goats than bears!

 

We were definitely shocked to see them up there. I had no idea Grizzlies could do that. We actually were looking for goats, as we'd recently seen a pair running down the mountains.

 

Incidentally for more interesting was a the grizzly we saw near the end of our time there. He was walking along the shore just a little ways away from a group of kayakers who had stopped and made camp on the side of glacier bay. This grizzly was enormous, and through the binocs looked almost as tall walking on all fours as the kayakers standing up. The captain on the Amsterdam actually made an announcement on the loudspeakers to the kayakers letting them know that a "very very large grizzly bear was about 200 yards away coming towards you." The rest of the kayakers all got up from their seats, and started looking around nervously. We left the area before the bear got much closer.

[SFAM]

As most have already indicated, it is very hard to pick just one photo out of the hundreds and even thousands that we take on our Alaskan cruises.

 

The first is a picture we took of the NCL Wind when we were on the NCL Star. We were both nearing Alaskan waters waiting for the new Pilot to board at sunset time.

 

The second is sunset after leaving Juneau.

 

The third is cruising away from Seattle we were serenaded by one of the fireboats.

 

And the fourth was taken shortly after leaving Skagway, the Diamond Princess slowed down in the dark for us to pass her by.

 

Awesome pictures! I especially love the colors in the Juneau one!

[ute_fan]

 

 

Our secret was these wonderful canon auto-stabilizer binoculars. The 8x25 ones are very lightweight and take away the jitters - so you can stare at a space for a good long time to find them. Here's a look at the same bears from a bit wider perspective - still with a significant zoom though.

 

 

My first thought was "what bears?" Then I finally saw them! How on earth did you ever spot them in the first place?

[SFAM]

My first thought was "what bears?" Then I finally saw them! How on earth did you ever spot them in the first place?

 

I got bad news for you - this picture is zoomed in at least 4x-8x :(

 

So yeah, I guess you really do have to have both interest and a decent eye for these, but its something you develop I suppose. Our "training" for this type of thing was camping in the Great Smoky Mountains and looking for black bears (there are more black bears per square mile in the Smoky Mountains than anywhere else). We sucked at first, but got lots better by our second trip.

 

As for interest, my wife and I love just hanging out on the deck with binocs spanning the mountains, or during the inside passage part, we spent lots of time searching for whales from the ship, and found tons of them.

 

I really do swear by the canon image-stabilizing binocs - they make searching for wildlife a dream. Last cruise (our first) we had one of these and a good pair of 10x50 heavier binocs (we took turns tiring our arms out with this). For next year, we'll probably splurge on a second set of the canons.

[ute_fan]

I got bad news for you - this picture is zoomed in at least 4x-8x :(

 

So yeah, I guess you really do have to have both interest and a decent eye for these, but its something you develop I suppose. Our "training" for this type of thing was camping in the Great Smoky Mountains and looking for black bears (there are more black bears per square mile in the Smoky Mountains than anywhere else). We sucked at first, but got lots better by our second trip.

 

As for interest, my wife and I love just hanging out on the deck with binocs spanning the mountains, or during the inside passage part, we spent lots of time searching for whales from the ship, and found tons of them.

 

I really do swear by the canon image-stabilizing binocs - they make searching for wildlife a dream. Last cruise (our first) we had one of these and a good pair of 10x50 heavier binocs (we took turns tiring our arms out with this). For next year, we'll probably splurge on a second set of the canons.

 

I'd read where it was zoomed in -- that's what made it even more remarkable to me. Want to come to Yellowstone next time we go and serve as our "official spotters"? :D

[SFAM]

I'd read where it was zoomed in -- that's what made it even more remarkable to me. Want to come to Yellowstone next time we go and serve as our "official spotters"? :D

 

When we camped in Yellowstone years ago, we had it even easier - we just stopped where all the cars were (meaning we pretty much sucked at finding all but the most obvious wildlife back then). :)

 

Seriously though, I'd love to get back to Yellowstone - haven't been there since '92. Although its a bit farther of a car ride now. We spent 3 weeks driving coming back across the country from the Bay area in CA (where I went to grad school). Great Smoky Mountains is a bit closer to the DC area. :)

[kellywhitehills]

Tracy Arm Scenery

Sawyer Glacier

Killer Whale in Tracy Arm

[Gardyloo]

Some pictures from years ago

 

Portage Lake before the glacier retreated

 

 

Orthodox graveyard, Unalaska, Aleutian Islands

 

 

Orthodox church and priest's house, Unalaska

 

[ute_fan]

When we camped in Yellowstone years ago, we had it even easier - we just stopped where all the cars were (meaning we pretty much sucked at finding all but the most obvious wildlife back then). :)

 

Seriously though, I'd love to get back to Yellowstone - haven't been there since '92. Although its a bit farther of a car ride now. We spent 3 weeks driving coming back across the country from the Bay area in CA (where I went to grad school). Great Smoky Mountains is a bit closer to the DC area. :)

 

We're lucky, because Yellowstone is only about a 6 or 7 hour drive. I've been 3 times in the past two years, and am seriously considering a weekend getaway later in August. We've seen bears that last 3 times we've been -- much to my DD's dismay. We took her to Alaska -- no bears. We've taken her to Yellowstone -- no bears, until our trip last year, and then we did see a grizzly quite a ways off in the distance. Sounds like maybe we need to go visit the Great Smoky Mountains :D .

[ute_fan]

kellywhitehills -- Beautiful pictures of Tracy Arm & Sawyer Glacier. I'm intrigued by the killer whale in Tracy Arm. I thought that the whales didn't normally go into Tracy Arm, and so that was why the seals congregate there on the icebergs (you can see them so nicely in your picture of Sawyer Glacier) to give birth.