Alaska Photo Countdown to 7/13!

[hexdragon]

Man, a lot of great shots here...

 

That's what I get going in the cheapest part of the year. Grey and rainy weather makes grey photos... :( We only saw the sun the first and last day of the cruise...

[WalleyeLJ]

Man, a lot of great shots here...

 

That's what I get going in the cheapest part of the year. Grey and rainy weather makes grey photos... :( We only saw the sun the first and last day of the cruise...

 

 

Hex,

 

When did you go?

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

It's a bit warm today here in NC. This makes me feel a little cooler...

 

 

Snow-capped mountian, Misty Fjords National Monument

 

 

 

 

 

Taking Measurements: Summit Snow between Skagway And the Yukon, late May...

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[texascruzer]

It's a bit warm today here in NC. This makes me feel a little cooler...

 

 

Snow-capped mountian, Misty Fjords National Monument

 

 

 

 

 

Taking Measurements: Summit Snow between Skagway And the Yukon, late May...

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

 

Love these photos! Thanks so much for posting. I have been on the fence about Alaska but the more you post the more I want to go.:D

[T-Rox!]

Agreeing with your sentiment in MS ... In the 90s here today. Hard to believe I'll be packing "winter" clothes soon. More great photos ... Keep 'em coming! Where are you in NC? Asheville is probably where I would live anywhere in the states, if given a choice. We lived in Columbia, SC for 5 years and I miss it.

[DizzyDallasDi]

Nice one! Seeing a whale breach is still one of the most incredible, breathtaking events I've ever witnessdd - truely remarkable...

 

L.J.

 

He (or is it she?) didn't breach. Just popped his head up for a look around. Lord only knows how I got the shot....I had no idea I had until I downloaded my pictures that night. I still think (s)he did it just for me. :)

 

I completely agree with you about breaching whales. My first whale experience was in Maui and I went on the excursion expecting it to be lame and returned totally blown away. Watching mommas breach then seconds later the baby follow her still brings a smile to my face just thinking about it.

[WalleyeLJ]

Love these photos! Thanks so much for posting. I have been on the fence about Alaska but the more you post the more I want to go.:D

 

Get off the fence and go - it was the greatest trip/experience/adventure ever!!!:D:D:D

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Agreeing with your sentiment in MS ... In the 90s here today. Hard to believe I'll be packing "winter" clothes soon. More great photos ... Keep 'em coming! Where are you in NC? Asheville is probably where I would live anywhere in the states, if given a choice. We lived in Columbia, SC for 5 years and I miss it.

 

T-Rox,

 

We are in Concord, just north of Charlotte. I agree with you on Asheville - or Burlington VT!!! Cool, artsy college towns in the middle of the great outdoors!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

He (or is it she?) didn't breach. Just popped his head up for a look around. Lord only knows how I got the shot....I had no idea I had until I downloaded my pictures that night. I still think (s)he did it just for me. :)

 

I completely agree with you about breaching whales. My first whale experience was in Maui and I went on the excursion expecting it to be lame and returned totally blown away. Watching mommas breach then seconds later the baby follow her still brings a smile to my face just thinking about it.

 

:D:D:D:D:D!!!!!

 

Here's to hoping for more breaching this trip and... bubble net feeding!

 

L.J.

[scraplady]

We are in Taylorsville, just about 70 miles north of Charlotte and I'm listening to rain out side my windows as I type.

 

I know my photos will be nothing like yours as my camera is not quite as sophisticated, but I will enjoy those I get. I'm also hoping to catch a breaching whale.

[WalleyeLJ]

Here's a couple of shots for todays post.

 

Fishing in Icy Straight Point/Hoonah:

 

 

 

 

"Thar she blows!"in Icy Straight:

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Home from a business trip with a cold/flu & pounding fever, but at least it's not (hopefully!) while were gone next month...

 

 

Radiance in port in Ketchikan

 

 

 

 

 

Sunrise on the water approaching Ketchikan...

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[T-Rox!]

Wow! Hope you feel better soon and thanks for keeping the photo count down going,even when you're not well.

[ikirumata]

The Rule of Thirds works great if you can take time to frame the shot. I also believe in the Rule of Luck. :cool:

 

 

 

Rule of Thirds is indeed a very good rule to apply! However, when shooting wildlife, you don't have time to use it (those dern whales just dont want to sit still!). The Rule of Thirds is very important for cropping!

 

I need to work on my luck!

 

Great pics WalleyeLJ!

[WalleyeLJ]

Today, a short detour to Canada via Skagway...

 

 

Emerald Lake:

 

 

 

 

 

Horseback Riding! Me and my horse (for the day) Carolina:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[Nelie]

Ahhhh getting so excited. Thank you so much for doing this. I cant wait. Going to my mums now( my travel companion) to show her how to use her camera

[T-Rox!]

LJ, awesome Emerald Lake. We visited there also. Was that a wide angle lens? I couldn't/didn't get the mountains in the background on my shots and it really makes a difference. What serendipity that your horse was named Carolina:D

 

Hope you are feeling better.

[T-Rox!]

Nelie, I made the Alaska trip and cruise tour with my mom a few years ago and going again next month with my husband. Hope you and your mom have as good a time as I did with mine. She told me today that out of all her many travels around the world, the Alaska cruise and tour was her favorite. I'm so glad we shared that experience ... Now just hoping my husband loves it as much.

[ute_fan]

Your photos are beautiful! The first year we went to Alaska, we had a little point and shoot with very little zoom. The 2nd time we went we'd upgraded to a point & shoot Canon with a 10X zoom, and I couldn't believe the difference.

 

On our last trip we'd finally upgraded to a Canon DSLR -- but my photos are no where near as good as yours. I'm still learning how to use it!

 

Here's one of my feeble attempts on our whale watching trip with Harv & Marv:

 

[T-Rox!]

Feeble? That is just great. I hope I get one as good on our tour with them in July!

[WalleyeLJ]

LJ, awesome Emerald Lake. We visited there also. Was that a wide angle lens? I couldn't/didn't get the mountains in the background on my shots and it really makes a difference. What serendipity that your horse was named Carolina:D

 

Hope you are feeling better.

 

Hey T-Rox,

 

No, nothing particularly wide. I just checked and it was shot at 40mm and f/10. Because the horseback ride we took was based north/east of Emerald Lake. If you stopped at the normal pullout for viewing, we were 90 degrees to the right up on a hillside a 1/4 mile away or so. That left me with a much more open vista than looking from the pullout where there just a small rise in the background.

 

It was pretty cool that he was named Carolina. HE was abreast too to carry me uphill at a gallop:D.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Your photos are beautiful! The first year we went to Alaska, we had a little point and shoot with very little zoom. The 2nd time we went we'd upgraded to a point & shoot Canon with a 10X zoom, and I couldn't believe the difference.

 

On our last trip we'd finally upgraded to a Canon DSLR -- but my photos are no where near as good as yours. I'm still learning how to use it!

 

Here's one of my feeble attempts on our whale watching trip with Harv & Marv:

 

 

That's not a feeble attempt - that's a terrific shot! Give yourself some more credit!!!:D Which Canon DSLR do you have?

 

L.J.

[Twinkd]

Loving all these photos - have a couple of my own that I would love to show but not sure how to do this??:rolleyes: Do I have to move them from my Computer onto a "Photo Website" to do this? Thanks for your help and keep the amazing photos coming - heading back to Alaska for our second trip next month and these photos are really getting me excited!!:)

[WalleyeLJ]

Loving all these photos - have a couple of my own that I would love to show but not sure how to do this??:rolleyes: Do I have to move them from my Computer onto a "Photo Website" to do this? Thanks for your help and keep the amazing photos coming - heading back to Alaska for our second trip next month and these photos are really getting me excited!!:)

 

Twinkd,

 

Here's some info I posted earlier in the thread about info on how to post photos. You do have to move them online, but a place like Photobucket and some of the others, it doesn't cost a thing:

 

"Here's a couple links to some different options for photo posting from another thread here on CC:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=618069

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1357128

 

I use Photobucket just for posting here on CC myself. Click on the 4th link option (IMG Code) when you select an image, and then just paste into your post. Those links above will give you other options."

 

Give it a shot - we'd love to see your photos too!

 

L.J.

[ute_fan]

That's not a feeble attempt - that's a terrific shot! Give yourself some more credit!!!:D Which Canon DSLR do you have?

 

L.J.

 

Thanks for the kind words! We have a Rebel T2i. I was too afraid to mess with the manual settings on it this trip, so I shot using the landscape and sports settings. I figured whales needed a rapid shutter speed, so I had the camera in sports mode while we were out whale watching--unless I wanted a broader landscape shot. I really need to take a photography class or spend a lot of time reading about the settings, so I can utilize its potential.

 

We just had the stock lens that came with the camera, along with a fairly cheap 100-300 Canon lens that I used for the close-ups. I did get fairly proficient at changing lenses :D.

 

We live in Utah and usually go to Yellowstone once or twice a year, so we wanted a camera that would work well for capture distant wildlife shots of bears or wolves. I'd LOVE to be able to have an even bigger zoom lens for those wildlife shots, but don't know that I can justify the expense.

 

Here's a glacier (not Mendenhall) we saw while we were out with Harv & Marv. Unfortunately I've forgotten it's name :o