2012 July 6-20 Alaska Land and Cruise Adventure Review with LOTS of photos!

[Jdfireman]

Here is what we plan LJ thanks for good advise...

 

Doing Cruise Tour #6 Due to the first alaska trip we did a cruise tour.. Next time we do it all on our own

 

July 1 Arrive Fairbanks 9pm Staying at Hotel Sophie Station

 

July 2 Doing the tours that the cruise line has included Plus a flight trip to the artic circle...

 

July 3 Going to Denali via Train and Denali tour... Some type of fish bake Staying at McKinley Village

 

July 4 Denali Early am Helicopter Glacier landing.. and either a ATV ride or rafting

 

July 5th Bus Ride and than Boat day WOO HOOO

 

July 6th At sea Big day for pictures of the Glacier... where to stand...

 

July 7th Juneau harv & marvs outback whale watching am Than Salmon fishing afternoon. Plus some drinking

 

July 8th Skagway Early am Ziplining than Walking tour with stops in the red light area...

 

July 9th ISP Rain Forest Bear sight seeing (thank you volunter cruiser) Lunch and photos

 

July 10 Ketchikan Flight seeing with Island wings... Than a private tour with Rick of the wildlife in the area.. He is a local operator

 

July 11th At sea

 

Than 2 days in Vancouver... I know we are missing some things but this is the pre plan going to be fun

 

Thanks for reading Justin

[avalon007]

Maybe LJ can help more, but from my experimenting w/ Lightroom, it's not easy but it can all be undone! If I have a nice shot I usually have a professional lab print it and color correct it for me. I am about to calibrate my monitor so it's ready for my Alaska photos, haha. Good luck!

 

 

Lucky for me I'm a web & graphic designer so I do photo manipulation all the time, but I'm hoping my new camera will actually take much better photos that will actually save me from any extra correcting! :D

[DizzyDallasDi]

Maybe LJ can help more, but from my experimenting w/ Lightroom, it's not easy but it can all be undone! If I have a nice shot I usually have a professional lab print it and color correct it for me. I am about to calibrate my monitor so it's ready for my Alaska photos, haha. Good luck!

 

Thanks for your input and I completely agree about Lightroom not being easy. I played around with it a couple of years ago and got really frustrated. I'm going to take your advice and go to a professional lab. Easy peasy! :D

[mikefox2hotmail.com]

Somebody pointed me toward this review several days ago and I have been reading nightly since. I will be following any other reviews you post! My wife and I are taking our third Alaska cruise this summer and I am looking forward to it more than ever now. Thank you much Bud!

[WannabePhotog]

Thanks for your input and I completely agree about Lightroom not being easy. I played around with it a couple of years ago and got really frustrated. I'm going to take your advice and go to a professional lab. Easy peasy! :D

 

I used Meridian Pro Imaging (http://www.meridianpro.com)! It was pretty easy and I was happy w/ the results. Good luck whatever way you go. Scott Kelby also writes some really good Lightroom books if you wanted to try it yourself!

[WalleyeLJ]

Hi L.J. - With all your knowledge regarding lenses and settings for taking photos, I'm hoping you can give me some advice about editing. I have a few pictures from my Alaska trips that I'm really proud of and would like to frame. I have photoshop and lightroom but have no experience in using them to enhance my shots. Is there a quick and easy way to use these programs to make my photos look...LOL..."professional?"

 

Some of them look great to me as they are, but I've been told they could be made to really "pop" if I edited them using one of these programs. Any help you could give would be much appreciated!

 

Many thanks,

Di

 

Hey Di!

 

Well, it's hard to write all the possibilities in here:). I usually adjust white and black points, use some fill light, some contrast, a little vibrance, a little clarity, color noise reduction and...voila! Sometimes I only use a couple of those, sometimes all of them, depending on the photo. If you wanted to send me a couple, I can adjust them until I think they look good, and take some screen shots to show you what I adjusted and how much. That might give you a baseline guide on how start tweaking. I basically never use Photoshop anymore - just Lightroom. I'm still learning every year, but what use to take 10 times as long I now can do much faster:D!

 

L.J.

[lmtrn2001]

LJ...Thanks so much for the review!!! Your photos are amazing!! I can't wait to experience Alaska for myself in 2 months!!

[WalleyeLJ]

Another review - excellent- can't wait!! :)

 

If you have any good tips for Vancouver then please pass those on as well, we will be staying in Vancouver/Westren Canada for 7 days between our Alaskan & Hawaiian cruise.

 

Thinking whilst in vancouver of visiting the Capilano suspension bridge/tree tops etc, Victoria Island, Gas Town. Also spend a few days seeing Banff & Lake Louise if the budget allows.

 

Unfortunately, all we've seen of Vancouver has been from a train, taxi, bus or cruise ship. We've yet to spend any sort of time in the city itself:eek:. So - if YOU can post after your trip, you'll give ME some ideas for when we get there;)!!!

L.J.

[avalon007]

Unfortunately, all we've seen of Vancouver has been from a train, taxi, bus or cruise ship. We've yet to spend any sort of time in the city itself:eek:. So - if YOU can post after your trip, you'll give ME some ideas for when we get there;)!!!

 

L.J.

 

 

LOL! It's the least I can do! :D

[WalleyeLJ]

 

It's up against a Northern Europe cruise or Mediterranean.

 

Ahhh...I dream of a Med cruise and a visit to Venice!!!!

But not until after Alaska 3.0!

 

One last question....your photos are amazing. I know I won't be able to get any that come close to what you have, but looking for recommendations on a Digital SLR for a beginner. (we do take tons of photos, but haven't broken down to by a Digital SLR yet, but I think it might be a must for an Alaska trip)

 

Thank you for the kind words. Avalon beat me to the punch with my recommendation:D - the Canon SX50 HS if you decide not to dive into the DSLR world. There are of course many very good cameras out there, but that's the one I'd purchase today.

As for DSLR's, a key point is that the quality of the lens is often as important as the camera you choose. That said...I'll say upfront since I'm a Canon shooter that's what'll I'll recommend:).

 

1st choice under $1000...

 

Canon 60D - 5.3 frames per second for wildlife, high ISO, great 1080p HD video

 

1st Part 2 - Canon T4i - 5 frames per second for wildlife, higher ISO, great 1080p HD video. If video is important for you, the T4i has continuous autofocus in video mode - which I wish my 7D had!

 

2nd - Nikon D7000

 

Once you select a brand of camera, it's kind of like choosing Coke or Pepsi, so keep that in mind. If you have a place to go and actually hold a few DSLRs - big box store, electronics store, that sometimes makes a huge difference to first time DSLR users. If you buy one and it doesn't feel right, it won't matter how good a camera is. Then - look for a a good online place to purchase. You can save a few to several hundred dollars over purchasing locally. The money you save can go to Alaska!

L.J.

[avalon007]

Hey Di!

 

Well, it's hard to write all the possibilities in here:). I usually adjust white and black points, use some fill light, some contrast, a little vibrance, a little clarity, color noise reduction and...voila! Sometimes I only use a couple of those, sometimes all of them, depending on the photo. If you wanted to send me a couple, I can adjust them until I think they look good, and take some screen shots to show you what I adjusted and how much. That might give you a baseline guide on how start tweaking. I basically never use Photoshop anymore - just Lightroom. I'm still learning every year, but what use to take 10 times as long I now can do much faster:D!

 

L.J.

 

 

Just an addition to this post - I don't use lightroom but in most photo editing software you also often have the option to save setting combinations for use in the future, this can come in handy for setting the baseline for the sort of tweaks or special effects you like & then you can make minor adjustments from that starting point. :)

[WalleyeLJ]

Once again, FANTASTIC photos......my question is, how close would you estimate you actually got to the glacier? I'm guessing the photos make it look like you were a lot closer than you actually were.

 

Thanks to our frinds at Google Earth, I can tell you we were roughly .85 miles away from the face of Hubbard.

 

OH, and do you have a "online album" of just your photos. I'd like to show some to my husband, and he's not quite as patient as I am to also read your review along the way. ;-)

 

This gallery has 38 photos in it...

 

This one has the bulk - roughly 1,100 and counting...in retrospect I'll do a gallery per day on the next review to keep things more manageable:)

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Maybe LJ can help more, but from my experimenting w/ Lightroom, it's not easy but it can all be undone! If I have a nice shot I usually have a professional lab print it and color correct it for me. I am about to calibrate my monitor so it's ready for my Alaska photos, haha. Good luck!

 

I got a Spyder Pro 3 a couple years ago to color correct my monitor, which made a big difference in both my online photos and my prints. Plus, important photos I also print through an online lab which color corrects, just to make sure.

As for Lightroom, the more you play, the easier it gets. Like you said, you can always open up "History", scroll to the bottom, click on the import line, and get back to your original file. You can click back to any particular part of the editing time line you like, and then pick up and make new changes!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Mr. LJ hello again from NJ you shhot great stuff setting the bar high for me to try to keep up when I am in Alaska... I posted a pic of mine the other day as a thumbnail to check out..

 

Looked like a seriously involved fire. Very cool getting the firefighter

silhouette passing the flames. Was everyone ok?

Now for todays question when in glacier bay would you rater be high on the ship or on the BOW. I have the big boy toys so distance is not a problem... Would like to see what you think. I think my girl is going to dump me over board because I am going to go picture man.

 

Well, we still haven't been to Glacier Bay, but for Hubbard, I've done both. The first time I was all Kate and Leonardo at the very front of the ship, looking down at the icebergs clanging off the bow of the ship, freezing to death in a misty sleet starting at 4am - and loving every minute of it. The second time, I stayed up and Decks 11 & 12 for the most part, because I wanted to get the shots of the bow full of people as we appraoched Hubbard. In the end, because of the distance away from the face of the glacier, the biggest thing if you want photos is to just be fairly early so you get a comfortable spot. I got great photos and saw great calving from both vantage points.

 

She figured out the other day how much i spent to (upgrade some camera stuff) LOL Good conversation here... thank you all

 

Stay low

 

LOLOLOL - that's one of the reasons I started selling photos online - now I can at least pay for SOME of the toys...er I mean tools of the trade...:D

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

I've never seen an owl in the wild either! We have gotten lots of snow recently so I was hoping one would pop up on the lakefront, but so far no luck. :(

 

Well, for all the owl fans out there, here are a couple of shots of the Eurasian Eagle Owl I took at our local rehab center. They say they're the biggest owls in the world. All I know is that those orange eyes are AWESOME!!!

 

 

 

"Look into my eyes!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

"LOOK!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

Edited March 8, 2013 by WalleyeLJ

[dsw39]

Well, for all the owl fans out there, here are a couple of shots of the Eurasian Eagle Owl I took at our local rehab center. They say they're the biggest owls in the world. All I know is that those orange eyes are AWESOME!!!

 

 

 

"Look into my eyes

 

 

 

 

"LOOK!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

 

Hi LJ: Beautiful pictures! We will be in Glacier Bay in late August, twice in Hubbard glacier and sailing in Prince William Sound out of Whittier in early September. What did you wear to keep your hands warm yet be able to take these fantastic pictures? I have seen gloves where 2 fingers can be exposed and also thin gloves which they say will be cold after a short period of time.

Dave

[BecciBoo]

We have one of the popular aft cabins for our trip 9256. Just how much time did the Captain spend in the rear view position at Hubbard. I mean could we stay on our balcony and still get good pix because I am told he will slowly spin the ship around just for that purpose. Was that true of your cruise?

[sue402001]

Thanks for posting the links to your albums LJ, I'm reliving your review through them. :)

[WalleyeLJ]

Somebody pointed me toward this review several days ago and I have been reading nightly since. I will be following any other reviews you post! My wife and I are taking our third Alaska cruise this summer and I am looking forward to it more than ever now. Thank you much Bud!

 

Thanks Mike!

Hey, we'll be visiting your neck of the woods the week of July 4th this summer. Any hidden gems to recommend with 3-4 days to explore San Francisco?

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

I used Meridian Pro Imaging (www.meridianpro.com)! It was pretty easy and I was happy w/ the results. Good luck whatever way you go. Scott Kelby also writes some really good Lightroom books if you wanted to try it yourself!

 

I got my intro to Lightroom with the first 2 or 3 chapters of Kelby's book on Lightroom 2.0. Even those few pages gave me a great headstart into it.

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

LJ...Thanks so much for the review!!! Your photos are amazing!! I can't wait to experience Alaska for myself in 2 months!!

 

Thank you Lisa - have a wonderful time! While some of our days were pretty warm last July, but I missed all the extra snow we saw on the mountains when we went in May:D!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Hi LJ: Beautiful pictures! We will be in Glacier Bay in late August, twice in Hubbard glacier and sailing in Prince William Sound out of Whittier in early September. What did you wear to keep your hands warm yet be able to take these fantastic pictures? I have seen gloves where 2 fingers can be exposed and also thin gloves which they say will be cold after a short period of time.

Dave

 

Dave,

How warm your hands are normally/how good your circulation is will be a key factor. The first time I had a great pair of Eastern Mountain Sports windblock fleece gloves. They were very thin (so I could shoot with them on), but being 100% windproof, the thin amont of fleece was plenty to keep my hands toasty.

 

Then I lost one of the gloves...and the newer version form EMS was thicker and I didn't like them - too thick to work the camera for my taste. So after some hunting I ended up with two more 100% windproof shells - 1 from REI, one from Cabelas. One pair is just a nylon shell, the other has a little fleece - very little. Both have worked well for me in 20 degree weather, but my hands don't get cold easily.

There are now all sorts of those gloves with the removeable finger.mitten covers. Instead of looking ion the normal cold weather clothing area, check out the hunting section of a store or website - you'll find a lot of those types of glvoes hiding there:).

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

We have one of the popular aft cabins for our trip 9256. Just how much time did the Captain spend in the rear view position at Hubbard. I mean could we stay on our balcony and still get good pix because I am told he will slowly spin the ship around just for that purpose. Was that true of your cruise?

 

Becci,

In 2009, that was what happened after we spent some time bow first. Last summer, we spent a lot more time bow forward, and as I remember it, the only time the aft of the ship had a full on show of Hubbard was as we were leaving:(. If I'm not remembering correctly, it still wasn't a lot of time compare to being forward. I've heard of some ships turning 2 or even 3 times, but just not the ones we've been on so far. The good gamble is to be up front to see at least 2 or 3 cavles, then head on back in time to catching the turn view from your balcony!

L.J.

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Thanks for posting the links to your albums LJ, I'm reliving your review through them. :)

 

You're welcome! Thanks for the idea Millbrook Mom - I should have done it much sooner:o!

L.J.

[dsw39]

Dave,

 

How warm your hands are normally/how good your circulation is will be a key factor. The first time I had a great pair of Eastern Mountain Sports windblock fleece gloves. They were very thin (so I could shoot with them on), but being 100% windproof, the thin amont of fleece was plenty to keep my hands toasty.

 

Then I lost one of the gloves...and the newer version form EMS was thicker and I didn't like them - too thick to work the camera for my taste. So after some hunting I ended up with two more 100% windproof shells - 1 from REI, one from Cabelas. One pair is just a nylon shell, the other has a little fleece - very little. Both have worked well for me in 20 degree weather, but my hands don't get cold easily.

 

There are now all sorts of those gloves with the removeable finger.mitten covers. Instead of looking ion the normal cold weather clothing area, check out the hunting section of a store or website - you'll find a lot of those types of glvoes hiding there:).

 

L.J.

 

Thanks! I am fine for a while, but on the deck for an hour or more can be cold! Have found many ideas on the web, but thought you would have a good answer based on your review.

Dave