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Archive 2016 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.

  
 
suman
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.


I am taking an ambitious trip with family to Alaska for 9 days in late August. Being with toddler, a lot of the extravagant locations are off the table. But I really want to get some memorable photo .
I will be based out of Seward/Denali/Fairbanks/Anchorage. Of all these places, any recommendation for bald eagle/bear/owl or generic wildlife photography? I will have a car but I will also have a not so patient boy with me. here is what I have gatherd-
1) Seward- whales and what not from a shaking boat.
2) Denali- Bears and what not from a moving school bus
3) Fairbanks-Creamer's Field- for sandhill cranes and other migratory birds.
My longest lens is an EF 100-400 v1 on a cropped body.
Aside wildlife, what is my chance of catching some glimpse of aurora in Fairbanks area, since it will be late August? And would this time be photoworthy for fall color (Yellow birch !)?



Feb 25, 2016 at 03:41 PM
JimFox
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.


The boat you shoot whales from is actually very steady, they will stop when they see whales, so just shoot with a fast enough shutter speed to hand hold, no different then shooting on land. You could use a tripod or monopod, but shooting fast enough to hand hold is your best bet. Don't be afraid to raise your ISO as needed.

The buses in Denali are just buses, they will stop usually when they see bears because they know everyone wants to see bears. The key here is again good hand holding techniques. The bus will most cases be stopped, but you won't know what side of the bus the best will be on, so to move fast is important.

There is wildlife everywhere, I shoot landscapes, so other then whales, bears and eagles I didn't pay much attention. But the wildlife is all around. I remember driving and seeing a porcupine just off the road, I stopped and just shot it through my window. As for Eagles the drive to Homer there are lots of Eagles. There was not many at Homer itself, but there are a few coves on the way down there that you will find Eagles. In fact there will be so many Eagles you will think they are like seagulls. Just all over, so you can get all of the eagle shots you want there.

Hope some of that helps,

Jim



Feb 25, 2016 at 04:35 PM
stanparker
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.


Jim covered the wildlife pretty well, except for moose (everywhere). Be sure to take lots of landscape shots, too. Between Anchorage and Seward, take the road through Portage Valley to Whittier. You will see hanging glaciers, waterfalls, mountains, Portage Lake formed by meltwater from the glacier, and you can take a boat ride up close to the glacier. Nine days isn't much time, I might skip Fairbanks to avoid so much driving. Instead, visit Talkeetna or Valdez. In any case, you'll love it and want to go back soon.


Feb 26, 2016 at 06:01 AM
suman
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.


Thanks Jim and stan. I will definitely spend time on landscapes. Stan, you are not the first one to discourage me about Fairbanks. I have not booked anything on Fairbanks yet; so I can always redo my trip. While driving to Denali, Talkeetna will be on our way. So I can definitely stay their there for few days instead of driving up to Fairbanks.
Any comment on fall color during that time (late August) and aurora possibility?



Feb 26, 2016 at 08:54 AM
kwilliam8
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.


The Kenai Fjords boat tours (out of Seward) are excellent and not to be missed. Beautiful landscapes and wildlife will be pretty good too. If you are anywhere near Talkeetna on a nice weather day, consider a flight seeing trip around Denali. The scenery is breath taking. I am assuming that you will have someone to be watching the toddler when you try to take photos. Otherwise, just enjoy the trip and consider it a scouting trip. Good luck!
Keith W.



Feb 26, 2016 at 01:11 PM
JimFox
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.


I agree with Stan, skip Fairbanks. you can't see all of Alaska in 9 days, so pick the most bang for your buck.

And to piggyback off of what Keith wrote about Seward. Here is what I did, and it worked really well. My first day in Seward I took the really big boat tour boat. It held like 100 people or so. They take you all around, you get to see the glaciers, whales, etc. But it's a big boat, so they have a predetermined course. Then the 2nd day I booked with the same company a smaller tour boat that held 10 to 12 tops. With that one, since it's smaller, you can ask the captain to go to specific locations or look for specific things. What you will ask him is to go visit the things you saw from the bigger boat but can now see from a smaller more intimate boat. If I had done the smaller boat first, I would have had no clue as to what to ask to see except generic stuff.

Whoops... I don't want to retype what I wrote, but I realized it was from Valdez that I took my whale/glacier tour boats. If Valdez is not on your list, you should plot it out to see if it can fit in. I originally was not going to Valdez, as I made my list of things I for sure wanted to see, and some optional spots, it was on my optional list. Well something dropped off on my to do list, and so I decided to head down to Valdez. It ended up being the highlight of my trip I think, even more than Denali.

Another note, remember you will be driving out in the sticks with no population to speak of. You should check to see if your rental has satellite radio and if it works up there. Other wise, there are NO radio stations to tune in on your car. Now I enjoy silence, and often drive without any music on, but after 3 or 4 days, anything would have been great. And I had planned for that as I was bringing a couple of CD's to play in the car, but they got left at home. And as opposed to being here in the lower 48, I then couldn't find any CD's to even purchase. It was 3 days of looking before I found a gas station that had some CD's, and they were like old CD's, I was listening to the Beach Boys and Faith Hill for the next week. When you are out driving and stop at a town, it may only have a population of 25. It will have a gas station, maybe a motel and small food store, maybe....

Alaska is a blast, but it is very remote and different.

Jim



Feb 28, 2016 at 03:14 AM
suman
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Alaska trip with a toddler. Where to look for photo op.


Jim,
excellent suggestions. I will try to fit Valdez in my equation and skip Fairbanks for now. I wish I could take the small boat tour on Major Marine but the captain discouraged me to travel on the small boat with a toddler. So I am sort of limited with my options of large boat.



Feb 28, 2016 at 04:27 PM





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