Alaska Bound

[SquarePeg]

resize some of your images to a long size 1200 pixels

I will n eed to learn how to do that.

Thanks for the excellent advice. Although I was not planing to take a tripod to the Alaska trip, to avoid much intrusion with the family, would it be 100% necessary for good photos?

If you are planning any night photos then yes but if not, you can certainly make do without it. It really is needed if you want to keep your ISO down in gloomy light but if the trip is more about family time than photo time then skip it, IMO.

 

[Strodav]

resize some of your images to a long size 1200 pixels

I will n eed to learn how to do that.

Thanks for the excellent advice. Although I was not planing to take a tripod to the Alaska trip, to avoid much intrusion with the family, would it be 100% necessary for good photos?

Tripods are bulky, you really need to think about how you are going to carry it, a bit of a pain to set up and take down and I do not bring them on FAMILY VACATIONS because family is first and my photography is second and they are really not necessary for "shorter" focal length lenses (depending on your technique) especially if they have VR and where you can use fast shutter speeds. On the other hand your hit rate with long lenses handheld will go down (you can compensate to some extent with good technique and using posts to lean on or fences to set your camera on, etc.), but they are absolutely necessary for landscapes at low light like at dusk where shutter speeds are slow and for astrophotography.

 

[D7K]

If it's a once in a lifetime trip, take the tripod... Otherwise you might be kicking yourself. I tend to take my tripod every time I go out shooting, whether I use it or not, fastens into my backpack or shoulder bag or me or the better half will just carry it, but there's a ton of shots, day and night I could not have gotten without it. Also, I got really tired of using cigarette packets, rocks & a sweater tr anything else I could find to stabilise, even then, you're severely restricted on the angle/s you will be able to get..

 

[RichieT]

I took a June Alaska cruise a couple of years ago and it was my favorite cruise. I took my D300, Sigma 17-50, and a Sigma 70-200 with a 2x teleconverter. I left the 150-500 home figuring the 2x tele and 70-200 would give me the reach without the bulk and weight of the bigger lens. I regretted that. I missed a lot of wildlife photos that I just didn't have the reach for. Most excursion's aren't geared for photography so you have to grab the shots when you can and the longer lens would have helped. Also bring a tripod AND a monopod. You can decide which one to use when and where. There were many tripods set up on the deck so I don't think that would be a problem, especially early in the morning. If you're not that concerned about wildlife what you got would be good for landscapes, glaciers, and whale watching. Enjoy the trip! I can't wait to get back there.

 

[AlanKlein]

Take bear spray and a GPS.

 

[stapo49]

Take bear spray and a GPS.

Also jewellery sales person repellent


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ccaballero]

Well went ahead and ordered Hedgecoe's Complete Photography Course-Updated and looking for. 50mm 1.8 to expand knowledge and tools in the bag

 

[beagle100]

resize some of your images to a long size 1200 pixels

I will n eed to learn how to do that.
Thanks for the excellent advice. Although I was not planing to take a tripod to the Alaska trip, to avoid much intrusion with the family, would it be 100% necessary for good photos?

I've been to Alaska a couple of times, you won't need a tripod unless shooting at night (which is only a few hours in June!) or long exposures for waterfalls. A telephoto lens is good for wildlife but it depends on your itinerary.

Untitled by c w, on Flickr

 

[ccaballero]

Beagle love that photo. Let me run this by you to see if I’m looking at things in a photographic way.
1- rule of thirds, the elk is on the right third of the frame
2- Apperture small, main focus is the elk with a long DOF to have both the trees and mointain in focus
Thats as far as I get it, shutter, ISO, etc still trying to learn and comprehend

 

[weepete]

Don't get too caught up with the rule of thirds, just think of it as off centre placement of the main focal point.

Composition can be difficult, but really all you are trying to do is create balance within the frame so your eye has a natural path to follow.

My Art teacher at school taught us this by getting us to look at old masters. Just have a look at one and be concious of what your eye looks at. You'll find you are drawn to light points, follow lines with your eye, and look breifly at space with nothing in it. You'll go back to get smaller details later but this can form a structure. Good compositions have a balance that keeps your eye in the frame, but moving about as different points grab your attention.

 

[ccaballero]

Excellent advise thank you

 

[6-string-traveler]

Thanks for the reply’s, tried looking for a club today but had no hit in Puerto Rico. Will keep looking

Be sure and check out meetup.com. That's how I found my photography group.

 

[JoeW]

I highly recommend checking out "meetup.com." For instance, I help coordinate a meetup group in the DC (Shutterbug Excursions) that has over 1,000 members. Great way to connect and learn.

Here's the deal about things "rule of thirds" and a gazillion other rules--people like to say that being an artist is about "breaking all the rules." I couldn't disagree more vehemently. There are thousands of rules about composition and visual placement and viewer impressions. The trick about being an artist isn't breaking the rules. It's impossible to follow ALL of the rules because you can't. For instance, have a narrow DoF to draw focus to subject but a wide DoF to provide perspective. Or...have a strong diagonal line to convey energy but have a strong horizontal line to create a line (and perspective) that flows left to right (or right to left). Or not cutting off at the shins or forearms with portraits because it destroys the flow. Or choosing B&W because it emphasizes lines but using color to create a mood or add energy. The trick to being an artist is to decide WHICH rules you're going to use when you compose your photo. That's why two photographers at the same location looking at the same setting can take two totally different photos, both are great photos, yet both tell different stories or create different impressions.

I think getting the 50mm f1.8 is a wise decision for this trip (and in general). It is small and light so a good travel companion, will work for good ambient light shots indoors in mediocre light, will be good for narrow DoF concepts with a pine cone or an animal track or a mud splatter.

One quick hint about swapping lens outdoors--as a general rule you want to minimize it. Alaska (especially if you're on a boat) won't be as bad as Africa or Central Asia but swapping lens outdoors increases risk of getting dust or drops in places you don't want to get them. So don't go in to this with the mindset of you're going to be continually swapping out one lens for another.

 

[ccaballero]

Some of todays shots without PP
DSC_0050_00001 by carlos caballero, on Flickr

DSC_0066_00001 by carlos caballero, on Flickr


DSC_0025 by carlos caballero, on Flickr