Raw Beauty on the Inside Passage

Today’s post comes from November 2008, on a photo trip to the Chilkat River Valley to photograph Bald Eagles. To get to the area, I flew into Juneau, Alaska and then took the Alaska Marine Highway (the state ferry system) to Haines. The ferry ride was an early morning ride that started out about 6:00am and went til we disembarked in Haines, approximately noon. Along the way, the raw beauty of Alaska’s Inside Passage was never ending. As soon as the sun began to rise (about 10:00am this time of the year in Alaska!), the sunrise reflection off the water behind the ferry was magnificent:

Alaska Sunrise

A little later, we moved past the first of two lighthouses, the Sentinel Island Lighthouse:

Sentinel Island Lighthouse

Sentinel Island Lighthouse

That was followed by the Eldred Rock Lighthouse:

Eldred Rock Lighthouse

JimBraswell-MMK2-6686-EldredRockLighthouse-6

The Inside Passage is always such a gorgeous place to visit … even in the winter! I’ve been thinking about this trip and right now I’m tentatively planning on another visit to the Chilkat River Valley in 2015, including a ferry ride from Bellingham, Washington to Haines, Alaska. I’m even thinking of doing a weeklong photo workshop at that time. I’m currently trying to work out all the logistics of such a trip. If I end up doing one, it will be a small group size … probably only 3-4 people. If interested, shoot me an e-mail (showmenaturepix@hotmail) and let me know. I’ll e-mail final details to you, before I publish to everyone else, if I decide to run this tour.

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 1D Mark 2 body
  • Canon EF100mm-400mm, f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens, shot at 100mm to 390mm
  • Handheld from deck of ferry, with IS “On”
  • ISO 200 (all photos)
  • Aperture f/6.3 to f/8
  • Shutter 1/30 sec. (thank goodness for IS!) to 1/400 sec.

 

 

Posted in Landscape Photography, Nature Photography, Photography from a kayak, Travel Photography
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