I have been given the chance which all married men who belong to this litle world of wildlife photography dream off.I will travel to your country for the second time but this time with a friend with the only purpose of photography any time betrween July & early Sep we are open to all sorts of ideas within our restricted time of two weeks. Our idea is to concentrate somwhere to avoid spending too much time travelling around but would like sometime with bears & marine mammals + landscapes, glaciers etc. Can someone help with fresh ideas the more i search the more confusing it gets and somehow i cant find the ideal tour.
Thanks Joseph.
Posted by David Taylor on January 7, 2009 at 11:51 PM
I'd start by agreeing with your "concentrating" on a region. Alaska is a big... scratch that... HUGE state with so much to offer, it can be very intimidating (even for those of us that live here).
It sounds like you could accomplish much of what you'd like to see by focusing on the Kenai Peninsula. There's still some driving involved, but it's all beautiful, with many photo ops along the way. Seward is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. This National Park is one of my favorites, if not THE favorite. I've never had anything but an awesome time in this region. The photo ops are so diverse: tidewater and land locked glaciers (outlet and valley glaciers), bear (black and brown), lots of marine life (orca, humpback, porpoise, sea lions, otters, thousands and thousands of birds, and just about everything in between). From Seward, you can venture out by land (hiking/driving/biking/riding - my favorite), air (flight seeing and glacer landings with dog mushing ops - my favorite), and water (day cruises throughout the fjords - another favorite!). There's good food and lodging in town and nearby. Hoping Ron Niebrugge will see this thread - he's THE expert on Seward (he lives there and has been photographing the area for a long time). I hope he won't mind, here's a link to his Kenai Fjord's Gallery, inspiring stuff:
http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Kenai_Fjords_National_Park.htm
In Seward, some good locations would be Exit Glacier, short drive from downtown and an easy hike from the parking lot. Bear Glacier is another option, haven't been there yet, planning a trip this summer. Make sure you stop by the Sea Life Center, good photo ops for close-ups of most creatures you'd normally not be able to approach in the wild.
Other Kenai Peninsula locations would be all along the Sterling Highway towards Homer. Good spots to find moose, bald eagles (Cooper Landing - along the Kenai/Russian Rivers, and Homer), loons, other waterfowl. The Seward and Sterling Hwy are beautiful drives with lots of ops for landscape photography as well. This past year, in July, the road sides were covered in lupine and fireweed. From Homer, you can access Kachemak Bay (although I prefer the Kenai Fjords waterways, Kachemak Bay can offer good shorebird photography and tidal pools). If you can swing it, I'd really recommend chartering a day-trip with Emerald Air Service. They offer an outstanding brown bear hike on the Katmai coast, the adventure of a lifetime. I plan on doing 2 trips with them this summer. I've also heard good things, but have no personal experience with, Bald Mountain Air.
There are plenty of options here for you. Let me know if I can help out further.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on January 9, 2009 at 2:49 AM
Dave has given you some really good suggestions. You don't mention price, so let me suggest you also look at Wilderness Birding Adventures and in particular their Kongakut or Marsh Fork floats. The Pribilofs are also very nice. Yes, it's spendy but you'll see stunningly beautiful country, and Bob and Lisa do a terrific job and really care about their clients. And they are used to working with nature photographers.
Posted by David Taylor on January 10, 2009 at 4:36 PM
I forgot to mention a company I've worked extensively with in Seward for Kenai Fjord's tours. Kenai Fjord's "Mariah Tour - Captain's Choice":
http://www.kenaifjords.com/551.cfm
Great boats, great crew, amazing ops. The typical boat tour run by the major operators out of Seward are large boats, packed with people (sometimes around 100 or more), and less personal. They're not bad, don't get me wrong, but photographers usually like more intimate settings. The Misty and Mariah (they're two boats) can navigate into tight spots (sea stack cliff overhangs, sea cave entrances) and get closer to some wildlife - most notably bird colonies. They're service has been nothing short of spectacular, and the trips are customized to the passengers of the day. Want to see whales, they focus on whales... is birding the theme, they'll take you to sea bird colony hotspots where you'll see thousands of avians (careful of looking straight up... bombs away!). If you get the option of choosing between which glacial fjord you want to visit, I recommend Aialik versus Northwestern. Northwestern is further out, so you'll be forced to speed out in that direction and may spend less time with interesting subjects on the way there or back. Northwestern is also a narrower fjord, and (at least in my mind) is not as interesting a glacier as Aialik. Aialik Glacier is nearly 1 mile across and has been more "lucky" for me calving-wise. Northwestern is narrower and I've never experienced a major calving event there, it tumbles over the lip of the mountains surrounding the fjord and heads to the ocean. Aialik Glacier is this mammoth slab of ice, deep blues, creaking, groaning, and thundering as it moves. And, if you're lucky, it will drop a large house sized chunk of ice into the ocean. I took my mom on a trip with me aboard the Mariah a few years ago, and she was blown away by the Aialik Glacier - a memory she will have the rest of her life.
Hint: bring a good jacket, even on sunny days in July. It will let you stay on the boat deck even in windy conditions (typical near the glaciers due to katabatic winds).
Hope this helps
Discussion
3 repliesWell probably one more who asks the same.
I have been given the chance which all married men who belong to this litle world of wildlife photography dream off.I will travel to your country for the second time but this time with a friend with the only purpose of photography any time betrween July & early Sep we are open to all sorts of ideas within our restricted time of two weeks. Our idea is to concentrate somwhere to avoid spending too much time travelling around but would like sometime with bears & marine mammals + landscapes, glaciers etc. Can someone help with fresh ideas the more i search the more confusing it gets and somehow i cant find the ideal tour.
Thanks Joseph.
It sounds like you could accomplish much of what you'd like to see by focusing on the Kenai Peninsula. There's still some driving involved, but it's all beautiful, with many photo ops along the way. Seward is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. This National Park is one of my favorites, if not THE favorite. I've never had anything but an awesome time in this region. The photo ops are so diverse: tidewater and land locked glaciers (outlet and valley glaciers), bear (black and brown), lots of marine life (orca, humpback, porpoise, sea lions, otters, thousands and thousands of birds, and just about everything in between). From Seward, you can venture out by land (hiking/driving/biking/riding - my favorite), air (flight seeing and glacer landings with dog mushing ops - my favorite), and water (day cruises throughout the fjords - another favorite!). There's good food and lodging in town and nearby. Hoping Ron Niebrugge will see this thread - he's THE expert on Seward (he lives there and has been photographing the area for a long time). I hope he won't mind, here's a link to his Kenai Fjord's Gallery, inspiring stuff:
http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Kenai_Fjords_National_Park.htm
In Seward, some good locations would be Exit Glacier, short drive from downtown and an easy hike from the parking lot. Bear Glacier is another option, haven't been there yet, planning a trip this summer. Make sure you stop by the Sea Life Center, good photo ops for close-ups of most creatures you'd normally not be able to approach in the wild.
Other Kenai Peninsula locations would be all along the Sterling Highway towards Homer. Good spots to find moose, bald eagles (Cooper Landing - along the Kenai/Russian Rivers, and Homer), loons, other waterfowl. The Seward and Sterling Hwy are beautiful drives with lots of ops for landscape photography as well. This past year, in July, the road sides were covered in lupine and fireweed. From Homer, you can access Kachemak Bay (although I prefer the Kenai Fjords waterways, Kachemak Bay can offer good shorebird photography and tidal pools). If you can swing it, I'd really recommend chartering a day-trip with Emerald Air Service. They offer an outstanding brown bear hike on the Katmai coast, the adventure of a lifetime. I plan on doing 2 trips with them this summer. I've also heard good things, but have no personal experience with, Bald Mountain Air.
There are plenty of options here for you. Let me know if I can help out further.
http://www.kenaifjords.com/551.cfm
Great boats, great crew, amazing ops. The typical boat tour run by the major operators out of Seward are large boats, packed with people (sometimes around 100 or more), and less personal. They're not bad, don't get me wrong, but photographers usually like more intimate settings. The Misty and Mariah (they're two boats) can navigate into tight spots (sea stack cliff overhangs, sea cave entrances) and get closer to some wildlife - most notably bird colonies. They're service has been nothing short of spectacular, and the trips are customized to the passengers of the day. Want to see whales, they focus on whales... is birding the theme, they'll take you to sea bird colony hotspots where you'll see thousands of avians (careful of looking straight up... bombs away!). If you get the option of choosing between which glacial fjord you want to visit, I recommend Aialik versus Northwestern. Northwestern is further out, so you'll be forced to speed out in that direction and may spend less time with interesting subjects on the way there or back. Northwestern is also a narrower fjord, and (at least in my mind) is not as interesting a glacier as Aialik. Aialik Glacier is nearly 1 mile across and has been more "lucky" for me calving-wise. Northwestern is narrower and I've never experienced a major calving event there, it tumbles over the lip of the mountains surrounding the fjord and heads to the ocean. Aialik Glacier is this mammoth slab of ice, deep blues, creaking, groaning, and thundering as it moves. And, if you're lucky, it will drop a large house sized chunk of ice into the ocean. I took my mom on a trip with me aboard the Mariah a few years ago, and she was blown away by the Aialik Glacier - a memory she will have the rest of her life.
Hint: bring a good jacket, even on sunny days in July. It will let you stay on the boat deck even in windy conditions (typical near the glaciers due to katabatic winds).
Hope this helps