Posted by David Taylor on March 23, 2009 at 3:46 PM
Well, I'm back - safe and sound. Sorry, no one gets to cash in on my camera gear
I just put a post up on the Journal about my flight Saturday with Talkeetna Air Taxi up to the Alaska Range & circling Denali. We also landed on the Ruth Glacier. Amazing scenery! Amazing conditions - not a cloud in the sky & no turbulence. Our pilot was great, as was the rest of the staff at Talkeetna Air Taxi. They have offered to give a discount for anyone who flies with them if they mention me as a referral - so just say Dave Taylor from Sixtyone North sent you! They'll treat you right.
Anyway, here's a link to my Journal post - has a bunch of photos and a fun 10 minute video from Saturday's adventure.
www.sixtyonenorth.com/wp/
Nice. I like the contrast. Looks and sounds like it was a beautiful day. It sure would be neat to get a pictures of someone climbing, wouldn't it.... If this was through the glass, it sure turned out well, or did you manage to get a window open? A friend of ours used to have a SuperCub, and I once got to shoot out of the back seat of it with the window open on a very cold clear winter day. Wow it was cold! Unfortunately, I didn't have much of a camera that day.
I just read your post asking for suggestions; a bit late, I guess. I would definitely agree with having a black coat and trying to use a rubber lens hood. Reflections are the bane of shooting through windows. You really have to watch for any curvature or blurry spots on the windows. Hank from Kodiak has gotten some really good photos ghrough plane windows, through.
Posted by David Taylor on March 24, 2009 at 3:13 AM
Thanks Genny, good to hear from you. It was a GORGE-ous day (sorry, couldn't resist...). This was truly one of the most amazing few hours of my photographic career. I can't wait to get back up there. I'm going to try to get a reservation up there, staying at the Mountain House. Hopefully for a week or so. The opportunities are amazing up there. Like you said, I'd love to get some climbing shots... to bad I'm way too much of a wus with my fear of heights to climb myself
This (and the rest of the shots on my Journal entry - www.sixtyonenorth.com/wp/) were shot through the plexi - didn't have any option for opening a window on this trip. I just kept very close a very close eye on reflections/scratches on the plexi.
I'm not sure that I've ever wanted to do a repeat trip so much, before this. Really got addicting to surrounded by so much grandeur. Awe is the best way for me to describe it. Thanks for commenting!
Posted by David Taylor on March 24, 2009 at 3:21 AM
Forgot to mention, even as you are flying near the rock walls - especially near the Moose's Tooth formation - it is simply impossible to get a sense of the scale. If I remember (correctly?) some of the numbers I heard from our pilot, the rock faces in this photograph range between 5,000 - 8,000 feet. Even as we flew next to them, you'd never see a climber unless you new exactly where to look & the climber was wearing a brightly colored jacket. They're that massive.
Yeah, I knew these wall were high, but I wasn't about to hazard a guess. Good image for being taken through plexiglas, and it's true that very few planes have opening windows. It'd be neat to catch a whole string climbers on a snow field, but that would sure require a lot of advance planning or a whole lot of luck.
Discussion
4 repliesI just put a post up on the Journal about my flight Saturday with Talkeetna Air Taxi up to the Alaska Range & circling Denali. We also landed on the Ruth Glacier. Amazing scenery! Amazing conditions - not a cloud in the sky & no turbulence. Our pilot was great, as was the rest of the staff at Talkeetna Air Taxi. They have offered to give a discount for anyone who flies with them if they mention me as a referral - so just say Dave Taylor from Sixtyone North sent you! They'll treat you right.
Anyway, here's a link to my Journal post - has a bunch of photos and a fun 10 minute video from Saturday's adventure.
www.sixtyonenorth.com/wp/
I just read your post asking for suggestions; a bit late, I guess. I would definitely agree with having a black coat and trying to use a rubber lens hood. Reflections are the bane of shooting through windows. You really have to watch for any curvature or blurry spots on the windows. Hank from Kodiak has gotten some really good photos ghrough plane windows, through.
This (and the rest of the shots on my Journal entry - www.sixtyonenorth.com/wp/) were shot through the plexi - didn't have any option for opening a window on this trip. I just kept very close a very close eye on reflections/scratches on the plexi.
I'm not sure that I've ever wanted to do a repeat trip so much, before this. Really got addicting to surrounded by so much grandeur. Awe is the best way for me to describe it. Thanks for commenting!