A couple more questions I was hoping someone might be able to shed some light on.
1. Denali NP: the road will only be open to Toklat, mile 53 for shuttle buses. Assuming clear weather or high clouds, is there a vantage point to hike to to see Denali in that area or in the Polychrome Pass area? Perhaps something that isn't several thousand feet gain or longer than 10 miles. I haven't looked at any topos yet so just throwing that out there at this point. We'll be there on May 29 or 30 I believe.
2. Question about our Misty Fjords float plane trip. Should I try and shoot through the windows or not even bother with the "serious" camera and just use my s90? Never really done aerials before.
thanks guys! we're really getting excited for our upcoming trip.
2. Dont get on that plane without your DSLR and a standard zoom
1. You can run up the hillside near polychrome pass to get decent views (1-2 hrs roundtrip). That is also a great place to see dall sheep and at that time of the year, they may have a little fluff left in their fur.
If you run out of ideas, just walk for 5 miles or so on the road towards eielson visitor centre. Dont know if the views get better, but there is a pack of wolves that frequent that stretch of the road.
1. Unfortunately it is 9 miles each way to Stony Dome, the place with the one of the first really stunning views of "the mountain" That is one of the best stretches of road for wolves and bears - might be doable if you could rent a bike somewhere - they have added bike racks to many of the buses. It is a real treat to bike the road before it is open.
2. The window might soften you photos a bit, but the scenery should make up for it. Typically, aerial photos benefit greatly from a polarizer filter, but they won't work through plexi-glass - you end up with weird rainbows.
I can't add to the details on the park, but will endorse shooting from the plane while recognizing the limits. To a high degree you're at the mercy of the condition of the windows, the make of the plane and where you're sitting in the plane. And the level of cooperation from the pilot of course!
Domed rear windows are popular on sight seeing planes, but their distortion is horrid all around the edges. Scratches on the window are problematic as is haze from age or rough cleaners. Best is to shoot through the middle of the window, and as Ron says, use the polarizer unless the loss of stops pushes you into too-slow shutter speeds or an ISO range that doesn't give good results.
If the plane is a Beaver and you're sitting up front with a cooperative pilot, it's probably the best possible scenario: You can open the small "wind wing" window at the front of the passenger door and shoot through that. But then you have to contend with the narrow shooting op between the prop, wing strut and float. It calls for anticipating your shots and shooting quickly in most cases. I've use that space a lot when conditions precluded removal of the rear door or opening a rear window on our commercial shoots, but it will teach you more than you want to know about the speed of focus and VR acquisition of lenses and bodies. I was forced to shoot in low light recently, and results were startling. My D2X simply was too slow, even as the sensor noise was too bad for my needs at 800 ISO. Yet the D300 was blazing fast in both VR and focus with the same lens model, and 3200 ISO images were eminently usable and much better than the D2X at 800. If your "real" camera is faster and yields better high ISO results, I'd certainly carry that rather than the s90.
Posted by Cory Freeman on June 9, 2011 at 10:33 AM
thanks Ron & Hank for the suggestions. We're back from a spectacular trip with the best weather imaginable! The Misty flight was one of my favorite things we did and were blessed with perfect wx; high clouds with sunlight breaking through here and there to spot light the landscape below!! The reflections in the fjords were amazing as was the scenery, just breath taking and unlike I've ever seen before.
The flight was challenging photographicly. With a constant parade of landscape it was a challenge to come up with some kind of creative comp as it scrolled by. Our tour was with Taquan Air in a Dehavilland Beaver- awesome plane!! My wife got the rear seat all to herself and was able to slide side to side as needed. I did come away with some good images, more than I thought I would. Unfortunately I did let my ss fall to low a few times and those images were pretty soft.
Lots of images to go through and looking forward to visiting your great state again! Thanks for all the great suggestions.
Posted by Ron Niebrugge on June 16, 2011 at 12:32 AM
Hey Cory - great to hear you had such a good trip! you definitely hit the only nice weather of the year so far.
Discussion
6 replies1. Denali NP: the road will only be open to Toklat, mile 53 for shuttle buses. Assuming clear weather or high clouds, is there a vantage point to hike to to see Denali in that area or in the Polychrome Pass area? Perhaps something that isn't several thousand feet gain or longer than 10 miles. I haven't looked at any topos yet so just throwing that out there at this point. We'll be there on May 29 or 30 I believe.
2. Question about our Misty Fjords float plane trip. Should I try and shoot through the windows or not even bother with the "serious" camera and just use my s90? Never really done aerials before.
thanks guys! we're really getting excited for our upcoming trip.
1. You can run up the hillside near polychrome pass to get decent views (1-2 hrs roundtrip). That is also a great place to see dall sheep and at that time of the year, they may have a little fluff left in their fur.
If you run out of ideas, just walk for 5 miles or so on the road towards eielson visitor centre. Dont know if the views get better, but there is a pack of wolves that frequent that stretch of the road.
2. The window might soften you photos a bit, but the scenery should make up for it. Typically, aerial photos benefit greatly from a polarizer filter, but they won't work through plexi-glass - you end up with weird rainbows.
Domed rear windows are popular on sight seeing planes, but their distortion is horrid all around the edges. Scratches on the window are problematic as is haze from age or rough cleaners. Best is to shoot through the middle of the window, and as Ron says, use the polarizer unless the loss of stops pushes you into too-slow shutter speeds or an ISO range that doesn't give good results.
If the plane is a Beaver and you're sitting up front with a cooperative pilot, it's probably the best possible scenario: You can open the small "wind wing" window at the front of the passenger door and shoot through that. But then you have to contend with the narrow shooting op between the prop, wing strut and float. It calls for anticipating your shots and shooting quickly in most cases. I've use that space a lot when conditions precluded removal of the rear door or opening a rear window on our commercial shoots, but it will teach you more than you want to know about the speed of focus and VR acquisition of lenses and bodies. I was forced to shoot in low light recently, and results were startling. My D2X simply was too slow, even as the sensor noise was too bad for my needs at 800 ISO. Yet the D300 was blazing fast in both VR and focus with the same lens model, and 3200 ISO images were eminently usable and much better than the D2X at 800. If your "real" camera is faster and yields better high ISO results, I'd certainly carry that rather than the s90.
The flight was challenging photographicly. With a constant parade of landscape it was a challenge to come up with some kind of creative comp as it scrolled by. Our tour was with Taquan Air in a Dehavilland Beaver- awesome plane!! My wife got the rear seat all to herself and was able to slide side to side as needed. I did come away with some good images, more than I thought I would. Unfortunately I did let my ss fall to low a few times and those images were pretty soft.
Lots of images to go through and looking forward to visiting your great state again! Thanks for all the great suggestions.