Day 1: Alaska Photo Workshop Week

Click images to enlarge.

In preparation for my Alaska Adventure digital photo workshop, listed on my 2014 Workshops page, I'm designation this week on my blog as Alaska Photo Workshop Week. Each day I will post a few images, taken on my previous adventures, along with some tips.

Hal Schmitt, my friend and lead instructor at Light Photographic Workshops, and I are co-leading this adventure. We will help you make and process wonderful images - and have a ton of fun.

Day 1: Lens recommendations. 

My reco is to take lenses that will help you "tell the whole story."  Following are the main lenses I recommend, and why I recommend them. (I pack other lenses, such as a fish-eye and macro, but these are my top recos.)

100-400mm IS zoom - This lens is my go-to lens for photographing bald eagles. The bald eagles often come close to the boat and move fast. This lens allows me to zoom in on the action.

70-200mm f/4 - When the BIF (birds in flight) come very close to the boat, I switch to this lens. The birds sometimes come so close that you can get fill-frame shots at the 200mm setting.

400mm DO - I use this lens when the birds and whales are a bit further away from our boat. I often us a 1.4x teleconverter when shooting with this lens to get me even "closer" to the subjects.

24-105mm IS zoom -  I never leave the boat without this lens. It is great for scenery and fun shot. The 24-105mm IS zoom is my main "storytelling" lens - everywhere I go.

17-40mm zoom - For landscapes, this Canon zoom lens can't be beat. Yes, it's slower than the Canon 16-35mm, but in bright light, you do not need the faster speed.

I hope to see you here on my blog tomorrow - and Hal and I hope to see you on the Northern Song (pictured in this post), our boat for the Adventure.

Explore the light,
Rick