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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