GREAT LAND, GREAT PICTURES
An Alaskan photographer shares his secrets for capturing his homeland on camera.
An Alaskan photographer shares his secrets for capturing his homeland on camera.
Our ship had just pulled up to one of the most massive tidewater glaciers in North America, and the captain cut the engines. In front of us, towering nearly 300 feet tall, was the mile-wide Aialik Glacier in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park. In the silence we could hear the massive river of ice stretching and cracking.
My shipmates and I held our cameras tight, waiting for what we knew was coming — the moment when a chunk of ice would fall, calving off the glacier and crashing into the water below.
Most of my companions had their cameras zoomed out, trying to take it all in, but I took the opposite approach. I zoomed in as far as I could and waited. Ignoring many small pieces of ice that fell all across the expanse of ice, I focused on an overhanging mass of ice that seemed particularly precarious.
My reward came a few minutes later, when the massive chunk of ice fell, spraying water hundreds of feet in the air and scattering birds that had been resting on icebergs near the face of the glacier.
By choosing a fast shutter speed, the flying pieces of ice are distinct, as is the plume of water erupting from the ocean. The birds provide scale, making the plume of seawater all the more impressive against the blue backdrop of the glacier.
As a photographer I often use this trick, focusing on a detail rather than trying to capture the entire expansive grandeur of Alaska. By zooming in on a small area of the glacier, I highlighted an important detail that speaks a great deal to the power that this enormous mass has, and probably tells you more about the glacier than a wider shot might.
PERFECT TIMING
There are a number of other tricks that you can use to take your Alaska photos to the next level. One of the easiest is to take your photos in the morning or evening, rather than during the middle of the day.
MOST OF THE TIME THE “GOLDEN HOUR,” AROUND SUNSET AND SUNRISE, MAKES FOR MORE PLEASING PHOTOS.
Most of the time the “golden hour,” around sunset and sunrise, makes for more pleasing photos. A great example of this is from my travels along the Glenn Highway, which heads north and east from Anchorage and aligns itself in a long, strait stretch toward the 12,000-foot Mt. Drum. I’ve passed by many times where the mountain is out but the light just wasn’t right. One recent summer I started my drive a little later than normal and I came upon it at sunset, lit up like a Sydney Laurence painting.
RIGHT IN FRONT
Another idea that I keep in my photographer’s toolkit is the concept of layering. Alaska’s beautiful landscape can be daunting at times, and it’s easy to simply point the camera at Denali or Sawyer Glacier and fill your memory card with photos. But before you do, look around for something you can use as a foreground element. Look for your shipmates’ reaction when the glacier calves or a couple embracing as they soak in the sunset from the top deck.
KNOW YOUR GEAR
You also should keep in mind the limitations of your camera equipment. If you’re watching black bears lunge after salmon in Ketchikan’s Anan Creek, you’re probably not going to even see the salmon if you’re using an iPhone, with its fixed, wide-angle lens. If that’s all you have, consider taking photos that speak more to your personal experience, such as your spouse’s face as he/she spots the bears, with the rainforest as a backdrop to that experience.
IN A LANDSCAPE SETTING, THE IPHONE IS A GREAT CAMERA. JUST KEEP IN MIND SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION SUCH AS THE RULE OF THIRDS.
In a landscape setting, the iPhone is a great camera. Just keep in mind some basic principles of composition such as the rule of thirds, which is to mentally divide your image using two horizontal lines and two vertical lines, and then position the important elements in your photos along those lines or at the points where they meet. Be sure to hold the camera steady, and you’ll no doubt come away with some stunning landscape photos.
EMOTIONAL MEMORIES
For me, the joy of photography has always been its ability to make you feel something, whether it’s the massive grandeur of Glacier Bay, the wild energy of a herd of caribou or the peace of a sunset in the calm waters of the Inside Passage nestled between misty rainforest-covered mountains. I’ve spent countless nights freezing as I waited for the Northern Lights to come out, but I still pounce at every opportunity to bundle up and fend off the below-zero temps, hopeful that the stars will align and I’ll be in the right place at the right time for an aurora show that reminds me of how lucky I am to have called Alaska my home for the past 30 years.