Alaska: photographically speaking

As soon as we booked our Alaskan cruise back in February, I started researching which lenses to rent to take with me.  I changed my mind several times, but finally went with the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II with the Canon Extender EF 2x III from Borrow Lenses.  They are incredibly responsive and helpful there.   I was hoping that with what is essentially a 400mm telephoto, I’d be able to shoot some good size images of bears, eagles, and other wildlife.

Here’s what I took with me in my Lowepro backpack:

In the end, I’m happy with my photos all 2200 of them.  🙂  I shot most of them in RAW, so I am sorting through them to select which ones to spend time editing.  I’m about halfway through.

The wide angle was awesome… lightweight, sharp, and fast.  Here’s one taken from a helicopter over Juneau’s spectacular glaciers and mountains.

The telephoto was super heavy but worth it for sure.  I was able to get great shots of Orca and humpback whales and to zoom in to capture bald eagles, harbor seals, and sea stars.  Rather than tiny dots in the final photo, they appear true to size and crystal clear.  Because of its weight and size, I couldn’t take this lens with me on our helicopter tour and I chose not to carry it around Seattle for the few days we spent there.

Switching between the two lenses would be my single complaint.  I wish I’d rented another camera body so I could have both around my neck, at least for our Tracy Arm Fjord excursion.  Someday…

Next week, I’ll be sharing some photos of Ketchikan and Misty Fjords.  Come see! If you would like to see more photos from the first half of our trip, I am posting them to the gallery here as I edit them.

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