There is nothing more amazing than a wildlife encounter that has you sitting silently in the snow with the temperature below zero when it is so quiet that you can actually hear a Bald Eagle eating from 100ft way. As with my previous trips to Alaska to photograph eagles, Haines did not disappoint.
Despite having a couple of slow days and temperatures that had the locals complain that it was cold, my group came home with some truly amazing images as well as some great stories.
What makes Haines so special for Bald Eagle Photography is that the Chilkat River has one of the last Salmon runs in South East Alaska, while at the same time as it has a unique warm water upwelling that keeps a short mile long stretch of river thawed. As a result eagles come by the thousands to the last reliable food source before the long dark winter.
This unique combination concentrates the eagles and offers the best chance of photographing them in the wild found anywhere in the world. Photographers come from the world over in big and small groups to capture these majestic birds. While this year there was one workshop with 16 people, I kept my group much smaller to allow us to change locations rapidly to adjust for changing weather and changing bird activity. After watching the frustration from some people in the larger group, I am again convinced of the value of small workshops that can be much more tailored to individual needs and goals.
As always it was sad to leave Haines with so many eagles still
waiting to be photographed, but knowing I'll be back in a couple years
with another group helped to keep me excited for the future.
Gear Gear Gear!
Someone always asks so...
I took two Nikon D3s's (one borrowed from NPS) and a D800 with the vertical grip which allows for high resolution or a 1.5x crop at 6fps with the grip. I mostly used the D3s's because the light was low and I wanted the 9fps over the D800. I didn't find I needed the extra reach of the 1.5x crop on the D800 much either.
I mainly used my Nikon 500mm f4 VRI, and Nikon 80-400mm VRII. It was the first trip I have used the new 80-400 on, and I was very happy. (Anyone what to buy a used 300 f4 AF-S). I used the 500mm on a tripod with a Wimberley Sidekick, and the 80-400 over my shoulder. Both with a D3s and fast flash cards. I brought a 16-35 and 24-70 but they only saw very minor use, I also tried out a Fujifilm X10 Point & Shoot which I kept in my pocket the entire trip for quick snap shots. I never used my flash once, with the ability to adjust shadows so much in Lightroom I don't find I use as much fill light as I once did.
A few times I used the 1.4x on the 500mm until I slipped on an snow covered slope and fell on the 500mm & 1.4x, which for the rest of the trip became a fixed 700mm f5.6 because I couldn't take the converter off. $430 and a trip to the shop later, I now have a 500mm f4 again. Based on the fall I took an the fact I landed in a thorn bush I feel like I got off lucky considering the value of the gear I fell on.
While I am an f-stop camera bag lover through and through, this time I carried all my gear in a rolling Think Tank Airport Security. Knowing I would always be working close to the car and the fact I was carrying the 500mm convinced me to use the roller. Man was it nice rolling through airports and the ferry without a 50lb pack on.
The other day I had the chance to photograph the first winter storm as it left a fresh blanket of snow on the historic gold rush town of Nevada City California. It doesn't hurt that I live only about 15min from downtown. It is rare that it storms on a Friday night, but clears on Saturday morning. This allows for some great photography while the town is nearly empty of people. About the only people around town at 7am on a snow Saturday morning were a few other photographers who were all very kind not to track the fresh powder.
