One cool thing that I was able to do while in AK was field test some of the latest Incase bags from their ‘Range’ collection. You may recognize the model above from here. Check out the the field test results over here.
Tag Archives: alaska
ketchikan vid
I slapped together a little vid from the footage that I shot in AK last week. I wish that I would have been more proactive about shooting video while I was up there. Alas, I didn’t. So, here is what I came away with:
happy friday!
So bummed that today is my last full day in AK. It has been so much fun. Not really sure what is on the docket for today. But, Thursday was so nice and sunny. The image above is what I woke up to. We went to the boat basin in the morning and checked out some pretty cool hardwood fishing boats. It blew my mind that they still make boats out of wood like that.
In the afternoon we went to a local beach and caught some rays. My shoulder is actually still sore from skipping so many rocks with my nieces.
Have a great weekend!
4th of july
Nothing says says happy birthday America like parades and fishin’. Hahahaha. So, that is exactly how we spent independence day. We hit up the Ketchikan parade around noon. I think that my favorite portion of the parade was seeing the Native American wearing some of their tribal gear, etc..
After the parade, we borrowed a boat from my b-i-l’s friend Mike at Knudson Cove Marina. We headed just around the corner from the Marina and dropped in a couple of fishing lines. Things got crazy.
Yes, those are Carhartt jeans and Xtratough boots, I’m wearing. I was geared up like a pro. Even though I grew up fishing pretty much my whole life. This was definitely an excursion like none other that I had ever been on. I caught 3 different varieties of salmon, including a white king (which I’m told is kind of a big deal).
After we arrived back at the pad, we fired up the coals and grilled salmon/steak, then watched fireworks from my sister’s deck. Not a bad way to celebrate the 4th of July.
lions tigers and bears
Tuesday started off with a hike through the Tongass Forest. It is a temperate rain forest, and the largest rain forest in the world, aside from the Amazon. You’re welcome for the factoid. Hahah.
In the evening we did some ziplining with Alaska Canopy Adventures. It was bananas. We literally zipped from tree top to tree top. I felt like I was in the Ewok village or something. Here is a POV shot of my feet zipping at about 35 mph toward the final platform.
Tori, Jessie and Sarah on one of the platforms:
After zipping we went on a bear walk. We walked out to an area where we has seen some bears earlier in the week. I knew there was one nearby, because I could hear one growling. As I was hanging over some railing trying to see farther down the river, I heard my sister choking out the words “there is a mama bear and her cub right over your head.” I looked up and saw this:
I was able to snap a couple of shots as we were retreating, including this one of her manicured paw.
Sarah snapped this one of me getting the image at the top of this post.
Let’s not forget the barn cats. They followed us the whole time we were walking around this boardwalk.
Capped off the evening with some warm-up-lap fireworks courtesy of my sister’s neighbors.
misty fjords
I apologize in advance for the quantity of photos in this post, but Monday was seriously bananas. To give you an idea, we shot close to 1300 frames, and had to pair it down to this handful (top photo by Maya).
We got up bright and early and jumped a flight operated by Promech Air. Promech is a super cool outfit. I was able to meet several of the individuals that work with Promech and they are good peeps. Our plane left from the docks right in front of downtown Ketchikan, and took off past the cruise ships that were at port.
We flew over the fjords and landed at a dock to do the return trip by boat.
New Eddystone is a large rock formation that in one of the main channels. My sister and b-i-l were actually married there. Not long after passing New Eddystone, we passed a couple of orcas playing.
Even though the weather was kinda drizzly most of the morning, by the afternoon/evening, it cleared up, and the sun came out. So we went down to the beach to build a fire and goof off.
i was awake for 23 hours
Yesterday morning, I voyaged from sea to shining sea. My journey stared in the lovely Pennsylvania Station, NY. Since I was there at 4:30 AM, I had the pleasure of sharing the NJ Transit train to EWR with all of the club kids on their way home after a wild night out in the big city, hahah. It was less than enjoyable. Fourteen hours later, I was lounging on my sister’s couch watching the bald eagles fly around outside of her living room window.
We didn’t waste any time getting the party started. We went on a couple of hikes. My little nieces Maya and Sophie are fantastic hikers (above: Maya and Sophie discovering America). They weren’t afraid to break out an occasional parkour move between rocks or over a log.
Don’t forget the bears and eagles. I was greeted by both as I exited the airplane concourse. They are literally everywhere over here.
It is a lot more challenging that I had supposed, to shoot here. Since it rains so much, the light is very subdued. This means that I find myself shooting with the aperture wide open and often w/a shutter speed of slower than 1/200 (because I refuse to shoot any higher than 400 iso [noise]). Makes it tough to get a sharp image hand-held at 200mm. The low light and constant drizzle also throws off the AF quite a bit. I’m sure that I will get it figured out eventually.