Category Archives: Camera and Lenses

Cameras and lenses

Elegant Paintbrush, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

I mentioned my trip into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in a recent post, and I have a few more photos to share from that journey. In a land that exhibits dramatic and distant vistas, it is not surprising to find compelling subjects close at hand as well. While hiking along the Marsh Fork of...

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Wild wolfs, Denali National Park

As a follow up to my previous post “wolf pack kills moose calf” last week, in which a colleague and I photographed a predator/prey scene in Denali National Park, I thought I’d make a few comments on the photographic equipment and technical side of that shoot, and then share a few pictures taken following the...

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Going Underwater

It’s going on six weeks since I had shoulder surgery, and I have not taken one photo in Alaska in 2010. That is the longest photo-free period for me ever. However, that is happily ending as I’m pushing equatorial boundaries again for the second time in three months, with travels to Peru (Machu Picchu-if the...

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Camera gear for Antarctica

In a few days I leave for a month long trip to Antarctica as a staff member of Cheesman’s Ecology Safaris. Based on a 300 ft. Russian Ice Breaker, 100 passengers will voyage to the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, the Orkney’s and the Antarctic Peninsula. I’ll be giving photo instruction and operating an inflatable boat...

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Aurora & Canon’s 24mm f/1.4L II @ f/1.4

The pursuit of northern lights photography led me to the purchase of Canon’s 24mm 1.4L, and the following updated version II of the same lens.   My comments are derived from experience with this lens in the field and are not a comprehensive review by any measure. Here is what Canon has to say about this...

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Achieving critical focus on Canon’s 24mm 1.4L II

I was all ready to photograph the Gemenid meteor shower last night, but clouds moved in around midnight, which was a disappointment. However, on Sunday morning, I woke up to a faint aurora display, directly over my house. I grabbed my camera and took a few experimental shots. I say experimental because I was testing...

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Field comments about the Canon 5D Mark II

I’ve owned a Canon 5d Mark II for a few months now and have had some time to test it out under different shooting conditions. The digital files created by the camera are excellent, and this topic has been well discussed on the web already. What I’d like to share are a few comments specifically...

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Off Camera ETTL flash

I left the world of direct, on-camera flash some years ago, and its a needed step to take for creative and interesting lighting of subjects. In the past, I’ve used Canon’s ST-E2 Infrared Transmitter (Or a Canon 580 serves the same function when set as master), which would trigger off camera flashes through a infrared...

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Macro Photography

close up of snow flakes in Delta Junction, Alaska Macro photography offers a view of the natural world not always seen. Fine details and intricate patters emerge, solid colors reveal they are made up of several colors mixed together, and distractions of the “big picture” vanish. Close up of flower blossom, 100mm canon macro There...

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Aurora Lenses

Patrick is currently in the far north chasing the Aurora Borealis, or northern lights. He has with him an arsenal of equipment, not so much because such a variety is needed, but because there is no perfect aurora lens. The search for such a lens continues, and perhaps Canon’s new version of their 24mm F/1.4...

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