Fans of wildlife photography are in luck when it comes to Alaska, but not only due to diversity and abundance of wildlife. Many resident photography experts as well as clubs are willing to share their advice on where to go and how to best capture breathtaking sightings while wildlife watching in the Last Frontier. With their tips on locations, what equipment to bring, and how best to employ it, tourists will hopefully be returning home with perfected proof of their experience.

Ron Niebrugge of Niebrugge Images based in Seward has been enjoying photography for most of his life and practicing photography full-time as a professional for the past eleven years. One of his recommended locations is Kenai Fjords National Park aboard a charter or ferry boat tour.

“I often recommend people to take the full-day tour that goes over to Aialik Bay, says Niebrugge. “If you’ve come all the way to Alaska now is not the time to save a couple of dollars and just do the bay tour. The full-day tour, I think almost 90 percent of the time they see whales, they’ll see sea lions, sea otters, eagles, puffins – it’s just a great place for live photography.”

However, capturing clear images from a moving boat, especially during cloudy days, can be challenging.

“You want to be sure you have a fairly decent shutter speed because you are on a boat that’s moving and rocking and vibrating,” says Niebrugge. “The rule of thumb is to divide your shutter speed by your focal length. So let’s say you had a 200mm lens; you’d want a shutter speed of 1/200 of a second. That’s a good rule of thumb for handholding anything. On the water I would round that up even higher. It would be nice if you could get that to 1/500 of a second, and if that means bumping your ISO up a little bit it’s worth it because there’s a lot of motion and it’s really hard to stabilize the camera.”

For capturing a quick-to-vanish whale, Niebrugge recommends backing the zoom on the camera out a bit (SLR type cameras) and peaking over the camera for the action. When a whale breaches, look through the viewfinder, zoom in on the whale, and start shooting. Using a burst mode or multi-shot mode will help. One of your many photos will hopefully be to your liking. For point-and-shoot cameras that don’t zoom quickly, try framing your scene off so that a breaching whale may be located at the lower portion of the screen with the water and mountains in the upper portion. Niebrugge explains that it’s better to have a nice wildlife and scenic shot than missing the whale all together.

“I think you can make whatever gear you have work as long as you play to its strengths,” says Niebrugge.

Another of his favorite photo destinations is Denali National Park.

“You know, it just makes a big difference to go to an area where animals haven’t been hunted for a lot of years,” says Niebrugge. “They just behave completely different. A bear or moose might run from you in most parts of Alaska, but you go into Denali and you see these amazing creatures with very little fear of people.”

Animals in Denali include bear, moose, caribou and sheep among others. Wolves, too, may make an appearance, but don’t expect amazing wildlife photos to always come easy. In comparison to the Kenai Fjords tour, Denali poses its own challenges.

“You have to deal with the bus, maybe get off and hike around, carry your gear, camp; so you definitely have to work for your animals in Denali a little harder than, say, a place like Yellowstone, but the work can be rewarded,” says Niebrugge.

Many like-minded photographers belong to the Alaska Society of Outdoor and Nature Photography, a nonprofit club that takes advantage of Alaska’s unique wildlife resources and readily shares wildlife photography knowledge with others.

“Our mission is to promote photography and to help people develop their photographic skills and educate people on the ethical treatment of wildlife while they’re doing that,” says ASONP’s vice president, Ken Beahr.

Beahr is a 25-year Air Force combat photography veteran who occasionally sees monetary benefit from his wildlife photography, yet focuses primarily on enjoying his hobby and giving back to others. He shares regular club outing locations in the hopes that others will capture a memorable experience and wildlife image.

“One of the favorite places right here in Anchorage is Potter Marsh,” says Beahr. “Early morning and late evening at Potter Marsh is just full of bird life and they’re active at that time of day. You’ll get everything from spring mating to feeding to territorial battles to migratory birds doing just what birds do.”

Potter Marsh is located just south of Anchorage along Seward Highway. Birding can also be excellent on the edge of Downtown.

“Another good place is Westchester lagoon, especially from the Spenard parking lot entrance in early morning,” says Beahr. “The light is absolutely just perfect, and the birds come in by the bridge there and feed. There are golden eye, mallards, geese, a few grebes, and a bunch of other stuff.”

Beahr has a tip for practicing wildlife photography and wildlife identification.

“If you can go a little farther south a lot of us, when we get a new lens or camera, like to go to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage because the fencing is relatively open, you can do a lot of practicing on wildlife, and you can see the major species down there,” says Beahr.

AWCC is also located on Seward Highway, about 15 minutes past Girdwood. In the opposite direction on Parks Highway is another of the club’s favored destinations for land animals.

“We do at least one trip a year in Denali, usually in the fall,” says Beahr. “That’s always a good place.”

As for marine life, Beahr is pleased to note that with fishing regulation changes, many long-time fishing charters are now offering eco-tours or photography tours in places like Whittier, Seward and Homer.

Trading in the water for a little airtime, and for an extra cost, bear viewing via planes is a viable option for wildlife photographers as well.

“Brooks River Camp in Katmai; that’s a fly-in from King Salmon for bear viewing,” says Beahr. “And there’s other companies too that provide bear viewing.”

Flight services and air taxis in Anchorage, Soldotna, Homer, and others often specialize in bear viewing, and the pilots stay abreast of exactly where bear are congregating. If taking pictures through a plane window, pay close attention to flash use. Often the reflectiong will blot out the entire image. And gain, photography from moving vehicles such as boats requires fast shutter speeds and perhaps a higher ISO.

“I would expect that the biggest rule of thumb for wildlife photography, and this goes for anything that moves, is to use the highest shutter speed that you can,” says Beahr. “Parenthetically, modern cameras have gotten so much better at noise control that you can shoot at fairly high ISOs in order to get that faster shutter speed and still get fairly good images. If I had to choose between high shutter speed and a low ISO, I’d take the shutter speed ever time.”

Beahr’s shares hi tried and true combo for good wildlife photos.

“A long lens on a tripod with a fast shutter speed are the three things I try to accomplish when I’m out in the wild,” says Beahr.

For the casual photography with a point-and-shoot zoom camera, he has some tips.

“Optical zoom is the name of the came and probably a 10x optical zoom on a tripod will start to get you some good images, and I’m talking point-and-shoot,” says Beahr. “For cameras with interchangeable lenses, a 300mm and higher lens will do.

However, as mentioned earlier, wide angle or standard lenses can be great for capturing an animal in its natural environment. The photo depends greatly on your preference and equipment.

All told, visitors don’t have to stray too far to get a great wildlife shot or have expensive equipment. Many spectacular photos have been taken in the backyards of Alaska residents. Their advantage is consistency, being in one place long enough until an animal makes its presence known. The visitor, however, will need to scout out the high-animal-traffic areas and be patient. In contrast, covering a lot of ground as during a road trip, flightseeing or boating can also be helpful. The key is to always be on the lookout, and when the time comes, have your camera and the settings ready.

Happy hunting… photo shooting that is.

Quick Wildlife Photo Tips

• Pay attention to shutter speed. With a zoom lens, and without a tripod, shutter speed should reflect the zoom; 200mm zoom with 1/200 shutter speed, 300mm zoom with 1/300 shutter speed, and so on. ON moving vehicles such as a boat, increase shutter speed even more.

• Obtain a faster shutter speed by first opening the lens aperture (smaller number such as F2.5). If needed, adjust the camera ISO to a minimum of ISO 400 and perhaps 800 or more. For those who do not have this capability or knowledge, choosing the action mode on the camera will usually suffice. Adjusting the camera to underexpose your photo can also help; although, taking a few trial shots is important to be sure the photos are not too dark.

• For point-and-shoot cameras, try to have at least 10x optical zoom capability. For SLR and interchangeable lens cameras, a 300mm lens or better will help when animals are far away.

• When in doubt and unable to zoom in on wildlife, use your standard or wide angle lens to include the wildlife’s natural habitat, the water, mountains, etc. Perhaps zoom out and include the bow of the boat, or the meadow leading up to the animal, the crowd of people watching, and so on.

• Use a tripod or other method to stabilize the camera when zooming in.

Out of This World Region!

“One of my personal favorite places is Creamer’s Field up in Fairbanks, the farm field,” says Beahr. “In spring and fall the sandhill cranes are up there in huge numbers, and they’ve got some really neat hiking trails with handicap access, lectures, and there’s all kinds up neat stuff going on there.”

• Sandhill cranes are relatively easy to photograph as they walk slowly while pecking food from the field. They are also quite regal and prehistoric in appearance.

Online

Learn more about Alaska Society for Outdoor and Nature Photography by visiting them online. Find photography tips, membership information and their calendar of events.
www.asonp.org

To view the work of Ron Niebrugge and gain a little inspiration before heading off on your own wildlife photography tour, visit Niebrugge Images online.
www.wildnatureimages.com