Tag: Alaska

Ten-Years Ago (10-September-2009) — Alaska

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 20: Alaska Railroad – Denali to Anchorage, Alaska. (Day 6: Nikonians ANPAT 9).

We were very fortunate on this trip to see Mount Denali five days in a row. As the tallest mountain in North America, it creates its own weather and often is obscured by clouds for days at a time. The first set of images are of Mount Denali. They were taken while riding the Alaska Railroad train back to Anchorage from the Observation car. I didn’t posted them in the past because they were out of focus and blurry. Photographer error — I used shutter-priority mode  with a high shutter speed (1/1000 or 1/2000 sec) with the ISO set to 100. This resulted in the aperture being being nearly wide open, which meant a narrow range of distances in focus. The 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens is a manual focus lens, and I must have moved it off of focusing at infinity. I have reprocessed the images with Capture One Pro and Topaz Focus AI. I am very impressed with how much detail the Topaz Focus AI program was able to recover.

The next set of images are landscape views from the train. The same camera and lens, but set to aperture-priority with the aperture set at f/11, and auto ISO. These images were sharper, and did not need to be reprocessed. In some of the images you see the old telegraph poles. Although the wire had been removed years ago to recover the copper, the glass insulators are still there.

Finally, a time-lapse video (sort of) documenting the group on the train. All images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 16 mm  fisheye lens. Two minutes in length.


Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.



Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.


Ten-Years Ago (08-September-2009) — Alaska

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 18: Denali National Park, Alaska. (Day 4: Nikonians ANPAT 9).

We separated into four groups, and our group of eight rode one of the Park Service buses on the only road into the National Park. We stopped at Stony Hill Scenic Overlook to view Denali with some amazing lenticular clouds. We saw lots of animals (Dall Sheep, Red Fox, Grizzly Bear, Coyote) either on or near the road. Some so close, I had trouble focusing.

Stony Hill Scenic Overlook. Autumn Panorama of the Highway to Denali, Denali National Park, Alaska. Composite of 3 vertical images taken with a Nikon D3x and 85 mm f/2.8 TC-E lens (ISO 100, 85 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)
Stony Hill Scenic Overlook. Autumn Panorama of the Highway to Denali. Composite of 3 vertical images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 85 mm f/2.8 TC-E lens (ISO 100, 85 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Red Fox. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 150 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Red Fox. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 150 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Grizzly Bear. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 400 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Grizzly Bear. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 400 mm, f/8, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)
Coyote. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 400 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Coyote. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 400 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Coyote. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1100, 400 mm, f/11, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Coyote. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1100, 400 mm, f/11, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)
Lone Photographer Viewing Denali. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). GPS Location (N63.431 W-150.304) (David J. Mathre)
Lone Photographer Viewing Denali. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 1600, 80 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). GPS Location (N63.431 W-150.304) (David J. Mathre)

Ten-Years Ago (31-August-2009) — Alaska

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 10: Alaska Marine Highway on the MV Columbia. Haines, Alaska.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse from the deck of the MV Columbia. Alaska Marine Highway passing through the Lynn Canal on the way to Haines. Images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 50 mm f/1.8 lens, Nikon D3x camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens, or Nikon D300 and 18-200 mm VR lens. After a lot of fog,  it was great that things cleared up while we passed through the Lynn Canal.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse from the deck of the MV Columbia. Alaska Marine Highway passing through the Lynn Canal on the way to Haines. Images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and and 24 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Eldred Rock Lighthouse from the deck of the MV Columbia. Alaska Marine Highway passing through the Lynn Canal on the way to Haines. Images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and and 24 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Eldred Rock Lighthouse from the deck of the MV Columbia. Alaska Marine Highway passing through the Lynn Canal on the way to Haines. Images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 50 mm f/1.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Eldred Rock Lighthouse from the deck of the MV Columbia. Alaska Marine Highway passing through the Lynn Canal on the way to Haines. Images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 50 mm f/1.8 lens. (David J Mathre)
Eldred Rock Lighthouse from the deck of the MV Columbia. Alaska Marine Highway passing through the Lynn Canal on the way to Haines. Images taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens. (David J Mathre)
Eldred Rock Lighthouse from the deck of the MV Columbia. Alaska Marine Highway passing through the Lynn Canal on the way to Haines. Images taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens. (David J Mathre)

Ten-Years Ago (31-August-2009) — Alaska

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 10: Alaska Marine Highway on the MV Columbia. Haines, Alaska.

After arriving at Haines, Alaska we disembarked from the MV Columbia. I could have slept in the RV, but decided to splurge and spend the night at the Halsingland Hotel (B&B). They even put benchmarks in the ground to mark the location of hotels in Haines — 118 feet above mean sea level. I set a camera up looking out my window to capture night sky star trails. I also managed to capture Northern Lights which I was not expecting.

Hotel Halsingland Bench Mark -- 118 Feet Above Mean Sea Level. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-300 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (David J Mathre)
Hotel Halsingland Bench Mark — 118 Feet Above Mean Sea Level. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-300 mm lens (ISO 200, 200 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (David J Mathre)


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.


Ten-Years Ago (31-August-2009) — Alaska

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 10: Alaska Marine Highway on the MV Columbia. Haines, Alaska.

Haines Beach and Harbor Panorama. Composite of 11 images taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 34 mm, f/11, 1/500 sec). Composite created using AutoPano Giga.

The MV Columbia (Alaska Marine Highway) ferry that I had been traveling on for the last few days is in the background. After spending the night in Haines, I traveled by road to Anchorage through Canada.

Haines Beach and Harbor Panorama. (David J Mathre)
Haines Beach and Harbor Panorama. Composite of 11 images taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 34 mm, f/11, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)


Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.