IN-FIELD INSTRUCTION
How I Teach on the Water
Shutter speed on a moving deck
Shooting from a boat changes almost everything you learned on land. The platform moves as much as the subject does, so most of the photography instruction out there is shutter speed, how you stand and brace, and reading what an animal is about to do before it does it, plus the patience to wait for the right moment instead of firing at everything. I start around 1/2000 of a second on the deck and go faster, up to 1/4000, when a bubble-net group is about to break the surface, and I'll help you set up your autofocus to track a moving subject from a moving platform.
Handheld at the rail
A tripod doesn't help you on a rocking deck, so everything is handheld, and a lot of the work is learning where to stand on the boat and how to hold a long lens steady when the water isn't. With six photographers I can get to everyone during the action, which is why I keep the group small, so everyone gets personal attention and personalized instruction when it counts.
Land days and image review
On the land days it's a different kind of focus. Bears on a salmon stream in their natural environment give you time to think about composition and background, and I'll work with you on reading a bear's behavior so you're ready before the fish comes up and you come home with images instead of near misses. We finish with an image review session, either in Sitka or on a scheduled Zoom call after the trip, so you get feedback on the frames you made.
THE ROUTE
The Route, Day by Day
Day 1, June 29
Petersburg and LeConte Glacier
We head straight out to LeConte, the tidewater glacier just outside Petersburg, where the ice comes all the way down to the water and harbor seals rest on the floating ice.
Day 2, June 30
Sumner and Clarence Straits
Open water and the remote islands of the Tongass National Forest, where the temperate rainforest runs right down to the tideline. Humpbacks, orcas, Dall's porpoises, Steller sea lions and sea otters all work these straits.
Day 3, July 1
Petersburg to Kake
North across Frederick Sound and through the Alexander Archipelago, and it's a wildlife day searching the whole way rather than a transfer.
Day 4, July 2
Kake
A day on land photographing black bears fishing the salmon streams, with ground transport on the island. Kake is a Tlingit village and we're there as guests.
Day 5, July 3
Kasnyku Bay and the Waterfall Coast
We leave Kake for Hoonah and stop in Kasnyku Bay for coastal brown bears, then run the Waterfall Coast.
Day 6, July 4
Port Frederick and Chatham Strait
This is bubble-net water, and the hydrophone goes over the side so you can hear what's happening below the boat.
Day 7, July 5
Hoonah to Sitka
The last full day on the water, looking for humpbacks, sea otters and seabirds like puffins on the way into Sitka Sound.
Day 8, July 6
Fly home from Sitka
I name towns and open water on this page and I don't name coves, creeks or haul-outs, because the animals using them don't need more boats showing up.
THE WILDLIFE
What You Can Photograph
Humpback Whales
Humpback whales are the reason a lot of people look at this trip. Port Frederick is a common place for groups of humpbacks to gather and bubble-net feed, and the hydrophone lets us hear the feeding calls under the surface, which sometimes gives us a little warning before the group comes up. Orcas move through these waters too, and you never know which day they'll show.
Coastal Brown Bears and Black Bears
Bears are the other half. Black bears come out of the forest in Kake to feed on the returning salmon, and coastal brown bears use the streams and tidal flats in Kasnyku Bay. Brown and black bears both feed on salmon along the rivers and coastal streams from June through August, and this trip sits right inside that window.
Bald Eagles, Sea Otters and Marine Wildlife
The wildlife to expect includes humpback whales, coastal brown bears and bald eagles, and beyond that you've got Steller sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals and Dall's porpoises in the straits, and bald eagles pretty much everywhere, because Southeast Alaska has one of the highest concentrations of bald eagles anywhere. The run from Hoonah to Sitka adds seabirds like puffins, murrelets and auklets. None of it is promised, and what shows up on a given day is up to the animals.
It isn't only wildlife either. Photo opportunities here include glaciers, mountains and wildlife in the same frame, and LeConte Glacier, the Waterfall Coast and the rainforest islands of the Tongass give you immersive landscape photography between animals, so you get wildlife viewing and landscape access on the same trip, and it's worth having a wider lens ready, and a long lens isn't mandatory for every frame out here.
WHO IT'S FOR
Who This Trip Is For
This Southeast Alaska wildlife photography workshop is for intermediate and advanced wildlife photographers who already know their camera and want to build their photography skills on a moving deck. You should be able to change settings without looking at the camera, and beyond that I'll help you with the part that's new.
Physical Requirements
Physically it's easy. You're on the boat most of every day, and the land time in Kake and Hoonah is easy walking with ground transport to get us there, so the only thing that takes some getting used to is standing on a moving deck for a few hours at a time.
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
Camera Gear for Photographing Wildlife From a Boat
Your Distance
100 yards
Federal rules keep boats 100 yards from humpback whales, so the law sets your distance and the distance sets your lens.
Your Lenses
A 100-500mm class zoom does most of the work, and a zoom beats a long prime on a boat because the distance to the animal changes constantly. A second body with something wider covers the glaciers and landscape, and it saves you from changing lenses on a wet deck. On the land days a 200-400mm lens is plenty for the bears.
The Weather
Bring a camera you can run in manual and versatile lenses that cover both the wildlife and the landscape. Weather in Southeast is wet and changes fast, so weather-sealed gear helps and rain covers for both bodies aren't optional. Bring more batteries and memory cards than you think you'll need, and a rain jacket and rain pants you can actually move in.
A complete packing list with clothing recommendations for Southeast Alaska's summer weather will be sent after you register.
FROM THESE WATERS
