Denali National Park .. spring ride

[IPT]

Went to Denali this weekend.... still sort of taking in the events that transpired. It was whirlwind, with a dash out of town Friday night getting us up near the park at 1AM. We tossed up a tent quick for a little nap. Woke up at 5:30am, brushed the frost off the tent, tossed it in the car (to be dried out later).

We drove the last 30 so miles to the park (had a close encounter with a Carribou, phew...) and embarked a 30+ mile bike ride that was cut short by a bear in the way. Pesky dang bears, a Sow qith cubs too .

Early bird gets the worm, the wildlife sightings, and basically the park to ourselves. Early start, early to leave, made the 4 hr drive back home that same day. The less than 24 hour experience included but was not limited to an awesome bike ride, generally great weather, a flat tire (biking), Caribou, a wild Lynx sighting (!!), a wolf successfully hunting down a snowshoe hare, getting snowed on, some rain, lots of sun, blue skies, ground squirrels, Griz sow with two cubs cuter than heck, and it goes on and on......

much more to come but here's a quick 2.

 

[Misled]

Nice Kitty. My wife wants to see the bear!!!!!

 

[Recty]

Very cool man I'd like to see the bear cubs.

 

[IPT]

LOL - here is the P&S grab shot. I wasn't about to plunk down and start busting out gear until I knew we were at least for most part safe. Once they meandered up the road some and paid us little mind I busted out the DSLR. Those images are at home still to be processed. Hopefully I'll get some posted tonight. Still, she was pretty far off. I much prefer to see bears from the park bus! Something about being 20+ miles from anything and only having a bicycle is unsettling. Lynx, moose, carribou, any other animal I love to see when I am cycling ... bears, not so much. Though, this encounter sort of lowered my fear some. We were far, probably 75 yards or more (I am a bad judge of long distances like that not being a hunter) and she was still huffing at us. Funny too, because the bears and wolf were pretty far off. Both times there were branches and stuff obscuring some of the view..and I couldn't move anywhere to affect the composition! LOL - well, they won't be winning any competitions, but they were still fun and a part of an awesome day.

 

[Misled]

The wife is sitting here going awwwwwwwwwwwww. She wants to drive up this weekend. Prolly won't happen though!!!!

 

[klepto]

Well done on the linx!!! I love those cats.. actually being able to photograph one in the wild must have been quite exciting.

Thanks for sharing your images as always Louis. Keep em coming!

 

[Recty]

Did you shoot these with your 5D or did you borrow the 1D Mk III again?

Was the lynx shot manual focus or auto?

 

[IPT]

It was actually the 1Ds Mark3. I haven't used my 5D in quite some time. When my g/f picked it up she laughed...it's a beast, and heavy. Ah, the Lynx. You know I was only half prepared for that. My first shots were at like 1/60th, blurry. I was set on Av mode but it was at like 6am and even up here with him in the trees there wasn't a lot of light. That lynx shot is actually at ISO 1600! It was on Auto focus.

 

[Recty]

Im curious, and if it's none of my business that's totally fine.

How are you borrowing someone's 1Ds Mk III for this long? I've got a friend who will let me borrow his 5D Mk II if I want it, but that's like for a weekend, not for months and months like you see to be able to

What's the wolf eating? It's hard to tell...

That's sweet the camera auto focused onto the lynx through the brush like that, I figured you must have been on manual.

 

[IPT]

ah, it's a business owned camera. Usually after hours and on weekends I have free access to it (trusting souls). Another person I know used to be into photography ("back in the day") and basically permently loaned me a 300m F2.8 lens. I think his words were "better a young strapping lad like you actually use it than an old fart like me leaving it sitting in the closet". Of course when the Bald Eagle attacked the seagull in his backyard he was sort of wishing he had access to the lens!

The Wolf is eatting a snowshoe hare. We saw him running down the river bed, then he went into the brush. He ended up popping out up on the hillside. Then he suddenly dashed down the hill and chased the Hare into a hole. I was basically shooting a point and shoot at that time and he was FAR away. Once he started digging for the hare I got out my gear. You can see the hole he dug on the left side of the image. Unfortunately he was so far away to the naked eye it was hard to see what was going on. I missed the shot of him carrying the hare from the hole.

Yeah, you know often times I am not that happy with the focus on this camera. I have several shots where the camera focused on the brush and not the cat (but it was more dense folliage in those). This all went down pretty fast. My eyes are lame, even with the diopter correction. I didn't have a tripod for this one either so my hands were mostly just bracing as best as I could. I would like to try one of the sport models one day and see what it's like. I am sure some of it is user error...but sometimes I wonder. I've taken shots with a 300mm lens, tripod mounted, with shutter speeds of 1/500th, focus point locked on an animals eye only to see the final image with the sharp area be the shoulder behind the head. I even have Ptaramgen shots where I know I was focused on the eye (always do) and the eye is a tad soft, but the feet (technically an inch or two farther back) are tack sharp. It just doesn't happen consistent enough for me tinker with the manual correction for the specific lens. Frustrates me sometimes.

Still, when it nails everything it is awesome. Truth be told, so are the shots from the 5D. Aside from my liking the ergonomics of the pro body better, and the ability to crop harder. it is not worth the extra $$$. Not for my needs at least.

 

[IPT]

 

[Recty]

I like the porcupine shot a lot What lens are you using for these shots?

 

[IPT]

LOL, are you really a asking me what lens I used for a wildlife shot?? ..... you know my lens of choice for wildlife ...... ... right?

 

[Recty]

I'm guessing 300mm I cant remember if you're using the 2.8 or the 4?

 

[Misled]

300 f4. And thanks for the porcupine. I've never seen one before. Beautiful shot!!!!

 

[Assassynation]

Awesome pics. We just bought a Nikon D5000 DSLR and it takes great pics too. I have to save up for a great lens though.

Here's a pic that was taken outside my house. That's a 80-90ft spruce next to my house in Spenard.

 

[IPT]

yeah, the F4 . The F2.8 is just a beast, and it's the older model so no IS. I for sure was not about to be toting that around in my backpack on a 30 mile ride. However, in the fall I see dudes humping 400mm lenses around all the time. I'll bust out the F2.8 if I am cruising the road in a car, have the time, a big tripod, or it is planned ahead for it. Otherwise the 300mm F4 IS lens just rocks for it's balance of speed, weight, versatility, and sharpness.

Assassynation - cool Eagle shots. Since the Eagle LAdy is gone now I am gonna have to Poach a spot at Recty's hookup in Homer now for Eagle shots .

You bet on the Porc image. Usually most of the time I see them they're pancakes on the side of the road. Either that or they are just walking off into the brush. I knew they slept in trees, but never saw one in one until that day. Welcome to RC.

 

[Recty]

Assassynation - cool Eagle shots. Since the Eagle LAdy is gone now I am gonna have to Poach a spot at Recty's hookup in Homer now for Eagle shots .

I'll trade you a 1Ds for rights to shoot there