SAWYER GLACIER, TRACY ARM FJORD, ALASKA

I have decided to write this Blog in order give people a place to learn more about the photograph they are thinking about purchasing, have already purchased or have enjoyed viewing on my website larrypannellphotography.com.

My thoughts are to post a Photograph of the Week and include the location, photographic data and insight on what I was trying to convey with the image. Essentially the story behind the photograph.

I specialize in Landscape, Travel and Fine Art Photography. If you are viewing my blog before you have seen my website please take the time to browse the photographs there as well. I have been fortunate to have travelled many places and you will find photographs of Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, French Polynesia, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Vietnam. You may also enjoy my photography of the Western United States and my recent photographs of Yosemite National Park where I currently reside.

Thank you for your interest and all comments would be greatly appreciated

Larry

larrypannellphotography.com

Enjoy.....

Location:       Tracy Fjord

                         Inside Passage, Alaska

When:             June 12, 2012

                         8:44am

Camera:         Canon 60d

                         EF 18-200mm

Focal:              35mm

Shutter:          1/2000 sec

Aperture:       F/22

ISO:                 800

SAWYER GLACIER

Every Wednesday morning while in my treatment, room which had floor to ceiling windows on the Rhapsody I was treated to a spectacular view...the Sawyer Glacier. And yes the ice really is that color of blue.

Around 5am we would enter the Tracy Arm Fjord of the Inside Passage in Alaska. It would take another three hours to reach the Sawyer Glacier. Along the way you were afforded magnificent views of the surrounding mountains complete with cascading waterfalls and small streams formed by the runoff of melting snow and glacial ice.

As the ship slowing crept forward through the dark waters filled with varying size of icebergs and the mountainsides began to narrow ones thoughts would drift to how does a ship this size turn around in such a small area.

With today's technology and the use of pivoting jet propulsion pods attached to the ships hull they can virtually turn on the proverbial dime. It's amazing the first time you witness this as the ship swings port or starboard almost in the same spot.

Here is a tip for those of you that might be thinking of taking a cruise. When we approached the glacier nearly everyone rushed to the bow, that's the pointy end of the ship and it would become very crowded. People would push and shove trying to secure the best shot for a photograph. So here is my tip, go to the stern...the ship is going to turn around! It always amazed me how few people thought of this and the stern with almost void of people.

As far as photographing this glacier I always found it best to hand hold the camera. Though you are stand still on the deck the ship is moving even if it is at a stand still. Use an appropriate shutter speed match with and aperture to gain as much depth of field as you can.

This of course also depends on the weather and if you have a bright blue sky, one filled with a few white clouds or if it is overcast or raining. On this day the clouds were dark and foreboding. They hug low and clung to the sides of the mountains but much so much as to cover them. The glacier was in clear view as it slid into the ocean striped with telltale trails of debris.

As always I double checked my aperture, shutter speed, iso, and set the camera to auto-focus selecting a small focus field. Holding my breath to reduce camera shake I shot a few frames checking the results on the lcd screen on back of the camera.

Once I capture the photograph I was looking for I dropped the camera, not literally, and took in the grandeur of the moment. Seeing nature at it’s best is always amazing and visiting a glacier for your first time and for that matter every time never disappoints.

My advice…if you ever have the chance to take a cruise to Alaska go and make sure it travels up one of the fjords to a glacier…

Thank you for your interest and all comments would be greatly appreciated

Larry

larrypannellphotography.com

TIE DYED IN PI…

I have decided to write this Blog in order give people a place to learn more about the photograph they are thinking about purchasing, have already purchased or have enjoyed viewing on my website larrypannellphotography.com.

My thoughts are to post a Photograph of the Week and include the location, photographic data and insight on what I was trying to convey with the image. Essentially the story behind the photograph.

I specialize in Landscape, Travel and Fine Art Photography. If you are viewing my blog before you have seen my website please take the time to browse the photographs there as well. I have been fortunate to have travelled many places and you will find photographs of Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, French Polynesia, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Vietnam. You may also enjoy my photography of the Western United States and my recent photographs of Yosemite National Park where I currently reside.

Thank you for your interest and all comments would be greatly appreciated

Larry

larrypannellphotography.com

Enjoy.....

TIE DYED IN PI…

Location:       Negros Island

                         Philippines

When:            March 24, 2012

                         8:48am

Camera:         Canon 60d

                         EF 18-200mm

Focal:              24mm

Shutter:          1/640 sec

Aperture:       F/16

ISO:                 800

TIE DYED IN PI…

When the Rhapsody of the Seas pulled into drydock for a month in Singapore my contract had just ended a couple days before and I left the ship in Bali to start my vacation where I spent a few days on the island of Lembongan. Then I flew to Vietnam for three weeks after which I flew to Negros Island and Apo Island in the Phillippine (PI) for a week before returning to the ship and another seven month contract.

While on Negros Island I stayed at a small "resort" named the Monarch Bay Resort. It was about a dozen thatched huts which had bamboo floors and a layered palm frowns for the roof. Each hut also had running water, flush toilets, air conditioning and wifi. All this within 150 feet of the waters edge on a beautiful private beach.

There was also a restaurant/bar within a stones throw of the ocean to enjoy a cold San Miguel and escape the heat. The bartender told me that just before I arrived a group of motorcyclists were there for a week and every cabin was taken. As luck would have it during my four day stay I was the only person and had the place to myself.

One morning when talking to the owner about photography and the interior of the island he offered to rent his motorcycle to me for $4 a day....that was too hard to pass up. So the next day after breakfast I grabbed my camera gear, kick started the 500cc motorcycle and off I went.

As I traveled the islands main road between two villages I noticed a dirt road that headed towards the mountains. After traveling six or seven miles through the countryside I saw a farmer plowing his field behind a water buffalo wearing a brightly colored tie dyed shirt. I got off the bike, grabbed my gear and headed towards him about a half mile away. Looking up he noticed me when I was about half way walking down a muddy trail that wove through the rice paddies. I smiled and waved showing him my camera; he just nodded and kept plodding through the mud as if I wasn't there.

I carefully checked my settings putting the camera on aperture preferred to maintain the greatest depth of field and noted the shutter speed while shooting to avoid camera shake. I framed the image taking various shots from wide angle to encompass the countryside to zooming in tight getting intimate. I stayed in the field and kept shooting for about an hour and at times putting the camera down to take everything in. For myself I find that it is important not to get too wrapped up looking through the viewfinder, to stop for a few minutes and enjoy the surroundings.

After reviewing the photographs I decided on a shot that told the entire story. One where the myriad shades of vibrant green from the vast fields of rice lined by the dense jungle overwhelm you. One where the sky is filled with clouds threatening rain as the ruminants of a storm pass overhead. For me what really makes this photograph is combining these elements with the tie dye shirt and it's bright array of colors as the farmer struggles through the dull, brown mud preparing the rice paddy for the next planting.

I have a handful of photographs that I took in the Philippines that I really like that encompasses the feeling of being there whether it is in a muddy rice paddy or watching boys dive off of a bridge into a river or the solitude of a lone fisherman.

My beach hut at Monarch Bay

Negros Island Philippines

Thank you for your interest and all comments would be greatly appreciated

Larry

larrypannellphotography.com

OVERCAST...

Location:       Yosemite National Park

                         Panorama Trail

                         Yosemite, Ca

When:             May 7, 2013

                         2:15pm

Camera:         Canon 60d

                         EF 18-200mm

Focal:              18mm

Shutter:          1/160 sec

Aperture:       F/16

ISO:                 400

I have decided to write this Blog in order give people a place to learn more about the photograph they are thinking about purchasing, have already purchased or have enjoyed viewing on my website larrypannellphotography.com.

My thoughts are to post a Photograph of the Week and include the location, photographic data and insight on what I was trying to convey with the image. Essentially the story behind the photograph.

I specialize in Landscape, Travel and Fine Art Photography. If you are viewing my blog before you have seen my website please take the time to browse the photographs there as well. I have been fortunate to have travelled many places and you will find photographs of Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, French Polynesia, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Vietnam. You may also enjoy my photography of the Western United States and my recent photographs of Yosemite National Park where I currently reside.

Thank you for your interest and all comments would be greatly appreciated

Larry

larrypannellphotography.com

Enjoy.....

OVERCAST…

I had visited Yosemite since 1964 when I was ten years old, spent my honeymoon there in 1972 and lived and worked there from 1982-1985. Upon leaving the park I started a career in healthcare, became a physician and before moving back to Yosemite in 2013. The two previous years I worked and lived on cruise ships seeing the world and practicing acupuncture.

It was early season and my first of the summer to be filled with day hikes and overnight backpacking trips in Yosemite National Park. I had just moved back after thirty years and taking a break from my career as an acupuncturist.

The road to Glacier Point opened in mid-May and my first hike of the eleven-mile long Panorama Trail was about to begin. It was a cool, rainy day and the clouds hug low in the valley and obscured most of the views usually afforded from Glacier Point. I was sure it would be the same along the trail. However the clouds added character to the usually clear blue skies. It would change minute to minute depending on the wind and the up drafts caused by the 3,000 foot vertical granite cliffs walls.

Having hiked and lived in the Sierras and other mountain ranges the majority of my life I knew the weather could change at any moment. On this hike I experience clear blue skies, rain, hail and even snow but I was prepared. I was dressed in long pants, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, fleece vest and a lightweight North Face raincoat. This allowed me to remove whatever layers I needed to and put them in my backpack along with my camera, tripod, water and munchies. Of course it was inevitable that I would run into someone on the trail wearing summer gear...and I did. All I could do was shake my head and think to myself...fools. Every year numerous people die in Yosemite and being ill prepared is one reason.

The vast majority of the Panorama Trail is downhill with only about 2.5 miles of uphill when you climb out of Illilouette Canyon. The first few miles of the trail drop into the canyon gradually, which usually grants you wonderful views of the various peaks surrounding the valley below. But with today's weather most of that is hidden from view. About half way down there is a small outlook that oversees Illilouette Falls as it plunges 370 feet over a cliff offering a chance for a few great shots.

After about another mile or so you have bottomed out and find a bridge that crosses Illilouette Creek. Once across you begin the 2.5 mile climb out of the canyon. If you are observant about half way you will notice a narrow side trail. It has been my experience if there is a side trial it is usually well worth a look.

After a hundred yards of pushing my way through manzanita and buck brush I came to a small clear that led to the edge of a cliff. The canyon opened below to Yosemite Valley and directly in front of me was Washington Column, North Dome and the Royal Arches. Slightly to the right were Liberty Cap, the beginning of Tenaya Canyon and the backside of Half Dome...what a great view and a great place to stop for a while, drop the pack and have lunch.

After about thirty minutes I left and resumed my climb out of the canyon for about another mile and a half before the trail crested and once and began to fall into yet another canyon. Near the top of the trail you can see Yosemite Falls off in the distance but you are also very close to Nevada and Vernal Falls. These two waterfalls have been photographed thousands of times by thousands of people. I was looking for a shot that was a little bit different from what you usually see so I headed off trail to find a vantage point high above the falls.

Being careful as I scrambled over rock outcropping, brush and trees to find several places that were just too dangerous to try and reach. It was a very steep drop to the canyon floor below and the footing not very secure.

Finally I saw a place in front of me about fifty feet away. I carefully traversed the mountainside to the spot that was just big enough to hold my tripod and myself. I mounted the camera, set my camera to aperture preferred not worrying about the shutter speed and set the self-timer to two seconds. After double checking my focus I took several photographs until I was pleased with what I had captured. I was looking for a shot that took in the canyon shrouded with clouds adding drama to the photograph and showed Nevada Falls from a different perspective.

Next was the climb from this position back to the trail, which was not an easy task. Finally reaching the trail I topped out, reached the saddle and began the drop to the top of Nevada Falls. As it was still early in the season there was plenty of water cascading 594 feet over the ledge that reaches Vernal Falls (317 feet) another couple miles down the canyon.

Both the top of Nevada and Vernal Falls has been the site of many deaths in Yosemite. Far too many tourists have gotten too close to the waters edge and slipped on the polished granite only to land I the water and be swept over one of the falls. This is especially true above Vernal Falls as the river widens and it appears calm. This area is called the Silver Apron and many have been tricked into the water again only to be whisked away to their death.

The moral of the story is my favorite quote I camera up with years ago..."there is only one rule in nature, you screw up you die, don't break the rule."

After another few miles of taking the hundreds of steps carved into the granite on the Mist Trail you reach the valley floor at Happy Isles and the hike is over.

Self portrait at the top of Nevada Falls

Thank you for your interest and all comments would be greatly appreciated

Larry